MNHQ here: post your pregnancy & maternity work questions here for FREE legal advice from Maternity Action

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Free online advice clinic 22nd July 2024 - 25th July 2024 - OPEN NOW.

Mumsnet and Maternity Action are once again teaming up to provide an online legal clinic, offering free advice on pregnancy, maternity and parental rights at work from volunteer employment lawyers who are members of the Employment Law Association.

Whether you have a question about maternity leave, your request for flex work, your rights as a pregnant worker, or think you may be discriminated against by your employer because of being a parent, this is the place for you.

The clinic takes the form of a Q&A on this thread and will run from Monday 22nd to Thursday 25th of July. The Maternity Action team will do their best to provide all answers during that time and at the latest by Friday. More information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended is here. All past clinics are here.

How it works:

• If you have a question about your rights at work during pregnancy, maternity or parental leave, post it here below before the 25th of July. Please give as much information as possible but remember that this is an online forum and can be viewed by the public – including your colleagues and employer. Please don’t name your employer publicly if you are likely to be taking action against them in future. You can use private message to disclose information to the volunteers that you’d rather not make public.

• Please send your name and the name of your employer by private message to @MaternityActionfreeadvice so that it can be passed on to the volunteers to do a conflict of interest check. We cannot post a reply until you have sent this information by private message.

• Once your advice has been posted online, you will have an opportunity to provide feedback. This helps us to find out whether you found the advice helpful, whether it helped you to resolve your situation at work and some information about you. All survey responses are anonymous and confidential. Providing feedback will help us to see what improvements can be made in developing this type of online free legal advice clinic. Fill out the survey here.

Ts and Cs – please read
The advice provided to an individual poster is based only on the information provided by that poster. Advice on this thread is also particular to the individual who has asked for it and is likely to be specific to that person’s situation. A poster may have provided further relevant information by private message which will not appear on this thread. So please take care if you choose to apply that advice to your own situation - it is recommended that you first take legal advice from one of the sources we have suggested here.

Mumsnet, Maternity Action and Maternity Action's volunteers accept no liability for any loss suffered as a result of an individual choosing to follow advice provided to another poster's question on the thread.

The lawyers, all of whom are specialists in employment law, will be working as volunteers for Maternity Action in respect of the clinic. Any personal information collected as a result of the clinic will be held by Maternity Action and will be deleted after 18 months. If you wish to make a complaint about the service you received, you can click here: maternityaction.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Complaints-Policy-Final-2023.pdf

I really don't want to tell my employer I'm pregnant until the last legal minute, the 15 weeks before due date. This is because my boss is a bully and I will be discrimated against with lower status work. Its a high risk pregnancy so I might not even make it to that 15 week point. However, I have had to have time off with morning sickness now at 7 weeks. What should I do? It's a very large organisation and I've been there a year.

I have been employed by my organisation for 6 years. I’m waiting for a promotion to a higher role. There are 2 routes to promotion, one is promo in current role and the other is to apply for more senior roles if they are advertised. Before I went on mat leave I agreed with my line manager she would notify me by my personal number if senior vacancies went live. I have heard through work friends that there are now vacancies live at this level however my line manager hasn’t been in touch with me as agreed. When checking my work email I can see these vacancies have been live for a while now but no one has contacted me as we agreed. Is the company in breach of their obligations?

Can someone on maternity leave be laid off or have their job changed whilst they're out.

Worked there for 6 years.

There is a re-org and cut backs taking place already, rumours of layoffs.

I am going on maternity leave in 3 weeks and don't think anything will happen before then, but I'm worried something will once I'm out.

Redundancy process announced at work, I'm currently pregnant 10 weeks. Not sure when to tell my employer I'm pregnant. Worried if I say anything too soon I'll be let go of ASAP. But if I tell too late will they may not take it into account. I have a high risk pregnancy and don't want to say until I'm further along just to be sure. The process has just started and not much information is provided on how long it will take. Believe more than twenty people will be let go of. Should I tell them if I'm selected for interview in a few weeks. Can they penalise me withholding the information until the interview selection? What if announcing the pregnancy makes their job easier just to let me go. How can I be protected in this situation. What if they try to push me out with no alternative role.

I am a teacher in a private school and have been for many years- I am middle leadership, not SLT. We have some occupational maternity (6 weeks full, 12 weeks half). I go off in October, therefore by Easter I will be on SMP only. I have looked into shared parental leave and as far as I can tell teachers can do this over the holiday and get full pay without having to go in (unless
others would be asked who are in the
middle of mat leave). A few people have done this so far and had a few issues (not being paid when they should) but they haven’t finished mat leave so I haven’t got a full picture.

id like to take SPL block of returning to work for 3 weeks at Easter, 1 at May half term and 8 weeks over the summer, with a view to return In October. My husband will not be taking time off, but has been at his employer for years.

What like to know is -

is there any way my employer can say no, or is there a way they can avoid paying me the occupational maternity pay since I’m taking SPL later on?

what is the best way to arrange SPL?

What should I have in writing from my HR (who are a bit clueless!) and what should be agreed by the head teacher and payroll?

this is my second leave but last time I was under the impression we couldn’t do SPL as a colleague has asked and was told no. I understand the law has tightened now.

thanks so much!

Thank you for your queries! Please remember to send your full name and your employer's name by PM to @MaternityActionfreeadvice so that our volunteer lawyers can look at your query. This is only used to complete a conflict check and is not used or logged in any other capacity. Many thanks, Maternity Action.

Hi,

There is currently a redundancy process at my work as well as a restructure. I'm one of those at risk but there are two suitable alternative roles available for me in the proposed new restructure, as they have just given my current job a new title.

I'm pregnant and my employer is aware, I informed them in May so after the law changed to also protect pregnant women at risk of redundancy.

It is my understanding that legally I should be offered one of the two alternative suitable roles but they are now looking at starting the process of formal applications, interviews and presentations to secure the new positions.

I read on workingfamilies.org.uk (link here: workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/redundancy-while-on-or-shortly-after-maternity-leave/#:~:text=In%20addition%2C%20the%20selection%20criteria,not%20be%20taken%20into%20account. ) that I should just be offered the role and shouldn't have to go through this process because otherwise it isn't an 'offer'. Is that correct?

Thanks.

Good Morning,
A few months after returning to work from maternity leave I resigned from my previous employer and began work with a new employer on 4 days a work whilst I continued to settle my son into nursery. It was orally agreed and confirmed via email that a few months after joining I would be able to increase to 5 days per week.
When I raised the request to move to 5 days per week, it was rejected 2 months after based on business cost pressures and I was informed in writing this can be reviewed again in June 2024.
I have still not heard back from them despite chasing every week. Unfortunately I did not capture the agreement to move to 5 days a week in my employment contract however do have evidence from email that this was agreed for me to move to 5 days a week a few months after I start (circa Dec 2023).
Please can you advise what my rights are here and whether I should pursue further action or escalation, I'd also appreciate guidance on how I handle a potential rejection of move to 5 days per week should this occur again.

Kind Regards, LS

I’ve been at my current company for 3 years, I had a high anxiety pregnancy due to a previous miscarriage and started with high blood pressure in my third trimester. I made a few mistakes and took 2 weeks off to get myself sorted. When I came back I was told there were concerns around my performance and I would have more regular catch ups with my manager. I also had work taken off me. I worked hard to improve my performance but the additional calls with my manager never happened and I was constantly asking for work to do.

I was then told at my quarterly performance review a few months later that they were going to put me on a performance improvement plan when I came back from maternity leave, essentially putting me back on probation. I was told that although they had seen improvement, they weren’t sure whether this was because I had less work to take care of. Is this reasonable of my employer? I feel that the PIP is unjustified and it has made my maternity leave a lot more stressful than I’d have liked.

Hi, my work announced consultation for a restructure whilst I was on maternity leave, I'm currently due back at work the week after the consultation ends. My substantive role has been pooled from 4 roles to 2 and they are saying because I am not yet 'at risk' I need to go through a competitive selection process. My maternity cover is included in the pool and I have not done my substantive role for almost 3 years due to returning from a previous maternity leave pregnant so undertaking a project before going off again.

There are other roles available that suit my skills with no one match or pooled to them.

They are asking me to interview the week after I officially return when I had planned on using holiday to bridge a gap in childcare (work are aware of this) until September.

I have asked what the process will be should I be unsuccessful in my interview and they have not formally responded but suggested that my interview responses could be used to pitch me for other roles. I am concerned that after so long out of the business and my substantive position and with little time to prepare plus no childcare currently in place I am not going to be able to provide a good interview that will stand me in a good light and will then end up in a worse job / the better ones will be gone or they will keep me in a redeployment pool until my six month protection runs out.

I have not been kept in the loop with the consultation process and any communication has been instigated by me they have then not answered my questions. I have suffered a bereavement in the last week and told my manager I am struggling with overwhelm but they are unsympathetic.

I am 19 weeks pregnant and I have just registered as self-employed with HMRC dating back to 2022 (this is when I started working for myself but not registered before due to low income). I intend to pay two full years of NI contributions to cover gaps in pension. I am planning to apply for Maternity Allowance when I reach week 26 but looking at the claim form I wonder if I will be eligible. On the form there is a question „What date did you register as self-employed with HMRC?” – does it refer to the date I called HMRC or the date they put down as the beginning of my self-employment, as they are very different?

As I understand, the main requirement for receiving MA is being registered with HMRC for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before my due date. Does it mean I need to register (let HMRC know) 26 weeks before my due date (so by week 15 of pregnancy)? That date has passed as I am 19 weeks already. Does it mean I will be automatically rejected or will DWP still contact HMRC and make their decisions based on my contributions?

Hi there,

I don't understand how the 28 day minimum rule affects me carrying over annual leave until after maternity leave:

'If you are not able to take your statutory minimum of 28 days’ paid holiday within the holiday year because your maternity leave overlaps your holiday year, you must be allowed to carry it forward and take it at another time'.

Here is my case:

1. I started my 2024 annual leave year (runs 1 Jan - 31 Dec at my work) with 32.83 days.
2. I will have used 17 annual leave days by my expected due date on 17 November 2024, with 15.83 remaining.
3. I will have had 6 bank holidays, with 2 remaining (employed in England).
4. So I will have used 23 paid leave days total by my expected due date on 17 November 2024, with 17.83 remaining including contractual annual leave and bank holidays.
5. I plan to take maternity/shared parental leave from 18 November 2024 - 13 June 2025.

My work contract states:
"[Organisation name] holiday year runs from 1st January to 31st December and you are entitled to 27 days paid annual leave in each calendar year (pro rata of commencement date and working rate), plus 8 public holidays. The Working Time Regulations require you to take at least 28 days holiday including any public holidays in any year."

My work's staff rules & regulations (forms part of contract) states:
"A maximum of five days – pro rata of working time - may be carried forward to the following year. In this case, any annual leave carried forward shall be taken within the first three months of the following calendar year, unless circumstances otherwise justify, and it is agreed with the line manager."

Questions:
Would I be legally entitled to carry over any/all of the 15.83 contractual annual leave days for 2024 till my return to work in June 2024? Would I be legally entitled to any/all of the 7 bank holidays I will not be able to 'use' between Nov 24 - June 25 while on statutory leave. In both cases would this have any affect on my normal 27 contractual days of leave for 2025 /bank holidays after June 2025?

If I'm not legally entitled to carry over the full 15.83 days of contractual leave, would I be legally entitled to carry over 5 days of annual leave to the following year in line with the staff rules & regulations, and be able to use these on my return after June 2025, as I couldn't take them in the first three months of the following calendar year due to statutory maternity leave?

Or could my employer say I must use 5 annual leave days (to reach the 28 days paid leave in 2024) before my expected due date, and then I could loose the rest if I don't use them before I go on statutory leave?

Thanks so much for helping me to understand this point.

1. I was on a FTC and my policy all stated I was in line for OMP this was agreed over the phone with HR and they sent me a letter agreeing to pay OMP, they then said I wasn't in line for it because I couldn't come back to work due to my contract ending whilst I was on maternity leave (so I had no chance to even come back! It was a catch 22 loop hole they just came up with after trying several other excuses not to pay the OMP which I jumped the hoops of) and all they would pay me was SMP even though I fitted all the OMP policy criteria. (happy to send this policy document)
2. Its now 9 months after birth and whilst I was on mat leave they overpaid my one month -because they paid me one moth of OMP can you believe and now are demanding it back.
3. I worked in women's reproductive health and wonder if there is bias against me in the HR department for this change in OMP/SMP. What are my rights after they agreed OMP and then didn't agree then agreed again and then didn't agree and then paid me some and now want it back. I have it in writing. The stress from this is immense and I ended up having to be cared for by the mental health unit directly because of this.

I'm self-employed and have been for nearly the last 5 years, paying taxes through self-assessment. For the last couple of years I've been working remotely from different countries, whilst returning to my home in London (I own my flat) in between.
When I fell pregnant I happened to be in Amsterdam (my home country), as my partner just got a job there so have been travelling in between London and Amsterdam and have been under the care of a midwife in Amsterdam (not the NHS).
I'm now applying for Maternity Allowance. The letter from my midwife in Amsterdam has been rejected and I have been told by DWP that I need to complete a MATB1 form. I read in all the guidance, including GOV.UK and Maternity Action that a letter from the midwife should suffice so I'm confused as to why this isn't being recognised.

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

I am in need of some advice. I am currently on mat leave.
I have just found out work is taking everyone to crystal maze and food in London tomorrow
I have not been invited, surely this is not right. I thought any social outing/event we were meant to be invited to?

Hi,

I was hoping you could help me. I am currently 15 weeks and I have let my employer know early on, since then I have been signed off a few times as I have been really unwell due to morning sickness and have struggled standing and doing normal activities which work has been aware of. I work in a restaurant as an assistant manager so my job is very physically taxing for me in my current state as I have to work 10h shifts, which are difficult, but I have done in the past.
I have looked at my rota before my return to work and on two different occasions I have been scheduled from 6 am - 22.30 pm, once with an hour break and the other with half and hour break, followed by a 6 am shift the following morning, which from what I know breaches employment law as there should be at a minimum of 11 hours between shifts.
I have already put in a grievance when I have been asked to find cover for myself when I was waiting for an ambulance and I thought it resolved something, but obviously that is not the case and the situation has gotten worse. I feel I am discriminated against, as my college are quite vengeful and will take my being sick and signed off personally and they are trying to bully me out of the business. To reiterate there are 5 people on the management team and there is no need for me to be scheduled on extreme shifts I have not agreed to. What should I do next as I feel another grievance will lead nowhere and my general manager does not reply to me when I try to get in contact.
I hope you can help me because I am so unsure of what my next steps are.
Thank you!

Dear AskingQ

Thank you for your query. In order to qualify for Maternity Allowance you need to have been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. The regulations do not specify that you must be registered as self-employed but the date you registered as self-employed is requested on the application form for Maternity Allowance.

I suggest including some information in the notes at the end of the application form to state when you started your self-employment and ask for these weeks to be taken into account even though you have only recently registered as self-employed. If DWP refuse your claim for Maternity Allowance, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration (a review) of their refusal and provide evidence that you were engaged in self-employment prior to registering. If your claim is still refused you can appeal to an independent tribunal and provide evidence that you were self-employed for at least 26 weeks prior to your expected week of childbirth even though you registered late.

If DWP accept that you were self-employed for 26 weeks, they will then assess your earnings. As you are self-employed you do not need to provide proof of earnings when claiming Maternity Allowance. DWP will contact HMRC and ask them to check your National Insurance contribution record.

MA is paid for a maximum of 39 weeks. If you are self-employed, your Maternity Allowance will be paid at the full standard rate of £184.03 (April 2024 – April 2025) if you have paid (or do so as part of the application process) at least 13 weeks' Class 2 National Insurance Contributions. If you have not paid at least 13 weeks’ Class 2 National Insurance contributions in your 66 week test period, your MA will be paid at the rate of £27 per week. As a result, if you are self-employed and your earnings have been too low for liability for National Insurance, it is worthwhile paying at least 13 weeks voluntarily in order to qualify for the full rate.

You can contact HMRC or pay your Class 2 contributions online here: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

I hope that helps.

Dear Icantsaymyname

Thank you for your query and I'm sorry to hear about the difficult time you've had in relation to your maternity pay.

Unfortunately your eligibility for OMP will depend on the wording of your employer's maternity policy. If there is no requirement to return to work and you meet any other conditions, you would be eligible for it even if you are employed on a fixed term contract. If their maternity policy states that you must return to work for a specified period to avoid repayment of the OMP, you would not be eligible for the enhanced maternity pay if you are employed on a fixed term contract and unable to return to work for the required period.

Some policies make special provision for those unable to return because of redundancy situations or employment on a fixed term contract, however, these are rare. Nevertheless it is important to read your employer's maternity policy in full to see whether you are eligible. Unless your employer's policy has any special provisions for those on fixed term contracts it is likely that you did not qualify if you were unable to return to work for the required period and, if that is the case, there may be very little you can do to challenge it. Enhanced maternity pay is an employment benefit and employers can attach additional requirements such as length of service or a requirement to return to work for a certain period.

Where an employer has made a mistake in their payroll they can ask for the money to be repaid. However, any repayment plan must be reasonable and affordable. Your employer should take into account your incomings and outgoing. You can get free regulated debt advice if you need help or support to negotiate a repayment plan with your employer: https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice

It appears that your employer initially wrongly confirmed that you were eligible for OMP and then withdrew it. Whether you can rely on their letter confirming your eligibility may depend on the circumstances. Unfortunately employers make mistakes and if they have now realised and admitted it was a mistake they can ask you to repay any sums that were overpaid (providing they are reasonable as above).

The only circumstance in which you may be able to rely on your employer's letter stating that you were eligible for OMP is if they were made aware of your fixed term contract (and the fact that you would not be able to return to work) and were asked to confirm whether you would still be entitled to OMP. If they were fully aware of the circumstances and were asked to confirm your entitlement you could have an argument for saying that they exercised their discretion and agreed to pay your OMP despite the fact that you were not able to meet the qualifying conditions. This will depend on the discussions you had with your employer at the time and who was asked to make the decision about your entitlement to OMP e.g. whether they had sufficient authority to exercise discretion over OMP entitlement.

If you were entitled to the OMP under your employer's policy e.g. you meet the service conditions and can meet any return to work requirements or you have evidence that your employer exercised their discretion to pay OMP, you may have a claim for unauthorised deduction of wages if your employer has not paid the OMP you were entitled to or if they are trying to recoup the OMP already paid. There is a strict time limit for starting a claim in an Employment Tribunal. If you are making a claim for unauthorised deduction of wages, the time limit is 3 months from the date of payment or last in a series of payments.

If you are thinking of making a Tribunal claim, you will need to go through ACAS Early Conciliation first. You can complete an online form here to start early conciliation: Early conciliation or telephone the ACAS helpline: 0300 123 11 00. You must start Early Conciliation before the time limit expires. In some circumstances, a tribunal will extend the time where it is ‘just and equitable’ but there is no guarantee that a late claim will be accepted.

If you are thinking of bringing a claim I recommend raising it informally initially e.g. asking for a meeting with HR or writing to someone senior in HR to review your entitlement or to ask for an explanation of what went wrong. Speak to your union if you are a member.

If you have been unable to resolve the issues informally, your next step is to consider raising a grievance. I suggest only raising a grievance as a last resort and it is important to be clear about the outcomes you would like to see e.g. an apology for what went wrong. You could also ask your employer to consider waiving all or part of the OMP that they are asking you to repay. You will need to pursue a grievance if you are thinking of making a claim in an employment tribunal as you are expected to take all reasonable steps to resolve the dispute and your compensation can be reduced if you have not done so.

I hope that helps.

Dear AnnaCBi

Thank you for your query. You are entitled to the occupational maternity pay provided by your employer of 6 weeks full pay, 12 weeks half pay and then 21 weeks at the standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay. Your employer may require you to return to work for a specified period to avoid repayment of the enhanced pay so you should check your employer's maternity policy. Your employer cannot refuse your SMP and enhanced pay if you meet the qualifying conditions and give your employer the correct notice.

Shared parental leave does not create any new rights to leave or pay for parents but allows the mother to transfer any untaken weeks of maternity leave/pay to her partner or to take shared parental leave instead of maternity leave herself. Maternity leave/pay can only be taken in one block but shared parental leave/pay can be taken more flexibly in the year after the birth.

For example, if you wish to take 12 weeks' shared parental leave/pay you will need to 'curtail' (reduce) your maternity leave/pay by 12 weeks. Your maternity leave will therefore end after 40 weeks (52-12 = 40) and your maternity pay will end after 27 weeks (39-12 = 27). If you have reduced your maternity leave and pay by 12 weeks you are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of shared parental leave and Statutory Shared Parental Pay which will also be paid at the same standard rate as SMP.

You must give your employer at least 8 weeks' notice to take shared parental leave/pay. You can give up to three notices to book a period of shared parental leave. If you book one period of shared parental leave in each notice your employer cannot refuse it. Your employer may have their own forms for giving notice for shared parental leave. If not, you can use the ACAS forms online here: https://www.acas.org.uk/shared-parental-leave-form-templates

You can book your 3 blocks of shared parental leave up to a year from the birth.

If you want to end your maternity leave/pay earlier in order to be back at work for the Easter holiday you will need to give at least 8 weeks' notice to return to work early. You should make sure that you are ending your maternity leave after your enhanced maternity pay has ended, otherwise you will lose the higher paid weeks of maternity leave. Any untaken weeks of maternity leave/pay can then be taken as shared parental leave/pay providing you give the correct notice as above. This is a statutory right so your employer cannot refuse it.

Shared Parental Leave is a complex scheme and we have more information on the Maternity Action website here: https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/shared-parental-leave-and-pay/

I hope that helps.

Dear dutchlondoner

Thank you for your query. DWP should accept other evidence such as a letter on headed paper confirming your pregnancy and due date. It must be signed by a health professional and dated after your 20th week of pregnancy. It will need to be translated.

HMRC set out alternative evidence that an employer can accept for paying Statutory Maternity Pay and the same would apply for Maternity Allowance: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/statutory-payments-manual/spm120400  Whilst it would normally be a MATB1, a letter confirming the due date should be accepted.

If you have already provided this evidence you should ask for a mandatory reconsideration (a review) within 28 days or within 13 months of the decision if you have good reasons for being late e.g. you were seeking advice. I suggest sending the guidance from gov.uk that you refer to. In addition, the notes supplied with the Maternity Allowance claim form state that whilst a MATB1 form is the best form of evidence it does not state that it is the only evidence you can provide, see page 7 of the Notes sheet: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

If DWP refuse the mandatory reconsideration you can appeal to an independent tribunal.

I hope you are able to resolve it soon.

Dear LucretianSwerve

Thank you for your query. I understand how frustrating this must be for you.

Your rights will be determined by the timing of the emails confirming that you could convert to 5 days a week and what your contract of employment says. If your contract includes what is known as an “entire agreement clause” (i.e. a clause which states that the contract contains all the terms agreed between the parties meaning that you cannot rely on anything that was said or agreed beforehand), and the emails referencing a switch to 5 days were sent prior to signing the contract, then it is unlikely that you would have a claim against your employer.

If, however, the change was agreed and referenced in emails after signing the contract, or the contract does not contain an entire agreement clause then you may have an argument that you have a contractual right to switch to 5 days particularly if the emails were quite specific as to when this change would occur.

From the information we have, I think it would be a challenge to mount any kind of discrimination claim. You weren’t returning to this employer after maternity leave and they are not imposing a requirement on you that it is difficult for you to comply with because you have childcare responsibilities or any protected characteristic – you might have an easier route here if you had agreed to reduce your working days rather than increase them after a period.

I’m not clear exactly when you started this role but unless you have two years’ service with the new employer you are not protected from unfair dismissal so if you were to resign in response to an alleged breach of contract, you would not be able to claim constructive unfair dismissal unless you could somehow link it to the fact that you had been pregnant or taken maternity leave or another protected characteristic.

In terms of next steps, I would usually recommend continuing to negotiate with your employer if at all possible. If you want to continue to work there it is best to keep discussions amicable and constructive and this may put you in the best position to increase your hours as soon as there is an opportunity.

You can also raise a formal grievance if you want to raise it more formally or you are considering taking it further. You should give as much information as you can about the promises that were made, why you need to move to 5 days and about their failure to respond and the adverse impact this is having on you. The more detail you can provide the better. If these promises encouraged you to resign from your previous role this would be very helpful information to include. However, I would only suggest raising a grievance as a last resort as it will often be treated as a complaint and can impact your employment relationship, therefore, consider carefully whether this will help to achieve the outcome you are seeking.

I hope that this is helpful and that everything goes well.

I’m feeling stuck. I am nearly at the end of my maternity leave, before I left I was told that I could make a flexible working request for part time hours, I know others in my company have done so, and was lead to believe it would be possible verbally before I left to do reduced hours that worked for me.

I asked whether there was a minimum amount of hours or a threshold they would prefer, and was told no and to put what I wanted. I then had my request rejected in that it was too little hours (20). I have resubmitted a new request with more hours and presence across the week but not heard back yet. I understand that they don’t have to take me back part time but I feel a bit mislead based on conversations had prior.

There is a restructure going on with my company being bought by new people and I get the feeling this is affecting things and maybe that they are trying to force my hand to not come back as it’s not feeling a collaborative process.

The sticking point is for me that I took the company maternity pay on the assumption I would be able to return part time, and so they say I would have to pay it back as per the contract. If they are not accommodating of me returning part time as a mother, do I have any rights to not have to pay that back? Or if the job has different expectations now (so it was remote first when I left but with the new people they want people in office 3 days a week, harder for me) does that change things? If I’d known it would be this hard to return on less hours I wouldn’t have taken the pay and am much worse off financially now with that debt.

Thank you so much for your response. Can I ask a follow up question?

It's about clarifying this part: "If DWP refuse your claim for Maternity Allowance, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration (a review) of their refusal and provide evidence that you were engaged in self-employment prior to registering."

What kind of evidence can I send to DWP? Does it need to be a proof of income (even though for self-employed it is assesed by checking NI contributions)? Are there other kinds of activities that count? I am a writer.

Hiya,
I had been working for an employer for about 6 weeks. I told them I was pregnant and shortly afterwards they gave me my 2 weeks notice to leave. The reason they gave me was because they were selling the business and that my colleague would also be given their notice. This was back in April.
They haven't sold the business, my colleague continued to work there, no sale of the business was mentioned to him, and I've since found out from him that a few days before I was given notice, the employer asked him if he had a friend who could replace me and was told by the employer he wanted to give me my notice because I "wasn't healthy enough to work there due to the pregnancy" (verbally). They hired someone the next day to replace me and told customers I left because of my pregnancy (one customer revealed this to me on my last day, I had never told this customer I was pregnant nor that I was leaving). The employer at one point during my notice period told me about how when he told my colleague about the sale and gave him notice, that he cried. I include this detail in case it's relevant because it shows the extent my employer went to with the lying.
(Just to be clear, me and the colleague never crossed paths while working there because we were contracted for different days. We had never met which is why we weren't in contact about leaving etc. I found out about the lies etc about a month later when my colleague was unfairly dismissed without notice under different circumstances, they are making a separate claim for that.)
I never got the reason for my dismissal in writing at the time. But when I found out that they had lied to me I contacted them to ask why I was dismissed and they told me again it was because of the sale of the business, when I asked for further clarification considering my colleague hadn't been dismissed and why someone had been hired to replace me they told me it was none of my business and I had no right to ask such questions.
On the encouragement of my colleague I potentially want to take a claim to an employment tribunal (I'm still within time limits and have early conciliation certificate from acas) but I feel nervous about it in case later down the line I end up having to pay fees due to an "unreasonable claim" or if I lose. With baby almost here and I'm still unemployed, the potential of having to pay out a large sum of money at some point down the line feels terrifying.
Do I have a decent claim or is it an unreasonable claim? I chose not to engage with acas early conciliation, will this be considered unreasonable? Do I have evidence of unfair dismissal/discrimination or is just my word against theirs? I've read that witnesses often weaken a case because they might end up saying they can't remember things probably, with this in mind, I'm worried that my colleague's side of the story is the only thing that backs my claim/constitutes as evidence, is this the case? I have tried so hard to get advice on doing the process properly so I don't make mistakes or get accused of behaving unreasonably but it's incredibly hard to get answers. I would be so appreciative of as much advice as possible.