They won't cover my mat leave and I have to develop strategy of staff cover... can they ask this?

[beccas]

My employer says there is a baby boom and they can't afford to cover my maternity leave, I already told them I will be taking full 52 weeks.
They have asked me to make a strategy of who would cover what elements of my workload, effectively dividing all the different elements of my role amongst a team of about 45. I am the only person in my 'team', my role is similar to office manager role.
Surely they can't ask me to do this and I would effectively be making myself redundant through constructive dismissal?
Any legal eagles with any view points or advice? Thanks

Are you working in the UK? How long have you been employed by the company? And do you get any additional maternity pay above and beyond the statutory minimum?

Also, would this asking you to look at how to redeploy work be a normal part of your current job? Perhaps for other people?

How long before your mat leave starts (am wondering about recruiting a maternity cover for 12 months to do your role and timescales)?

Not a legal bod, but no, they can't do this. They have to cover your mat leave (unless you haven't been at the company long enough)

You need to speak to citizens advice I think, go back to your company with what they say. If they don't bend after that, you'll probably need to take legal advice.

www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/ this link might help?

Sounds ridiculous to me. Maternity leave is a legal right, not an option. How can they "not afford it"? If you were there they would be paying you anyway! Assuming you will only be getting statutory maternity pay.

I would think they have a duty to cover your role, it is not up to you to find replacements. As I said, sounds ridiculous and I wouldn't agree to it.

They have good maternity pay 13 weeks full 13 weeks half so hence they say its unaffordable. I finish in early June
Thanks so far!

join a union quick

No unions in my industry.... shame

We've got two people off on mat leave at the moment and neither of them have been covered. This is standard with my employer except in situations where mat cover is unavoidable (NHS).

While they weren't specifically asked to come up with a strategy to ensure the service didn't suffer while they were off (this was my boss's job), there was a great deal of handover to various other people involved, liaising with other departments to ensure they knew that there would be a reduced service and to prioritise key areas etc.

They'll both be coming back to exactly the same job if they choose to - although one has decided to reduce her hours. Both are taking a full year.

So, in my experience, this doesn't necessarily mean your post is redundant.

Well if it is "unaffordable" then they shouldn't offer it!

A half hour with a solicitor might help just so you know your legal rights.

They should have planned and budgeted for people being off on maternity leave. They can't not give you what they are giving other colleagues without making formal changes to your contract.

Has any of this been checked with HR? They don't sound like a tiny company if there are 45 employees to delegate work to.

I am wondering if some berk has taken it upon themselves to "get creative with policy"?

But long and short of it is no, they can't start asking you to do anything unreasonable or change your contract because you are pregnant. That is discrimination and illegal.

Hold off on the lawyers for now (that is expensive and not necessary yet) but do question it and speak to HR informally and raise your questions formally with your line manager - just in case you need to take action later.

beccas, it sounds like they are saying, not that they won't honour your enhanced Mat Pay, but rather that they won't be replacing you while your gone?

That is perfectly acceptable. They don't have to fill your vacant post while you are gone, and they can break your current role down into elements and spread it about to avoid the cost of paying another staff member.

If your current job involves delegation (it sounds like it), then it probably isn't unreasonable to ask you to look at how your jobs can be delegated.

Also, they can't rely on you taking the full 52 weeks off. The law says they have to presume you will be, but that you are allowed to return prior to 52 weeks if you give 8 weeks' notice of your intention to return. So you can tell them now that you intend to take off 52 weeks, but they can't act on it.

Additionally, they only have an obligation to give you your exact job if you take up to 6 months leave (OML) The next 3 months, which are still paid with SMP (so weeks 27-39) and the last 3 months which are unpaid (so weeks 40-52) of your Mat Leave are Additional Maternity Leave (AML). If you choose to take AML, you lose your right to the exact same post as you left. Instead you have a right to either your original job, or a job that is similar on no worse terms or conditions, if it is not possible to give you your original post. You have no automatic right to vary your original post in terms of hours, although you can put in a flexible working request.

Is your concern that they will realise that with efficient spread they don't actually need a person to act as 'office manager'? In that situation you would be in a redundancy situation, yes.

This is a difficult one. But like Lou above I think they are trying in this difficult economic time to avoid getting temporary cover. It seems reasonable to me to ask for your help in breaking down your job so that it can be covered whilst you are on ML.
Certainly this is what we have done in our SME however we only pay SMP and have not had anyone off for more than 6 months. They have all come back to either there original post or a part-time version of this. None have been made redundant because although we could cover the position it meant extra work/hours which would not be practical long term.

I am sorry, but some of the advice above is wrong.

There is no legal obligation on an employer to cover your maternity leave by hiring someone new/temporary.

It is perfectly legal to ask you to think about how your duties could be divided up. It's a duty, just like any other, that you have been asked to do. Of course, if it doesn't work then that's not your problem. They can't stop you taking your leave or ask you to come back early.

It isn't redundancy, because they aren't suggesting your role will not be reassembled when you come back (and the stuff Lou has said about the right to return is correct). Constructive dismissal is treating you so badly you have no choice to but to resign (you can't have redundancy by constructive dismissal, they're two different things). They aren't.

Sorry to be blunt, but best to know where you stand.

What Ribena said. It's up to your employer whether or how to cover your maternity leave. Lots of employers don't recruit a direct replacement but divvy it up between them or recruit something else instead.
Perfectly fine for them to ask for your input into how to do it as well, it's not discrimination or constructive dismissal or anything like that.