maternity cover - am I being pushed out?

[lilysmemo]

HELP- I have been in my current role for the past 8 months and am due to go on Maternity leave in a few days. My employer has brought in a "replacement" to cover my leave.
Since I have been with the company my role has changed. I was hired to be a sales administrator- and then was asked to help out with several "normal" administration roles, which I have done. I have asked for further training with the sales and marketing consultants within the company and these requests have been ignored.
My replacement ( according to her job spec which is here on my desk) will be doing the job I was hired to do- and will be receiving the training I had asked for.
I get the distinct feeeling that I will be coming back into a regular admin role, and I am not happy , as I am excellent in sales but have not had the support I had asked for. What should/can I do ?

Well firstly don't panic, not yet anyway. Nothing wrong with replacing you while you are on maternity leave, and nothing wrong with the job spec matching yours.

Is there more of a problem than not having training you asked for? Were you given a reason for not getting the training when you discussed it with your manager? Was it something you were intially promised and was then withdrawn?

And the extra tasks you have taken on, is there a problem with doing that? Are you still able to do your regular job as well? Is there any reason to think your maternity cover won't be doing those tasks as well?

How long are you planning to take off on maternity leave? I ask because if you come back at or before 6 months, you are entitled to your job back. If you come back after more than 6 months, you are not necessarily entitled to the exact same job.

I'd suggest you ask for a meeting with your manager, say that you are disappointed to see that your maternity cover will be getting the training you requested, but you are glad to see there is an acknowledgement that the training in question is a good idea for the person in your job, and you would like to book in that training for when you come back from maternity leave, as you are keen to continue contributing as part of the sales team.

oh but you are so sensible - thank you! I am trying not to panic ( as BP is already raised)
the job spec is for her only - I have never been given one, but the job described on hers is the one I was interviewed for. It is a small company so the MD is my line manager , and when I had asked for this training it was a case of "yes , yes , we'll sort that out " but it never happened.
The extra tasks I do will not be undertaken by my replacement- she is doing my sales related work , plus other sales support.
I am taking 9 months off so I suppose I will just have to accept what is offered then. I will try to speak to my employer before I go , as I do not want to go with a bad taste in my mouth. I do have a feeling I will be looking elsewhere tho over the next while.
Thank you for your calm advice, Tracey

No problem. Definitely talk to your boss before you go, then once you're off, try to forget all about work, enjoy your baby and focus on what's important.

When it comes to going back to work, that's a battle to fight then if you need to, but don't spend time stressing at the moment.