Being made redundant while still on maternity leave

[LKB257]

Hi

I am on maternity leave at the moment and have been in discussions with my HR department regarding my return. I have now been told that I may be made redundant! Prior to my maternity leave I was the only person doing my job, while on maternity leave two other people started doing it now they want to amalgamate the job back into one brand new job. They plan on doing a skill set points system to decide who gets the new job - do they have to find me something else if they don't offer me this job?

They are being very silly. As a woman on maternity leave you have special protection and HAVE to be offered the post over the others. Not to mention your right to return to work...

Got to pop out now but will post a link later.

LKB that job is yours. As a woman on maternity leave you get extra protection from redundancy. You can't be made to compete with other people for a job. If there is a suitable job available, it must be offered to you first. You should not be included in any selection process as you've described.

It is possible your HR department don't know this - it's a rare example of positive discrimination in employment law. I will find you a link to send them, but you should write to them as soon as you can pointing this out, as obviously it means the other two people involved will be made redundant.

Hang on will find link.

This is a good one, aimed at legal/professional advisers but fairly accessible language and very clear about redundancy in maternity leave.

That is definitely illegal