Maternity - Might be complicated

dadtobe

Hello, bare with me on this one.

My fiance is a teacher at a school which has 1 class per year group. She worked at this school for 5 years, left did supply for 2 years and was offered a role back at the school starting sept 16 because the teacher resigned. No advert, no interview no COE or SOA

My fiance is pregnant and informed them she was pregnant in late September, to which the conversation went congratulations etc we will only need to cover your position until the end of the year as its fixed term or something similar. News to her that it was fixed term she was under the impression it was a perm role as its a perm vacancy they can't get rid of an entire year group.

Anyway they have been interviewing for someone more senior today (a leadership role) and that role is perm the impressesion she gave is she wants to return but part time if it can be worked out.

So my questions are.... 14 weeks on no COE is it FTC or is it a permanent role she certainly wasn't under that impression when she accepted.

If it is a fixed term and she is on mat leave can they make the replacement a perm role? What happens to her?

If it is perm and she is on mat leave can they move her to a different year group?

Thanks! Def no issues with performance she was Ofsted outstanding and most recent observation was excellent. I suspect they aren't very up on HR.

Thanks!

marliepanda

If she has no permanent contract then it's not necessarily a permanent position

It being one class per year does not make it a permanent position or vacancy. I worked in a school with only four teachers previously, one of which was the head teacher who taught y3/4.

Not sure what the senior position has to do with her. Nor do I understand what you mean about part time. If she does have a permanent full time contract her desire to go part time could mean she cannot fulfill that.

Yes they could make her replacement permanent if there was a position to go for, and by the sounds of it, there will be come September 17.

Yes they can move her to a different year group after being on maternity. She is no doubt employed as a teacher, not a 'year x' teacher.

dadtobe

marliepanda wrote: »

If she has no permanent contract then it's not necessarily a permanent position

It being one class per year does not make it a permanent position or vacancy. I worked in a school with only four teachers previously, one of which was the head teacher who taught y3/4.

Not sure what the senior position has to do with her. Nor do I understand what you mean about part time. If she does have a permanent full time contract her desire to go part time could mean she cannot fulfill that.

Yes they could make her replacement permanent if there was a position to go for, and by the sounds of it, there will be come September 17.

Yes they can move her to a different year group after being on maternity. She is no doubt employed as a teacher, not a 'year x' teacher.

So what protections doe's she get then?

dadtobe

Also, from ACAS: A woman made redundant while on maternity leave must be offered
any suitable alternative vacancy if you have one. She doesn’t need
to apply for it.

I'm still not clear its a fixed term.

Doesn't the end of a FTC constitute a dismissal?

marliepanda

dadtobe wrote: »

So what protections doe's she get then?

Well what do you mean?

She is a fixed term employee. She is employed for a fixed term (it seems, why does she not have a contract?)

Protection from being moved to another year group? There is no such thing.

When is she going on maternity? Chances are she will not qualify for maternity pay from the school if it's anything like my district as she fell pregnant so soon into her contract.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'protected' currently as far as the school see it she is a fixed term employee who cannot fulfill her contract due to pregnancy.

marliepanda

dadtobe wrote: »

Also, from ACAS: A woman made redundant while on maternity leave must be offered
any suitable alternative vacancy if you have one. She doesn’t need
to apply for it.

I'm still not clear its a fixed term.

She needs to get a copy of her contract. However most schools I know offer one year in the first instance. However her previous tenure may have affected this but she has nothing saying permanent and only mentions of fixed term.

She isn't being made redundant. Her fixed term contract is ending. That's different.

marliepanda

dadtobe wrote: »

Also, from ACAS: A woman made redundant while on maternity leave must be offered
any suitable alternative vacancy if you have one. She doesn’t need
to apply for it.

I'm still not clear its a fixed term.

Doesn't the end of a FTC constitute a dismissal?

You keep editing your post.

Do you think her pregnancy somehow means her contract cannot end when it was supposed to? That's not how it works.

dadtobe

marliepanda wrote: »

You keep editing your post.

Do you think her pregnancy somehow means her contract cannot end when it was supposed to? That's not how it works.

I don't think you're understanding. We don't know if its a FTC or a perm role, she has no contract she accepted the role on the understanding its a perm post. There's no job advert, no interview, no offer letter and no contract. The previous teacher resigned, why would they replace that person with someone on a FTC. The mention of it being a FTC was made in passing still no COE. I might add it was her best friends role she replaced hence the appreciation it was perm.

Expiry of a FTC is equal to a dismissal so my HRBP tells me.

Bogalot

If she was told in September that the position was fixed term then the time to query this was in September. The fact that she has not done so would constitute acceptance by her conduct (continuing to work without objection).

She should have received a statement of employment particulars within two months of her start date. She should ask for this as it has not been provided.

A one year contract is the norm in many schools. Senior positions are more likely to be permanent as they require continuity beyond the existing academic year.

(A dismissal is not always a redundancy. The ACAS information you quote is specific to redundancy situations.)

marliepanda

You need to clarify what this understanding was of a permanent position. She has no contract. What proof does she have of this?

Why would hey replace a permanent teacher with a temporary/fixed term one? Literally hundreds of reasons. They could be rubbish?

The fact you are offering up reasons that it 'must' be a permanent job which frankly don't hold water suggests to me it probably isn't...

If your fixed term contract expires whilst you are on maternity leave that's allowed. Maternity is not a way to extend a contract... she's not being sacked. Her contract is ending.

If she is on a fixed term contract, and she appears to have no proof otherwise, then you are clutching at straws.

dadtobe

Bogalot wrote: »

If she was told in September that the position was fixed term then the time to query this was in September. The fact that she has not done so would constitute acceptance by her conduct (continuing to work without objection).

She should have received a statement of employment particulars within two months of her start date. She should ask for this as it has not been provided.

A one year contract is the norm in many schools. Senior positions are more likely to be permanent as they require continuity beyond the existing academic year.

(A dismissal is not always a redundancy. The ACAS information you quote is specific to redundancy situations.)

Thanks for the reply, she accepted the role on the basis it was perm back in July. She told the school she was pregnant they told her it was fixed term.

She wanted the contract in writing before querying.