Oh Cupcakeandtea the fact that you were written to, which would have gone through the HR dept, and that you have 10 years service, and that this happened so soon after you had a baby demonstrates that your HR (remember they work for the business) and your boss are not very good managers and reflects so badly on them and your place of work! I'm furious on your behalf, hence my long post.
You are so right to consider the stress that a claim can cause and as tempting as it is, don't fire off a response just yet. Always think of the outcome that you want and the actual likely outcome by seeking proper advice.
If they were hoping to resolve a matter then it seems a piss poor way of doing so.
I would never trust them again and I would consider ways to protect yourself.
Whatever you do do not resign. You might be able to angle for a redundancy but don't let your company know this let, you want to put yourself in the strongest position to negotiate but at your pace and within what you are comfortable doing.
I agree with pushmepullme. If the matter was serious to the company then it should have been dealt with at the time and let you go and have your maternity leave. That is what a good manager and good HR dept would have done.
Don't feel you have to react straight away. Remember by them sending you this letter your manager may want you to over react - why else would you be bothered so soon after giving birth.
It is horrible that you are having to worry about work at this special time.
Lots of people expect HR rightly to be ethical and offer a different perspective than managers, but it often is not the case. They and the lawyers they hire are there to protect the company from potentially costly sex discrimination claims so don't expect them to be reasonable to you.
You can hope for a lot more that an unfair dismissal claim, but try not to let them get to you, you and your baby and dp are more important than a bunch of losers.
Putting in a claim is stressful and time consuming (not that you should not do this) but don't feel you need to react to their letter. Do things at your pace. You are entitled to keep getting paid, so take that well earned maternity money.
Some options that you can take or leave-
- See your doctor - a sick note may be required if you are stressed.
- It depends on your company policy as to what contact they can have, but you don't need to make yourself available for meetings etc, (especially if you have seen a doctor, and need to organise child care).
- Check your house insurance it may offer some free employment advice by access to an employment lawyer, a well worded letter from a legal professional may assist you, but take your time and consult wisely. Call ACAS and some discrimination services. Or do you have a friend of the family who is an emp lawyer who can help you at your pace?
- Alternatively is there someone higher in the company, an owner or a CEO who can write to, chat to on the phone? This might get you someone else with perspective outside that of HR and the manager, and you might find that manager is powerful enough gets your manager and HR to pull their head in, but this needs to be someone with standing, who is ethical and reasonable and preferable knows about your good work record. You could mention that you have issues with HR and your manager due to poor timing of the letter so wish to speak to someone higher. That way you may look more reasonable than the dim wits who contacted you.
- You could also write to HR and ask for every policy document on Harrassment + Bullying, Maternity, Equal Opportunities, Grievance, Appeal, Disciplinary, Long service, Redundancy, Health and Safety etc, that way you don't need to show your cards just yet but you can get them to do some work and send you some information - they might get the message that you might claim under a wide remit. Ask for copies of your performance appraisals etc. Was a risk assessment undertaken for your post? Ask why not if it wasn't and request a copy if it was undertaken. Also ask HR to send you the notes on your file from the meetings (even though you described them as a waste of time) they should have taken notes, again get them to do some work, and this information gathering may take them some time.
- Also if you are up to it (and again you and your baby are the most important considerations here) take some notes as to how your pregnancy was adversely affected by the manager, and /or HR.
- Also I'm not sure but maybe the "reprimand" should only stay on your file for a short period, say 3 or 6 months and expire and then it may have to be removed from your file. This does not mean that you should not fight it, but I am assuming they are on shaky ground. Again you could ask for clarification, but it may not affect your employment record. You could always ask for the letter to be retracted as being unreasonable, given your circumstances.
All the very best in whatever you do decide to do, but please take your time and I hope you can somehow get perspective to enjoy your bub.