Made Redundant whilst Pregnant.

Orionpam62 · 18 January 2009 at 6:56PM

:mad: I was made redundant when I was 34 weeks pregnant. I had been there for 5 years. During redundancy interview I was told that they would not be paying me Maternity Allowance. Since my employment with the company I was employed as Payroll clerk doing 250 peoples wages both weekly and monthly. I have never done anything else. During these interview I was told that I was part of the Accounts Team - which was the first I knew. In this Accounts team there are 9 people employed 2 men and 7 women - only the women were interviewed and assessed for the redundancy of 1 person from the Accounts Team. Because I was on sick leave I did train another woman up to be able to do some of the Payroll - she has now been given this job and I have been made redundant. In the meantime I have received Maternity Pay as I have now given birth - but it was only through my intervention that I have been paid. Anybody think I have a good case for Unfair Dismissal as I have written evidence that they refused to pay me Maternity Allowance and also that only the females in the Accounts Department were considered for redundancy.

SKIPPY · 18 January 2009 at 7:13PM

I am sorry to hear your news. It does sound a little 'fishy' to me. I am no expert but I am sure someone else will come along in a while. In the meantime wishing you all the best with the birth (if it hasn't happened already!) and enjoy your baby - they're not little for long!

LittleVoice · 18 January 2009 at 7:22PM

Are the jobs that the men do different from the jobs that the women do?

For instance, are the two men the most senior or professionally qualified? Or, are all the jobs interchangeable as far as skills are concerned?

tessie_bear · 18 January 2009 at 8:05PM

are u in a union ? u could make an appointment at citizens advice.....isnt maternity allowance what u get off the government if u donr qualify for maternity pay for whatever reason??

jfinnie · 18 January 2009 at 10:09PM

I thought there was a chance that my wife might be in a similar situation - so I looked into this a bit. Luckily it didn't happen to us. I think you might have a good case, you probably need to speak to a solicitor - perhaps Citizen's advice can help you too?

If you have been employed by week 25 for more than 2 years I think they have to pay you maternity pay, even if they make you redundant. This is my understanding of the law (but I'm not a solicitor!). It would seem to me a likely sequence of events might be:

1) we need to make redundancies, who goes?
2) well lady x isn't going to be here, why should we pay her (obviously someone who isn't up on employment law and doesn't realise that they are obliged to pay you maternity once you are at week 25)
3) So they hold the interviews and decide to make you redundant (perhaps the interviews were a sham) (can they show why the other lady was kept on instead of you? There needs to be a clear reason why, and the fact you were pregnant isn't good enough. This reason should be on record and I think should have been communicated to you. They could give a reason such as she gets paid less, or has more skills, etc).
4) Then they send you a letter, again making the mistake thinking they can get away with not paying you maternity pay. This is the clincher really. By mentioning the maternity pay it looks quite clear to me that this was a deciding factor in why they got rid of you - it was at the front of their (uneducated) minds. The written evidence is a big deal here.

I think you definitely need to get a bit of professional advice, but on the basis of what you have said it seems you might have a pretty good case.

jfinnie · 18 January 2009 at 10:13PM

Plus, you might find this link has some useful information and contacts
http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/family_zone/fs_pr7_pregnancy.asp

happyhosk · 18 January 2009 at 10:26PM

There are a lot of questions that may make a difference to your claim. It doesn't sound like your work position is actually redundant but it may be more complex. You can't think down the men/women route but do think about why they have seemingly selected people, especially if you have similar roles and qualifications. There are very strict rules on procedure for redundancy and if they haven't followed these then you have nothing to lose but to go for compensation. I would strongly suggest you call ACAS as they are very helpful and informative. Good Luck, and enjoy this time with your baby more than anything!

clairehi · 19 January 2009 at 1:03PM

What a horrible situation, your employers seem to be totally out of order here. I think you may well have a case here and I have heard (anecdotally) that employment tribunals give employers who make pregnant staff redundant a very hard time.

Citizens Advice do provide help on matters like these although I know they are very over-stretched in some areas.

However you have to carefully consider what you expect to get out of any action, and balance this against the costs to you in terms of stress at a time when you want to be able to focus on your baby. It is your personal choice, and depends a lot on how much you are prepared to make a stand

Also there is a possibility it could affect your future career if you need a reference from this company and/or you have to disclose the circumstances of you leaving. In a fair world, you would not be blamed by a future employer for something like this, but as you have discovered life is not always fair. Just something to bear in mind.

PinkTwirl · 19 January 2009 at 9:49PM

I do think that initially you have a case. The fact that someone has taken over your role looks funny to me, of course I don't know enough to recommend any action to you.

At the end of the day though, if you want to follow it up, go for it. People do put these cases and claims forward and some do win.

Hope you and your family are doing well xx

gtrevor · 19 January 2009 at 10:36PM

Orionpam62 wrote: »

I was made redundant when I was 34 weeks pregnant. I had been there for 5 years. During redundancy interview I was told that they would not be paying me Maternity Allowance. Since my employment with the company I was employed as Payroll clerk doing 250 peoples wages both weekly and monthly. I have never done anything else. During these interview I was told that I was part of the Accounts Team - which was the first I knew. In this Accounts team there are 9 people employed 2 men and 7 women - only the women were interviewed and assessed for the redundancy of 1 person from the Accounts Team. Because I was on sick leave I did train another woman up to be able to do some of the Payroll - she has now been given this job and I have been made redundant. In the meantime I have received Maternity Pay as I have now given birth - but it was only through my intervention that I have been paid. Anybody think I have a good case for Unfair Dismissal as I have written evidence that they refused to pay me Maternity Allowance and also that only the females in the Accounts Department were considered for redundancy.[/I]

A few immediate questions would be:

What type of consultation process was followed? Did you raise your concerns during this consultation period?

You say about the accounts team - who did you report to, and who did they report to? Are they linked to the same senior manager?

Is the role of "Payroll Clerk" redundant? Sounds not, as someone else seems to be now doing it? Therefore, you have been put into a selection pool against other candidates, and the other person has scored better than you have. You should challenge what criteria was used to select the successful person. i.e. why her and not you.

Did you appeal against your dismissal?

As previous poster asked, were the males doing different roles to the females that would justify why they weren't put into the same selection pool?

Made Redundant whilst Pregnant.

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