on ML, 'at risk' of redundancy

[becksydee]

DC is 5mo & i've been on ML since the beginning of august '09. i've worked full time for a small charity since october '07 & had a letter from my boss last week telling me that i was at risk of being made redundant because they hadn't been able to secure funding to continue my post. it went on to say that they hoped to secure funding by the time my ML ends in august, but if i wanted to come back before then they would try and find me other stuff to do, but it would prob only be part time.

i've now spoken to my boss about what the 'other stuff' would be, as i'd been intending to return in april (& in fact had been about to print out and send a letter stating my intention to return in 8 weeks time on the day i got the letter ). it came down to 2 options:

1. 2 days a week doing face-to-face casework on the other side of london + 1 day in the office doing follow up work
2. 1 day a week doing face-to-face casework on the other side of london + 1/2 day in the office doing follow up work + 1 day doing my old job

i should point out that my old job was entirely office-based, i have minimal experience of doing individual casework & don't feel entirely comfortable about taking on this role, and my place of work on that 1 or 2 days a week would change from somewhere 1/2 an hour away from my house to somewhere 1.5-2 hours away (i don't drive). this would mean i'd be away from my DC for 11-12 hours (the thought of which is making me come out in a cold sweat) & i'll still be breastfeeding him but expressing will be incredibly tricky (i know there's lots of legal stuff about this, but please believe me when i say that it'll be pretty much impossible). both options seem really crap, although obviously 2) is slightly more attractive than 1) (in the same way that a landfill site is slightly more attractive than an open sewer )

i have no idea what to do or what my rights are. i'm currently walking a fine line between feeling really down about this & wanting to stick my head in the sand & enjoy my ML and the time with my LO ... help??!

If your post is funded by a grant or other outside funding, the funding has run out and more can't be secured, it sounds like a genuine redundancy. Your employer should offer you other employment if it's available, but if the positions you mention are the only ones available, that's fine. You will be able to decline both those positions as not being suitable and still get redundancy pay if you'd prefer to do that.

What Flowery said I'm afraid...

thanks for your replies, flowery & ribena.

various people had told me that my boss was on dodgy ground sending me that letter whilst i'm on ML, but looking at various things on the web today it seems they were wrong about that.

will phone ACAS tomorrow i think to clarify, but looks like taking on an unsuitable role or redundancy are my only options

It's not dodgy to make a genuine redundancy whilst someone is on maternity leave I'm afraid.

You can't make someone redundant because they are on maternity leave. They have extra protection if there are vacancies (can't be made to compete against others) and there are some technical arguments about selection pools, but the redundancy itself is not prohibited.

thanks for clarifying, ribenaberry.

have got a face to face meeting with my boss tomorrow afternoon. she seems to be a bit reticent to put any of the discussions we've had so far down in writing which i'm a bit about, but i'm planning to take my own notes, type them up & see if she agrees that they're an accurate record of our meeting (like i don't have enough to do with a 5mo baby!)

redundancy is looking like the 'best' option so far , but will see how the meeting goes tomorrow.