Need to send an email back to my employer asap, so any advice v welcome. Sorry for long story...
(Background = I'm a senior manager in a small-ish company of 22 employees, of which, 4 are on the Board and 4 are senior managers).
I told boss I'd take a year of ML. I only got statutory mat pay, even though I'm told constantly that I'm valuable/they can't do without me etc.
Heard not a dicky bird from them despite some significant changes e.g. two of my team resigning, one of my team being promoted to do my job while I'm on mat leave, two new people being recruited into my team, new employment contracts being issued etc.
Emailed before Christmas (around 7 months into ML) to say hello and ask for a catch up conv with boss. Chased this up twice before finally getting a call in the new year. All very amicable "we've really missed you, we'd love you to come back full-time etc".
Was left that he'd get back to me with a proposal for how they'd like me to fit back in. Although I don't think I can or want to go back full-time to the same job (don't want DD in full-time childcare straight away), I didn't say this just said I was open to suggestion - all offers considered.
Didn't hear anything for two more weeks, then got call from a colleague who'd heard I was in town visiting with DD and wanted me to come in for a chat. Turns out she'd been promoted to the Board (another piece of news not passed on to me), and is now effectively my boss.
So went in for chat with new boss to find old boss also in attendance. Had essentially the same conv again (sigh) where the only thing I gave away was that I wasn't too keen to go back to managing people but over all I haven't made a decision about how many hours/what role etc and was open to suggestions. New boss says she'll be in touch with a proposal for how they'd like me to fit back in.
Next thing I get an email from one of my team to tell me they'd heard the bombshell that I wasn't coming back as their manager and had been invited to apply for my job, and what did I think!
Now, I did concede at the meeting that I wasn't keen to go back to managing people the way I had been before (I work remotely managing a team of 5) as it was hard going and I wasn't doing the work I enjoyed any more, just doing lots of managing.
But in my book, that doesn't mean advertise my job without even letting me know!
I played dumb and sent new boss an email saying it would be good to get her proposal re my returning to work asap, as I'm sure my team were keen to know what was happening. She's replied saying she's advertised my job and is waiting til next week to make appointment, after which she'll send me a proposal. In the meantime, can I confirm if I said 3 days a week was okay and that I'm happy to just be part of the team.
Sorry this is so long, but what shall I do??
I could say stick your job (nicely) and go freelance again, with the poss of some work from them
I could say fine, I'll be part of the team and just do the work and swallow it.
Or I could tell them exactly why they've behaved badly, threaten legal action and see if I can get a pay-off.
WHAT SHALL I DO????
Think I've royally f*ed up these negotiations and wonder if what they've done is perfectly fine and i'm just overeacting. Wah!