maternity and suitable alternative

[Forest1234]

Hello hive mind

I was given ‘early notification’ of redundancy in a ‘consultation’ back in March. We had two meetings where we discussed the redundancy process and reasons why our team are being made redundant. I was on Maternity leave at the time.

I returned to work last month. My role has been deemed non-viable and the team displaced ahead of redundancy process/paperwork being completed.

I have been asked to do alternative duties (whilst remaining on my contract/pay) until redundancy proposal paperwork is finalised and approved by unions. At which point they will look at suitable alternative roles in the first instance, with me getting priority over these.

My question is, with added maternity protection, do I need to wait for the redundancy to be formalised before being considered for suitable alternative posts? Or should I have been considered ‘at risk’ when we were consulted on the potential impending redundancy and my job role stopped back in March?

Hoping some legal or HR buffs might be able to shed some light on a stressful situation!

Thanks!

Technically you’re only entitled to be placed into an alternative vacancy after you’ve already been confirmed as redundant.

In practice, employers often job match before that point, and during the consultation process.

If there’s a suitable job for you, just ask them how you express an interest and see what process they suggest you follow.

Thank you @MrsPinkCock I have found a vacancy my employer and I think would be suitable and as you have suggested, both management and HR say I can only redeploy after redundancy confirmation (the job will no longer be vacant by that point). The maternity action website suggests you are entitled to suitable alternatives as soon as there is a potential redundancy situation. My union has backed this but my employer has maintained their stance. So yeh, now i’m confused and unsure where to go with it.