I am tempted to raise a grievance with my employers as a result of being sidelined following maternity leave. I work in a senior management role and prior to mat leave my role was to run a big team with big budget. Since mat leave I've had a much lesser role, endless promises of a better one but nothing yet materialised or likely to in the near future. Where I think it is perhaps grey is that my employment contract just calls me senior manager in department x (rather than head of x line of business) and says something about being flexible and undertaking activities as allocated. However in reality since maternity leave, due to no longer having a 'proper' role, I now have less status and less opportunity to achieve well this year in terms of review, pay rise etc. which just doesn't seem fair. Essentially my career has been de-valued quite considerably in my eyes. FYI - I took AML as well as OML. My previous role does still exist and is being undertaken by the person who covered it while I was off. When I returned (in summer) and wasn't put back in the role I didn't protest because I was promised other even better roles (which is what hasn't materialised). Resolving the situation also doesn't seem to be a high priority for those I work for, based on some recent events. Any thoughts, anyone done similar? Should I just resign and leave on relatively good terms rather than put myself through the pain of a grievance? The outcome I would want from raising a grievance is either a decent role or an exit with some form of settlement agreement.

Hi I'm new at this but would really appreciate any advice anyone has to offer. I am currently on maternity leave, due to return to work in January but I have just been advised that my division is closing at the end of December and all staff are in a 2 week consultation period, after which redundancy notices may be given. I have worked at the same company for nearly 8 years. It's a large company and I'm sure they are well versed with the procedures and I am sure they will keep things above board however i am the only one in my division who is a) on maternity leave and b) only works part time (as I reduced my hours after having my first child). I can't see as there could be a position suitable for me so i am kind of braced for redundancy. I would like to know, if I am made redundant: - does the notice period start after maternity leave ends or imediately when informed? - if notice is during maternity leave, is notice pay my full salary or SMP? - should i be expected to return to work after maternity leave to fulfill the notice period? - i will reach my 8-year mark during the notice period (before the end of my maternity leave), will it count to my redundancy entitlement? - at what point am i eligible to start a new job (if found) without affecting my redundancy pay? I know this is alot to ask but any information on the matter would be appreciated. Many Thanks

Hi, I'm new to this site and in need of some advice. I work for a local council and we have been given letters stating that our jobs are at risk of redundancy. They are deleting all our current posts and creating new ones. There will be 31 redundancies. I am currently pregnant and am wondering if I should start my maternity leave early to try and avoid the risk of redundancy. There are lots of suitable posts I could be offered and believe that once on maternity leave I should be offered a suitable alternative position before any of my other colleagues are offered the positions. If this is the case then it is worth me starting my leave early to guarantee being offered one of the new positions and not risk losing my job. If this is the case I'm trying to find the relevant legislation that confirms this so I can take it to my employers so they are aware that they have to do this. They have also said that we all have to interview for the positions, if I was on maternity leave would I still have to go through this process? Can anyone be of any help - any please if I've got this wrong and being on maternity leave will not be of any benefit to me please let me know! Thanks in advance. Kim