Page 2 | On maternity but temporary promotion come up

Gilmore93 · 2023-12-21T21:36:33+00:00

Hello! So I am currently on maternity leave until next September. I have found out that a temporary contract is being advertised which would be a promotion. The temporary contract is 15 months (I’m not 100% on the circumstances but it could potentially become permanent) so would extend a further 6 months at least from me being back at work. I have applied for this position before and missed out by a single point, and my manager informed me that even though I am on maternity, he would contact me if anything were to come up. He has not contacted me once, it is only through a friend in another department that I have found out about this. I’m thinking of contacting him tomorrow as I am more than frustrated by this- but do I have a leg to stand on? My understanding is that I should be made aware of promotion opportunities, however this is a temporary contract so I don’t know if this changes things. I hope this makes sense!?

MissBuffyAnneSummers · 22/12/2023 10:56

Gilmore93 · 21/12/2023 22:05

No I wouldn’t end my maternity to start this. However realistically if they were to get somebody external in then realistically it would be a Feb/March start and so the majority of the contract would be when I am back.
Regardless I am mostly annoyed at having no contact whatsoever. Not being given the opportunity to even apply. Even an explanation as to why it wouldn’t work for me to do the role would almost suffice.
Before I left I had my annual review and exceeded expectations, like I say missed out on this by one point previously- and am the most senior and experienced person in the team who might apply by a number of years.
It’s just really disappointing, I feel completely dismissed and undervalued and I’m not really sure how to go about talking to my manager.

This is completely correct.

MissBuffyAnneSummers · 22/12/2023 10:57

Sad to see so many women defending and wishing to perpetuate discrimination

ConflictedCheetah · 22/12/2023 11:01

If it's advertised externally then you had the open chance to apply so they've acted fairly. If internal only vacancies are not accessible to you then that's an issue you should definitely raise with Either way though no matter what your manager said, with the best will.innthe world they're probably busy so could forget. Out of sight out of mind and if it's not official policy then you can't rely on it. You'll need to take responsibility for proactively checking for opportunities.

SheilaFentiman · 22/12/2023 11:35

ConflictedCheetah · 22/12/2023 11:01

If it's advertised externally then you had the open chance to apply so they've acted fairly. If internal only vacancies are not accessible to you then that's an issue you should definitely raise with Either way though no matter what your manager said, with the best will.innthe world they're probably busy so could forget. Out of sight out of mind and if it's not official policy then you can't rely on it. You'll need to take responsibility for proactively checking for opportunities.

This isn’t good enough.

If the role was a permanent one, they absolutely should alert OP to it. The only thing I am not sure if is if they have to for a secondment, which isn’t quite the same thing.

See, for example, this:

https://app.croneri.co.uk/questions-and-answers/maternity-leave-notification-internal-vacancies#:~:text=You%20should%20make%20your%20employee,to%20offer%20her%20the%20job.

ConflictedCheetah · 22/12/2023 11:40

SheilaFentiman · 22/12/2023 11:35

This isn’t good enough.

If the role was a permanent one, they absolutely should alert OP to it. The only thing I am not sure if is if they have to for a secondment, which isn’t quite the same thing.

See, for example, this:

https://app.croneri.co.uk/questions-and-answers/maternity-leave-notification-internal-vacancies#:~:text=You%20should%20make%20your%20employee,to%20offer%20her%20the%20job.

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As long as she can view internal vacancies it IS good enough. It's up to get to check.

Now if she's saying she can't view them then that is a problem to raise as I already said. But legally they don't have to contact her every time a vacancy comes up. Or even every time a 'suitable' vacancy comes up - who'd decide what's suitable? That would pre judge an application before she's even done it.

She needs equal access to viewing vacancies and applying to everyone else. Direct contact is not mandated.

SheilaFentiman · 22/12/2023 11:52

In the link - see extract below - advertising internally was not viewed to be sufficient. I believe that there is an expectation to notify employees of opportunities as it is not reasonable to expect them to regularly log into work systems on maternity.

However, IANAL or HR professional and you may be.

”We have advertised internally in accordance with company policy. One of the current marketing team has applied, but is not a very strong candidate and hence we think that we might need to advertise externally.
Someone has suggested that the employee on maternity leave might want to apply for the team leader role. She is one of the most experienced members of the team and is very highly regarded. However, we really want someone to have a handover period with the current marketing team leader, and she would still be on maternity leave then and would not be able to do this. In addition, we would be left with a six-month gap without a team leader which is not ideal. As a result we have decided not to inform the employee on maternity leave that there is a vacancy. Is this a problem?”

ConflictedCheetah · 22/12/2023 12:15

@SheilaFentiman I couldn't read the full piece unless I subscribe but one person saying 'I believe ' does not make it law.

I'm not a lawyer either but I've worked in two large workplaces that take this approach in their policies and several other posters have said the same. In a large organisation it's just not feasible for women to be informed about each vacancy. And like I said where I work, the HR platform that advertises internal jobs, is available without logging into our work network/VPN too.

WavingCatsandDogs · 22/12/2023 12:20

I think you need to let it go for now, if it's causing you stress.

Reframe it - you can enjoy your maternity leave ready to go back and when you do. an amazing job will come up!!

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 22/12/2023 12:42

This happened to me - I emailed my manager saying I'd heard and that i would expect to be told about it and I'd like to apply.

LimeCheesecake · 22/12/2023 12:53

I do think you should message your manager and say you have heard about the role and wonder why you haven’t been made aware of it.

But you and your DP need to have a chat, do you need to do this for your career? Is it likely the role would become permanent (and therefore the person in situ more likely to get the role.) Is it possible for you to go back sooner and he do shared leave?

pavementmutation · 22/12/2023 12:57

It's a secondment not a promotion.

If they were recruiting for a temp contract for maternity cover for a role you were interested in, do you think you should be offered that job even if you had no intention of returning to work in time to cover the period required?

There are always going to be downsides to choosing to take a year's leave from work, that doesn't automatically mean it's discrimination.

If you choose to take the full year, you're not entitled to your old job back. That's not discrimination either.

CrispsandCheeseSandwich · 22/12/2023 13:25

SheilaFentiman · 22/12/2023 11:52

In the link - see extract below - advertising internally was not viewed to be sufficient. I believe that there is an expectation to notify employees of opportunities as it is not reasonable to expect them to regularly log into work systems on maternity.

However, IANAL or HR professional and you may be.

”We have advertised internally in accordance with company policy. One of the current marketing team has applied, but is not a very strong candidate and hence we think that we might need to advertise externally.
Someone has suggested that the employee on maternity leave might want to apply for the team leader role. She is one of the most experienced members of the team and is very highly regarded. However, we really want someone to have a handover period with the current marketing team leader, and she would still be on maternity leave then and would not be able to do this. In addition, we would be left with a six-month gap without a team leader which is not ideal. As a result we have decided not to inform the employee on maternity leave that there is a vacancy. Is this a problem?”

It's fine, as long as women on maternity leave can view it.

I work for a company with 25,000 uk employees. At any one time there are loads of vacancies, with new ones coming up all the time. When I was on maternity leave I didn't get an email every time a new vacancy appeared. (And if that was the rule they would have to do it for every vacancy, you couldn't have someone deciding which ones would be suitable and only sending those.) That would have been a massive annoyance for me while on leave.
I applied for, and got, a new internal role with 6 months still left on mat leave, so there was no issue with them promoting staff on leave.

FlyingNorth · 22/12/2023 13:31

OP Why not just apply for the permanent role when it's advertised? Maybe the reason it is a temp position is so that you are able to apply as permanent, as you are obviously well qualified?

good96 · 22/12/2023 20:50

They probably haven’t contacted you because you are still on maternity leave. You have said that you wouldn’t return to work early so not sure what your concerns are?
If it was approaching the end of your mat leave then I can understand a case for you to apply but because you won’t be there for over half the secondment, they’ll go for someone else.

Maybe some other opportunities will come available when you are about to come back to work - mention these possibly in your KIT days.