maternity leave/job no longer exists???????

woody_56

Hi i have had the same job for over 10 years,i have recently been on maternity leave,during this time the company i work for has been taken over,i am due to go back to work in about two months time ,but the job i was doing has been put out to contract,leaving me without a job,how do i stand legally,are they supposed to offer me something else job wise,and what if this is not suitable? thanks ,sacha.:rolleyes:

sharon_currie

Contact your union or cab office

looneyleo

I do believe that they have to offer you something along the same lines and pay. You would be best contacting ACAS (or google them) for further advice. HTH and good luck

Justie

as far as I understand it they have a legal obligation to offer you either the same or an equivalent post - they cannot offer you a lower grade post and if your job no longer exists then they should do their best to offer you something that you are happy with not just a post of the same grade.

from the dti website http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/employment-legislation/employment-guidance/page34246.html

RETURNING TO THE SAME JOB AFTER MATERNITY LEAVE

When a woman returns to work from maternity leave she has the right to return to the same job, on the same terms and conditions, as though she had not been absent. However, there can be exceptions to this, depending on whether she returns after a period of Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks) or Additional Maternity Leave (the second 26 weeks). See Maternity Leave for further information on the details of maternity leave.
Ordinary Maternity Leave

An employee who returns to work after Ordinary Maternity Leave – in other words a woman who has taken no more that 26 weeks’ maternity leave – is entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions of employment as if she had not been absent, unless a redundancy situation has arisen, in which case she is entitled to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy.
An employee who is not allowed to return to her job at the end of Ordinary Maternity Leave is entitled to make a complaint of unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal. If she is not given the same job back, she may bring a claim for sex discrimination or a detriment claim in a tribunal, or might be able to claim constructive dismissal.
Additional Maternity Leave

An employee who returns to work after Additional Maternity Leave – in other words a woman who has taken more than 26 weeks’ maternity leave – is entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions of employment as if she had not been absent, unless there is a reason why it is not reasonably practicable for her to return to her old job, in which case she should be offered a similar job on terms and conditions which are not less favourable than her original job.
It is good practice for employers to consult with mothers about any proposed changes to their job at the end of their maternity leave if it is possible to do so.

tigtag02

They must treat you as if you were been made redundant. All the same regulations apply - ACAS is your best bet.

Have they mentioned redundacy to you? Ten years service is not to be sneared at so if your job really has been displace they shouldnt be allowed to get away with it.

HTH
tigtag

Counting_Pennies_2

It depends on what you mean by out to contract.

If they have got someone in from an agency to cover your role, then you are automatically entitle to it on your return, that person would be on a contract on the understanding that they go or have another job on your return.

If the job has been contracted out, then your role should have been TUPE'd when that happened.

You need to contact your HR department. They should have discussed what was happening to your role at the point the company was taken over, you should have been given the same information as all other staff about the implications to your jobs or not as the case might have been.

Find out where you stand first, then contact ACAS to find out what can be done. You have time to get this sorted out before your return date. So don't panic yet. If the company realise their mistake they should sort it straight away. It could just be a miscommunication about who is covering for your role while away. So don't go in confrontational, as there might be a very straight forward answer to this.

Good luck

woody_56

Thanks all ,my job has completely gone ,if the new company offer me a new job which is not suitable how do i stand, thanks Sacha

Counting_Pennies_2

woody_56 wrote: »

Thanks all ,my job has completely gone ,if the new company offer me a new job which is not suitable how do i stand, thanks Sacha

You should have been consulted at the time the job went, it really is very bad of the company.

The whole point of rights during maternity leave is that you are still treated in the same way as an employee in terms of your job and communication about it. If your role was going to be eliminated you should have been consulted at the time. If the role still exists but someone else has been taken on, then this is a serious case, and one ACAS can discuss with you in more detail. If the role no longer exists in any shape or form then it would be a redundancy situation, but not until they have looked for other alternative roles for you.

I would contact ACAS with immediate effect, explain the situation to them, and they will then be able to advise you about what to do in terms of contacting your employer and what questions to ask.

If you get to the end of the road on this and still no satisfactory conclusion I would recommend speaking with the Equal Opportunities Commission, http://www.eoc.org.uk/ who will be able to advise you accordingly. It might be that if your company refuses to accept you haven't been treated fairly the EOC will be able to talk you through tribunals.

Tribunals are stressful, so I would recommend trying to sort out a satisfactory outcome first with your employers, but if this isn't forthcoming I can tell you that a company that doesn't follow the statutory minimum in terms of communication with staff over job losses, especially on maternity leave is looked at very unfairly in a tribunal.

Good luck