Maternity Discrimination Advice SOS

[Goldfish675]

Hi All thanks for accepting me to the group. I’m after some pregnancy / maternity legal advice!

When I was 8 months pregnant the director of the company I work for made a joke in front of the whole office about how I didn’t know who my babies father was and that I would have to hire detectives to plow through the list of men that it could be. I told my boss she just said I’ve heard worse. I told her I wanted to take it further and she told me I couldn’t as it was just a joke and to sort my attitude out.

Anywaysss fast forwards my maternity cover is in place and has been there five months and she has had the below;

A payrise so despite having no experience she is now paid more than me. our salaries are in bandings and I was told I couldn’t increase mine as the business was failing and had no money to give any payrises.

She has had developmental opportunities within the business where she is being trained and given duties in other areas.

She has been enrolled to study for a CIPD level 3.

She has been given a permanent job. The headcount in my team was decreased. There is not enough work for both of us therefore it’s very possible I will face redundancy upon my return.

She has been given a job title change from recruitment business partner to hr business partner. This girl has NO hr experience and only one years recruiting experience. Her only other job experience is managing a home bargains store!! I was not aware of this opportunity and like this girl I have 0 HR experience and 7 years re during experience. (Please note I am aware it’s a bit mental she is a hr business partner with no experience!!)

Please can anyone tell me if I am going crazy or if I am right and that I am the victim of maternity discrimination? I am so frustrated by all this and just need some advice.

Thank you!

Absolute madness she's an HRBP with not even a CIPD Level 3 at the VERY MINIMUM I'd want any HRBP I work with to have years of HR experience and a level 5.

The issue about the comment about baby's paternity- absolutely out of order. Is your boss head of HR/people? Sounds like you work In the "people" team (hr/recruitment) so that's absolutely terrible. You had witnesses I definitely think you should put a formal grievance in writing to your bosses' boss (or their boss) if necessary

Contact pregnant and screwed for advice

In regard to the opportunities and redundancy has anyone told you there will be redundancy? When are you due back?

I would say have a meeting with your manager about what your role looks like on your return, what will your scope and responsibilities be, any opportunities for progression or pay rises in line with colleagues and also document everything and gather advice from pregnant then screwed and your union if you have one

Sounds like an absolute shit show though

@KokoKardash thanks for your response! Yes I agree it is a shit show I’ve never recruited for a Hr BP with less than 5 years experience and a level 5 so I agree it is madness! and yes I do work in the HR team.

I was told that I would be made redundant it not officially it was a warning from a colleague who wanted to give me a heads up. My issue is this girl who was my cover has been given a permanent role and additional duties so there wouldn’t be enough work for me on my return.

I don’t think I want to go back not after the comment from the director of the business about the paternity of the baby. But I don’t know if it’s worth going down the grievance route I just don’t think he should get away with it! There were 3 witnesses to this. And my boss is the HR manager we don’t have a head of HR 😀

They are treading on risky ground here- I’d give ACAS a call. You have the right to return to your role. This is appalling from an Hr Dept themselves!
how long ago was the comment made? Normally anything over 3 months is out of time unless it’s a continuing pattern of behaviour. However I think something needs to be put in writing about the comment and how it’s made you feel so I’d raise one anyway. It may have been a ‘joke’ but one that made the person on the receiving end very uncomfortable and upset (I would be!)

It was longer than 3 months and I did try raise it with my boss but she just said she’d heard worse. The comment was made by a director who is so awful he has had to ‘pay off’ 3 other femal staff members.

my issues with the job is that I should have had all the opportunities she has had yet have missed out because I was on maternity leave. The girl who got all these hadn’t even passed her 6 month probation yet. The team has a reduced headcount and with recruitment being in peaks and troughs there and now the new girl has the extra responsibility it’s very realistic that I would be made redundant at some point in the future. I just wanted to know if I had real grounds to raise a grievance xx

Would you please stop calling this other person a girl? If she is old enough to work, then she's a woman.

You should have raised a grievance about that comment at the time. It was utterly appalling. However, at this stage, having not done so previously, can you prove it? Or are your witnesses going to deny it? That's obviously important. But if you have no evidence then only you can decide whether you can cope with managing a grievance whilst on maternity leave with no support or evidence - I'm assuming you aren't in a union?

The rest is complicated. I'd lay bets you may be right that they are planning to get rid of you. But if you work in HR then you also know that it's incredibly easy to do so within the law.

They have created a permanent role, which is not your role. They have given her training opportunities, but they aren't your training opportunities. She has a role that is different from being "your cover" and has different responsibilities. And she was given a pay rise, but that didn't mean you are entitled to one. Currently you are not redundant or at risk, and you can't fight something now that hasn't happened. And employers are entitled to be idiots and employ people without the experience or skills for the job although I'd probably wonder who she's sleeping with.

All you can currently do is prepare (and look for other jobs) but it is incredibly easy to make somebody redundant when they return from maternity leave. If you can get some advice to prepare yourself, I'd be doing that. But right now it's then that need to make the next move, and until they do there's not much you can do yourself.

shes The same age as me and I refer to myself as a girl. It’s not me trying to be condescending.

when I tried to speak to my boss she just told me she had heard worse and yes I do have three witnesses. It’s just what he said has really affected me more than I thought It would in terms of insinuating I don’t know who my child’s father is it’s also had repercussions throughout the 500 staff that work at the business.

and yes I see your point about the role my thought was are these not opportunities that I have only missed out on because I was on maternity leave? She hadn’t even passed her probation before getting a qualification, payrise, developmental opportunities and a slightly different job title that reflects my current role and her new responsibilities if that makes sense and based on the allowed headcount I would definitely not be there for long before being made redundant.

shes The same age as me and I refer to myself as a girl. It’s not me trying to be condescending.
That may be so but it is still inappropriate to refer to a woman as a girl. What you call yourself is your business, what you call others comes across very badly, especially from someone with an HR background. If it were a man it would be jumped on very quickly - being female doesn't make it the right way to refer to someone.

I do have three witnesses.
Are they willing to do that formally as part of a grievance? You need to be sure about that because I have often seen people have very sudden memory lapses when called upon to witness against their employer / bosses, especially on behalf of someone they may think is on the way out anyway. I'm not saying that to be cruel either - but self-interest and protecting your own position is a common human instinct.

my thought was are these not opportunities that I have only missed out on because I was on maternity leave?
You need to separate out your thinking. This woman has been recruited to do a job, and as a result she has been successful in obtaining a permanant role / accessing training. Her pay and conditions, her opportunities are hers - they are not yours. Argue in the way that you are and it sounds like sour grapes. You must have heard this before - you are in HR - what an individual argues for and gets as part of their employment package is down to what they have negotiated. There may be a possible argument about, if a role was available that was a promotion, why you weren't notified and given the opportunity to apply. But that wouldn't necessarily have given you the role, and that is an assumption that there was a promotion going. In their shoes my position would be that there was something of a restructure which created two roles - yours and hers - with different tasks. She was offered one and argued better than you for a pay increase / training. And you really don't want to be going in saying that she hasn't the skills or experience to do the job and then complaining about her getting training to do the job!

You are letting your emotions run away with you. The only way to win this argument, assuming you are correct, is to approach it coldly. You need to wait for something to happen and then deconstruct it - it mustn't sound like it's you against her, and it isn't your place to criticise who the employer employs. Like I said, they are allowed to be stupid - that proves nothing. In law, you can't argue that she shoudn't have been employed - the law assumes the employer knows what they are doing on such matters and doesn't interfere. Your focus, if it comes to it, needs to be (a) based on the law and reasoned argument about that and (b) what you want out of this.

If you don't want to go back, it is possible that raising the grievance (assuming your witnesses hold together) may result in an offer to leave, but I wouldn't expect it to be overly generous.

In the end - what do you want out of this? Because that should determine your approach.

Yes I believe the witnesses would stand up for it I also don’t think it would be denied as it has been discussed in the whole office which everyone joined In the discussion. Since Jen on my one to one I told my boss I wanted it dealt with more formally and she simply said ‘drop it I have spoken to him’

In a role I worked very hard for I absolutely have ‘sour grapes’ about this situation. I am well aware I should have been made aware of any opportunities and and office restructures and that my manager can and should contact me on maternity leave to make me aware of this. This will make me redundant when I return without a shadow of a doubt as the business is failing and headcount was reduced and I believe this is because I made my manager aware that I was unhappy with the way she handled the disgusting comment from the director.

Also in regards to this individual arguing better for a pay rise - no one is allowed payrises my manager made everyone aware.

Someone on a fixed term contract also got made permanent and therefore headcount is at 0. I appreciate your advice especially in regards to not showing my emotions and Making it sound like I’m against the individual who’s now been made permanent as I can see how that would look!

I have spoken to someone with masses of employee relations experience and will place my grievance next week.