Replaced by Maternity Cover

[ARPHA119]

I desperately want some clarity.

I had 11 months maternity leave (I had provisioned for 12 months but reduced to 11 with lots of notice) and had ample time to train a cover up before my pending date of finish, however I didn’t know I was training someone to take over that role.
It was expressed that if this person did a good job that they would be made permanent and stay within our team. It’s worth mentioning that there had always been a silent note that we needed another Admin person to look after a different area of the business, so that’s what I assumed would happen. (Official notes of this are published on our company intranet page, so there’s a reason behind my assumption)
At around 8 months I had a call with my then manager and he expressed that she was being made permanent in that position and he’s being moved to a different department so he can’t explain what job I would be doing.
he did however try to get me to reduce my Mat leave in order for him to hold a position open for me in his new team, which was of ZERO interest to me and pretty much threw is hands up to say he doesn’t know what is to happen when I return. He did also massively knock me down by saying that my replacement is good and is a yes person. However, for context, when I started this job we had massive flaws in the operation and I had implented change but with backlash from existing staff. The MC has come in and got a easy ride basically, and everything is laid out for them.
My colleague, someone I thought was a friend, was checking in with me and I expressed my fustration to her. One of my frustrations was that I can foresee how this is going to play out and I would be picking up work for the Customer Service team.
She is now my manager when I returned.
And slow and steadily they are handing over particular jobs that are dealt with by the CS team currently.

Behind the scenes of this, me and her have spoken and she’s said that if I was adamant in returning to my job then she would speak to my MC, but this leaves me feeling awkward.
I'm a people pleaser and I don’t wanna rock the boat, but where the heck do I stand in all of this?!
Im yet to sign off on my new job description and agree.

It will definitely make me uncomfortable, but i already feel uncomfortable. Comments have been thrown around that she’s more favourable and I do feel like there is a competitive side brewing within me to show them that isn’t the case.
we had a call yesterday with the 3 of us and despite having 11 months out of the business and being stripped of my duties, I was able to identify short comings with in the accounts but the tasks, very swiftly got passed to my MC to handle. It was like a dagger 😞🫩
I like to think my proactive approach shines brighter than someone just being a ‘yes’ person as it was mentioned.

This is discrimination. They can’t give your job away to someone else.

Are you in a union op? If not I'd join one and go over this with them so they can explain what you are entitled to and you can decide what you want and they can support you to negotiate that.

Unions will rarely support someone who has just joined (and will probably promptly leave if they get what they want). The whole point is that you join a union before you have problems, not after.

OP, I may have missed this but I seem to think that you are already back at work. Since when? Because "signing off" or even having a JD is not a legal requirement. In returning and doing the role you now have, there is a possibility that in law you have already accepted the return on this basis.

I returned back at work on the 1st September.

me and my new manager have gone over the ‘new’ job description but I am yet to confirm or accept anything.
my line manager is trying to help and support, I give her credit, I really do.
however I do feel like this shouldn’t be up for debate, from early conversations she believes i should have been returning to that job and my MC to have been offered the alternative.
shes also thought about asking MC if she would be happy to accept this role that I’ve been offered but like I’ve said previously, I don’t want to rock the boat within the team, but I think I might have too. But what if she declines?!

I joined a union in a not dissimilar position to op and they were massively supportive. And I still pay my monthly fee now nearby 3 years later. Often people only realise they need a union and what they can do when they are in trouble and it's what helps with recruitment of members. In my sector especially I would have felt almost bad being in a union prior but now I advocate it. That mentality would be very short sighted on the unions part if they look at it that way.

OP I think unfortunately the key words here are ‘my job’. It isn’t your job anymore. After six months they don’t have to give you your old job back. Someone else has your old job and you have been give. A new one. It may not be nice but it happens - it isn’t your job anymore.

https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/your-rights/

These guys are very good I believe.

This isn’t legal. You need to speak to an employment lawyer as soon as possible

Yeah it sounds like they're breaking the law. I would contact a union or pregnant then screwed. Don't accept a different position it's not right that you're given a different job just because you had a baby. There are laws to protect you from exactly this.

This happened to me. Maternity leave cover was made permanent. I returned to my 'old job' but didn't actually have anything to do and left 5 months later

Not sure people can join then get instant help otherwise no one would bother joining till they need the help, they dont exist for that

In this case I am not sure what is illegal about it

If you do not like the role (sounds like you dont)

You should talk to ACAS today.

https://www.acas.org.uk/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights/returning-to-work-after-having-a-baby

I get what people are saying but in reality its not totally clear cut..."changes to the organisation" can be interpreted differently. They may not be breaking the law...

From acas:
If you've taken more than 26 weeks
More than 26 weeks' maternity leave is called 'additional maternity leave' under the law.
If you use additional maternity leave, you still have the right to return to your job on the same terms as before you left. But if it's not possible because there have been significant changes to the organisation, you could be offered a similar job.
In this case, the job cannot be on worse terms than before. For example, the following must be the same:

• pay
• benefits
• holiday entitlement
• seniority
• where the job is

Good luck...hope it works out..!

I appreciate that but your union were highly unusual, and perhaps exercised some discretion. A waiting period / not representing people in pre-existing cases is in almost all cases part of the union rule book. As a general rule, new members do not get representation and it should not be relied upon. Local lay reps may be more flexible, but union resources are broadly never expended (so legal advice etc) in this way unless there is a possibility of precedent, which is rare.

The reason the rules were introduced were for exactly the reasons stated - people joined to get help then left again when they had.

You took more than 6 months off and so you aren't automatically entitled to what was your job back. They do have to give you an equivalent role as you took 11 months off, so same grade, pay and hours etc, but if you wanted to return to your old job you needed to have returned by 6 months

It’s a non issue and you’re making it one by feeling uncomfortable sticking up for yourself. No one else is going to stick up for you so have to do it. Just say as I was away on maternity leave, when you return your cover needs to then do a different job so you can return back to yours as “cover” would no longer be needed as your back. This is their problem, not yours.

As others have stated, this is far from clear cut because of the length of your maternity leave, so nobody could give you any assurances about what happens if she declines. And that includes a lawyer. On the face of it, your options are simple. You either accept the situation or you raise a grievance, and an appeal if unsuccessful. At which point you are at liberty to make a claim to an employment tribunal who will be the arbiter of how reasonable or not the employer has been. Eventually.

Given the type of claim and the backlogs (which vary depending on where you are) a hearing could be 12+ months away, you would need to continue working under protest with an employer that you are suing (or resign and take the risk of a claim for constructive unfair dismissal, which are very hard to win), and win or lose that fact defines your relationship with the employer in the future. Or they will offer you a settlement to go away (these, along with tribunal awards, are rarely the kind of money people think they will get) which is far more likely to be the outcome of a claim as the effort and time for a tribunal acts as a "war of attrition" on claimants.

By far the best outcome is to find a way to resolve this without recourse to the law if that is possible. The majority of people who end up going down the legal route would tell you that even if they won, the toll makes it questionable as to whether it was worth it. That's a personal reflection obviously and not everyone would agree, but few people would say it was a positive experience.

Phone ACAS. Today. Then demand your job back.

You could also speak or an employment lawyer. Are you in a union? Everyone should be in a union for help with this stuff but call ACAS, get advice and go in today, site maternity discrimination and demand your role back.

No they can’t do that just because they like the maternity cover. Her role still exists so she can’t just be replaced and given another role.

As others have said, since you have had more than 6 months maternity leave, the law allows them to move you to a different job if it is not reasonably practicable to give you your old job back. Whilst it is not 100% guaranteed, keeping your maternity cover in your old position is likely to be maternity discrimination.

I’d contact HR and point out that what they have done is illegal and you want your job back - the one you had before mat leave that you only paused bot left and that’s legally yours! They can find something else for the mat leave person!

You calmly tell them not to "ask" your cover but to fulfil their legal duty to give you your job back.

Move the conversation into writing as soon as you possibly can.

Dear MD, Line manager & HR manager

I am pleased to be back following my maternity leave and look forward to contributing to the team again as ‘original job role ’.

With the change in line management in the team I received some unclear verbal communication around my role in the lead up to my return to work.

I am emailing to clarify my preference to resume my previous role, which has been covered ably to date by X, and feel confident to assume these responsibilities immediately.

Kind regards

So sorry about your situation, I’m in a similar one and wondered if anyone had any thoughts as I don’t know where I stand. I was on a temporary contract and ended up going off on maternity leave (currently had 5months off and was willing to go back as soon as practicable) … I’ve now been informed that due to other staff coming back from leave and my mat covers contract still having a while left and the fact that she’ll likely be made permanent afterwards, there’s no job for me so before my maternity (SMP) leave is due to finish I will be unemployed. I don’t know whether because my contract was temporary it’s fine or whether the reasoning makes it not fine ? Thanks

He did say it’s nothing to do with me or my performance as he was very happy with me and the job I did it’s purely because there’s no job for me now