Going back part time after maternity - diff to other part timers?

minnie123

I am going back to work 3 days a week after my maternity leave. I have been told I have to work Tue, Wed, Thu and I will only get a bank holiday off in my normal working hours fall on that day (so that is none then). I know for a fact that other part time members of staff get their bank holidays pro rata so I called my boss today to confirm this. He said "maternity people" are different to part time people. Surely this is not allowed I have tried calling acas but they are always engaged.

Hutch100uk

Sounds like rubbish to me. All part-time staff are the same. Your company should have given you a new contract reflecting your new hours etc. This contract should detail holiday and bank holiday entitlements. At my work, I was given a new contract stating my new hours, holidays etc. I also get a few extra holidays to cover any bank holidays which land on a day I don't work. I don't think this is law though so your company may not do this. Please call these people as they were a great help to me when I had problems returning part- time.
http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/family_zone/m_contact_us.asp

Rince

Hi, does your company have a HR department or a Work/Life balancy policy ? I'm working part time Tue wed thurs after maternity and where I work we get all the bank hoidays added up which is 8 days and all our other holiday entitlement then it gets pro rataed to 3/5. This is stated in our work life balancy policy. People working part time whether it be after maternity or for any other reason shouldn't get treated any differently.

mrsmyagi

Oh my lord, your boss is a lunatic - there are laws to ensure "maternity" people are not treated any differently and they're called Sex Discrimination!! You should be treated exactly the same as everyone else - give him / her hell!

minnie123

Yeah well thats what I thought. I have asked if I can do Mon, Tue, Wed instead because those are the only days I can get childcare and it doesn't matter to them what days I work at all. So I said will I get my bank holidays pro rata - the HR woman in going to ring me next week. I feel scared to rock the boat too much though because my boss said today they can make me come back full time if they wanted and I couldn't do that so then I wouldn't have a job at all.

Hutch100uk

I have been through this whole painful process and I know what a nightmare it is. Unfortunately your boss doesn't 'have' to give you part-time hours but he must provide valid business cases as to why you cannot do your job part-time. You should always put your request in writing and they have timescales for responding. That website I posted is excellent for taking you through the whole process. Unfortunately you cannot demand which days you work so if your boss insists on certain days, I'm not sure there is a lot you can do other than appeal to his better nature (if he has one).

Where these things are concerned you MUST know your rights and the formal process which must be followed otherwise employers walk all over you!

ab7167

Absolute rubbish. I have returned to work recently after maternity leave and my work were very very quick to point out I was being given pro rata bank holidays and not being treated any differently. I work Tue, Wed, Thu so do benefit from this.

You need to submit a formal request for part time working and if they decline they need to have a good reason why not - and there is a list somewhere that defines what a good reason is. I was specifically told that I needed to work either Monday or Tuesday as these are the busy days, but could choose which other 2 days I worked - which is a reasonable request.

If they still claim that they treat women returning from maternity leave differently from other part time workers - this is Direct Sex Discrimination - you can only have maternity leave if you are female, so they are discriminating based soley on your gender. If they claim that they treat you differently only because you are part time - this is Indirect Sex Discrimination - there are more part time female workers that male (significantly more), so by discriminating against part time workers, you are automatically deemed to be discriminating against women.

Call ACAS is my best advice - they were brilliant when I called (passed over for promotion because I was on maternity leave)

Hope this helps.

dobbie82

Where I work (in a hotel office) bank holidays are now treated as normal days and everyone gets the same holidays 28 for full timers I think? (20 + 8 to cover bank holidays) and then part-timers get them pro rata, will try find out how the extra are calculated pro-rata though!

As they tried double pay and then a day in lieu instead but people moaned if their day off landed on a bank holiday as they'd miss out.

I work a 3 day week (mon, tues, friday) as agreed when I returned after maternity leave, and am lucky to have a really understanding boss (Has 3 kids of her own). But your boss sounds like a nightmare!

minnie123

I have put it in writing and I have had a formal offer back but it was for Tue Wed & Thu and said about only getting bank holidays if I worked that day. I have now requested Mon, Tue, Wed saying those are the only days I have childcare for and I also mentioned that I knew other part time staff got bank holidays pro rata so will see what they say. I am worried though because I know a girl a while ago came back after maternity leave and because she wanted to work part time they reduced her salary because they said her previous role was only a full time position and so by taking her on part time it was a new role with a lower salary. However I already have a letter offering me my full salary pro rata so i'm hoping they don't try this.