Hi All
Apologies if I am covering old boring ground here, I'm new on here and have had a look at similar threads and read the advice but am still not sure if I am worrying over nothing, or if I do have a genuine reason to be upset
My employer have always been a bit off when ladies announce they have dared to have sex and get pregnant . I was asked, only about 3 weeks after I informed them (so I was about 12 weeks pregnant) to already start handing over some of my work
Then after a meeting with a manager about another issue, the subject of my role came up (after the manager made noises about Mat Leave and I said I was def. only taking the 6 months as I wanted to ensure I came back to my original role) and I was told that I would have the same job title when I came back, but not necessarily the same role (already they had thought about this - I was still only about 4 - 5 months pregnant!). This was a huge shock and I was extremely upset after the meeting.
And so this continued for a number of weeks - will I / won't I be in the same job. Then I found out they were interviewing for someone else to join the team I was on with the same job title as me and on a perm basis. I didn't assume it was my replacement at the time (despite us not needing an additional person on a perm basis, and other co-workers saying it was a disgrace that they were already replacing me), but then I was asked to train this person up in what I did, alarm bells started and so did the stress again.
Then, other senior members of the office and management started having little conversations with me about my role when I return. They varied each time from "you will def. be back in the same role" to "we will try and get you back on the same role if we can" to "nevermind you can come and work with me" so for weeks I was on a rollercoaster thinking everything is ok, then being stressed again when I was told otherwise.
The last thing I was told when I left for mat leave was I would be back in the same role by one manager, then a senior manager said "I will do my best to get you back in your same role" but still nothing official.
My query is - if there is no room on the original team I was in when I go back, yet this person who I had to train up is still there, don't I have a right to return to that team and this person should be shuffled around rather than me? In my mind, perhaps unfairly, I don't know - if there is 'no room' for me surely the new person who joined the team should be the one to be switched rather than me??
Its worth noting that the team I am in and the clients they deal with are very different to those of the rest of the office. The clients that my team deal with are fairly local, however if I was on another team it may involve alot more travelling to get to meetings and the other clients are not quite as prestigious as the one I dealt with originally.
At the end of the day I just want to go back to what I was doing. I don't expect the company to stop time from when I left to when I go back, but there again if there is a 'new' person on my team with my job title then that means there is still a place for me on that team and it should be mine.
What does anyone else think?? x