Issues during maternity leave

Robson1978

Hi

My wife is a middle manager for a large telecoms company and currently on maternity leave. When she left for maternity leave she reported directly to the Head of Department. A couple of weeks ago she was asked to go into the office as some changes were underway. Effectively herself and her team were being moved into another department and she was now going to report to that Head of Department instead. No probs with that. A week later she then received an e mail to say that they had changed their mind and that instead she would report into another manager who is the same official level as my wife. My wife is very unhappy about this (at a time when work should be an after thought) and wonder whether or not this could be classed as constructive dismissal??

In addition to this my wife does not intend to return to work full time and her employer does not have a great record of accommodating such requests. If they tell her that she has to return full time which would result in her resigning from the company, could the company insist that we repay her maternity pay??

Any advice appreciated.
Regards
Robson

getmore4less

She should only be working/going in on KIT days.

The changes leading to constructive dismisal, not a chance of that.

Is she doing extended maternity?
This changes what the company needs to consider on her return. eg if doing extended they don't need to keep her cuurent job open.

How have they handled the holiday accrual?

The company Maternity pay scheme will have the terms and conditions for recieving the payments so she should allready know if she has to return to work and for how long.


If there is a post maternity come back to work requirement and they have not make her take the holiday accrual before then there may be a way to go part time using up the holiday and meet the terms before resigning.

mountainofdebt

Why, exactly is your wife unhappy about the changes? Not trying to be arguemenative at all but was wondering if the fact that she now has to report to someone at the same level as her is more of a pride thing??
Also did she mention about going part-time before she went on maternity leave? Perhaps the changes have been made with this in mind?

Tiddlywinks

Gosh - you are mixing an awful lot of issues in together there.

One at a time:

Restructure - she still has a job at the same level.

Reporting - often this is role based and not grade based. If your wife is still the same grade and has the same level of responsibilities as before then what exactly is the issue?

Part time - the company is required to consider the request and accommodate where possible - has your wife made a formal request yet?

Constructive dismissal - talk about an overreaction. What exactly has the company done to warrant this assumption?

Robson1978

Thanks all - the issue of reporting to someone at the same level is that previously she had direct exposure to the board but this will now not be the case as there is now another level of hierarchy in the way.

The HR department have been asked several times to confirm both her maternity pay and terms but have astonishingly so far failed to reply to these requests. The HR dept is a central one located several hundred miles away so only communicate via e mail. My wife only knows her pay during maternity from asking others.

Regards
Robson

hawk30

So does she get contractual maternity pay or just SMP? From your post we have been assuming contractual, which may have to repaid if she resigns, but if it is only SMP then no she doesn't gave to repay it.

mountainofdebt

Robson1978 wrote: »

Thanks all - the issue of reporting to someone at the same level is that previously she had direct exposure to the board but this will now not be the case as there is now another level of hierarchy in the way.

So (and again not wishing to sound as if I'm being horrible) its a pride thing? As has been said many times on here constructive dismissal is very difficult to prove and this would sound like a complete non starter.

Robson1978 wrote: »

The HR department have been asked several times to confirm both her maternity pay and terms but have astonishingly so far failed to reply to these requests. The HR dept is a central one located several hundred miles away so only communicate via e mail. My wife only knows her pay during maternity from asking others.

Have they got a phone number??

Regards
Robson[/QUOTE]

Robson1978

Quite agree it's partially a pride thing but when you have been progressing career wise quite nicely then are forced to take a step back by having to report to someone less senior than the person you previously reported to pre maternity leave that seems unfair. To be fair the maternity leave package is pretty good with full pay for 6 months then SMP for 3 months followed by 3 months unpaid.

Probably nothing that can be done about the situation but does seem to have negatively impacted her career by having a child, something we are told is not supposed to happen...

Regards
Robson

jacques_chirac

Robson1978 wrote: »

Quite agree it's partially a pride thing but when you have been progressing career wise quite nicely then are forced to take a step back by having to report to someone less senior than the person you previously reported to pre maternity leave that seems unfair. To be fair the maternity leave package is pretty good with full pay for 6 months then SMP for 3 months followed by 3 months unpaid.

Probably nothing that can be done about the situation but does seem to have negatively impacted her career by having a child, something we are told is not supposed to happen...

Regards
Robson

It is not a step back, she has not been demoted. The only potential complaint I can see is if she should have been considered for the post she is now reporting into? On the information given this does not appear to be the case, someone else's role was changed, there was no selective process for the role/ added responsibility?

Takeaway_Addict

Robson1978 wrote: »

Quite agree it's partially a pride thing but when you have been progressing career wise quite nicely then are forced to take a step back by having to report to someone less senior than the person you previously reported to pre maternity leave that seems unfair. To be fair the maternity leave package is pretty good with full pay for 6 months then SMP for 3 months followed by 3 months unpaid.

Probably nothing that can be done about the situation but does seem to have negatively impacted her career by having a child, something we are told is not supposed to happen...

Regards
Robson

Can you prove that having a baby was the cause?

Also, if she was going to go part time would she have been able to do the job anyway and really as mentioned its more of a pride thing?

She needs to think practically and look to do what is best overall.

Tiddlywinks

The company restructured - the whole TEAM moved... why is that the result of the company punishing your wife for having a baby?

Change happens - even to pregnant employees and those on maternity leave - because the company has a business to run.