Think I may have been discriminated against while on Maternity Leave

SarEl

Person_one wrote: »

Women on maternity leave have all the same rights as every other employee.

Yes, the temp may have been better, but they made a summary judgement without following the correct procedure so it can't be known can it? Maybe the OP's application for promotion would have been so impressive they'd have changed their mind, maybe not. The point is, she should have been given then chance, she would have been given the chance if she weren't on maternity leave, hence, discrimination due to maternity leave.

It seems so simple, I don't understand how people can think there was no breach of procedure here?

It is simple because there is utterly no evidence of breach of procedure. Nor is there any evidence that they made any summary judgement at all. The OP was entitled to apply - what she was not entitled to was to be personally contacted and told that a vacancy existed and she may wish to apply for it. The employer is under no obligation to do that unless they make a habit of personally approaching every employ and asking then whether they wish to apply, whether the employee is attending work of off for some reason. Being on maternity leave does not equate to being in purdah - if the OP wished to know if any vacancies or promotions were available she could just as easily have said that she would like copies of vacancies.

Person_one

SarEl wrote: »

It is simple because there is utterly no evidence of breach of procedure. Nor is there any evidence that they made any summary judgement at all. The OP was entitled to apply - what she was not entitled to was to be personally contacted and told that a vacancy existed and she may wish to apply for it. The employer is under no obligation to do that unless they make a habit of personally approaching every employ and asking then whether they wish to apply, whether the employee is attending work of off for some reason. Being on maternity leave does not equate to being in purdah - if the OP wished to know if any vacancies or promotions were available she could just as easily have said that she would like copies of vacancies.

I guess it partly depends on how the vacancy was publicised, maybe the OP can tell us. If it was an informal announcement in the office, or a quiet word with the temp, then that's a problem. If it was on an intranet that she could have checked then I'm not so sure. Women on maternity leave only have a few (ten?) 'keep in touch' days during their leave, are they really expected to be checking the company e-mails or website every few days?

mikey72

Person_one wrote: »

Women on maternity leave have all the same rights as every other employee.

Yes, the temp may have been better, but they made a summary judgement without following the correct procedure so it can't be known can it? Maybe the OP's application for promotion would have been so impressive they'd have changed their mind, maybe not. The point is, she should have been given then chance, she would have been given the chance if she weren't on maternity leave, hence, discrimination due to maternity leave.

It seems so simple, I don't understand how people can think there was no breach of procedure here?

How do you now she would have been given the chance.
I've seen a lot of jobs placed internally without advert or interview.

Person_one

mikey72 wrote: »

How do you now she would have been given the chance.
I've seen a lot of jobs placed internally without advert or interview.

The OP states in her first post that she would have had the chance. I see no reason to disbelieve her, she knows her employers and their systems better than we do.

SarEl

Person_one wrote: »

I guess it partly depends on how the vacancy was publicised, maybe the OP can tell us. If it was an informal announcement in the office, or a quiet word with the temp, then that's a problem. If it was on an intranet that she could have checked then I'm not so sure. Women on maternity leave only have a few (ten?) 'keep in touch' days during their leave, are they really expected to be checking the company e-mails or website every few days?

The issue here is not whether this was morally fair. It is whether, in law, the OP has been subjected to a detriment because of her maternity leave, which may (and it is only may) constitute sex discrimination. There is no law, beyond a claimant being able to prove, and it does require proof, unlawful discrimination, that says that an employer must advertise a vacancy in any way, shape or form. So if they had a quiet word with the temp, that doesn't prove sex discrimination - it only proves that the employer has a slipshod recruitment practice (which is not illegal). The OP would have to prove that she was discriminated on the grounds of her sex, or suffered a detriment as a result of taking maternity leave. All the employer would have to do is produce five other staff who they didn't have a quiet word with (and who were at work at the time) - and the case falls. It is a huge loophole, I agree - but how you recruit is an employers concern, so a notice on the back of the bosses door, underneath his coat, is perfectly acceptable. Just picking someone you want to promote - perfectly acceptable. Drawing random staff names out of a hat, also perfectly acceptable. Provided that the selection is not discriminatory in law. And so far the OP hasn't demonstrated that. And, I suspect, will striuggle to do so.

This isn't about whether it is fair in the eyes of the world, or the people on this forum. I agree that on that basis it may not be fair to most people. And I would be the first one to be lining up to give advice on what to do legally if I could see anything at all to go on here. But as I said, putting aside KIT days (because not all employers or employees avail themselves of these) there was nothing wrong with the OP asking for job vacancies to be sent to her or whatever. The employer wouldn't be expected to automatically send job vacancies to individuals, in work or not, unless that is their normal practice with all employees.

stebiz

Person_one wrote: »

Women on maternity leave have all the same rights as every other employee.

Yes, the temp may have been better, but they made a summary judgement without following the correct procedure so it can't be known can it? Maybe the OP's application for promotion would have been so impressive they'd have changed their mind, maybe not. The point is, she should have been given then chance, she would have been given the chance if she weren't on maternity leave, hence, discrimination due to maternity leave.

It seems so simple, I don't understand how people can think there was no breach of procedure here?

How can you call it discrimination? Shoddy practice - yes, Morally unacceptable - yes but how can anybody call it discrimination. In which case anybody who is gay, ethnic, disabled - could shout discrimination, every time they were not personally invited to interview, every time they were away from work!!

Savvy_Sue

Person_one wrote: »

Women on maternity leave often just get forgotten about or considered unimportant. It may have been a careless oversight, or a sexist assumption that now the OP has a child she wouldn't be interested in or capable of the higher role.

Or an unwillingness to 'bother' them with work related 'stuff' while on m/l.

SarEl

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Or an unwillingness to 'bother' them with work related 'stuff' while on m/l.

An excellent point And, to be fair, a two-edged knife. I know a lot of times employees are complaining to their unions that the employer is "bothering" them with work related stuff on maternity / sick leave - when the stuff they are "bothering" them with is stuff they have to / ought to do, like checking up on how they are, sending them work related notices, etc!

Sweetie_pie

Thank you for your replies.

I have spoken to ACAS and they have confirmed that my employer should have informed me of the promotion opportunity. They have advised that I speak to my employer and try to sort it out that way, then if I am still not happy to raise a grievance.

Googlewhacker

Sweetie_pie wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.

I have spoken to ACAS and they have confirmed that my employer should have informed me of the promotion opportunity. They have advised that I speak to my employer and try to sort it out that way, then if I am still not happy to raise a grievance.

What do you want your employers to do to appease the situation?