help .. i have i got a case for discrimination?

[hollie-lou]

Prior to Cs taking over the RS I worked as an Operations Assistant, just prior to the take over I had my review with Manager 1(Operations Manager) and G (Studio Director) and it was proposed that I would shortly become the Office Manager. When C took over there was still promises of the promotion with a pay rise. I was informed that as soon as my job role was sorted out as some duties were already completed by head office that I would receive the promotion and pay rise accordingly.

 

On the 22nd of May I received an email from L requesting for my passwords for my computer as he had been requested to provide me with IT equipment for my commencing employment in Southam. As soon as I received this email I contacted manager 1 and manager 2 to express how distressed I was with regards to the fact that I had not been consulted in any way and that I did not want to work from Southam as the commute to work would be double what it is to Blythe Valley. manager 2 confirmed that he was not aware of anyone requesting for me to work out of Southam and that we could have a meeting on the 23rd May to discuss my concerns further.

 

In the meeting on the 23rd May manager 2 confirmed to me that I had no need to worry about the Southam Sinario as he had no interest in getting me to work from Southam. I also expressed that I had no interest in working from Southam, my commute to work was long enough travelling to Shirley and when I accepted my offer of employment I had decided that was the furthest that I wanted to commute to work.

 

On the 20th June I informed C that I was pregnant, I have felt that as soon as I confirmed that I was pregnant that I have been treated differently with regards to my job role etc. When C initially bought the RS from S I had a meeting with manager 2 where we discussed my job role and what I did in the studio, manager 2 explained that there would be lots of new duties for me to do and that these would be given to me in the proceeding weeks. With these new duties it was also mentioned that my pay structure and job title would be assessed and altered accordingly. When I found out that I was pregnant I decided to inform manager 1, my line manager and HR straight away. At this I was then informed that the duties which I was to inherit could no longer be given to me as when I went on maternity leave they could either not give the work back to the members of staff or get someone to cover the duties. When I enquired about the pay rise which had been discussed I was also informed that this would also not be happening as “it would never be signed off now”. At first I felt that because I only had a few months left at work and I wanted a job to come back to that I would not take this matter further even though I did express my disappointment to manager 1 on more than one occasion.

 

In the weeks proceeding this I raised my concerns directly with manager 1 and manager 2 that I had no work to complete and often I was left reading magazines and looking on the internet. I constantly requested meetings with either of my managers to discuss my none-existent job role and how my job description did not match anything to what I was doing at work. On one occasion I was informed that there was no point to having a meeting to discuss my job role as the simple fact was that I could not be given one because of me going on maternity leave in the near future, but once I had returned from my maternity they would have had 6 months to come up with a new job description etc.

 

manager 2 and manager 1 then contacted managers from various different teams to inform them that if they had any work which could be passed onto myself that I was available and did not have any current work to complete. I had no problem in completing this work but at times I felt as though I was just been given busy work to do or work that managers could not be bothered to do. Again I raised this issue verbally with Harinder but there was no change to the situation and I just thought I would get on with things. With some of the tasks I was given for example the Organisational Charts I felt that when I raised issues or informed manager 1 of the problems I was having completing the work, it was not been acknowledge as it should have been it was almost as though I was just trying to find excuses to moan about the work when in fact I was asking for some support and to keep my line manager fully up to date with what I was doing.

 

When I was completing the work on transcribing the videos from Guildford, I was constantly mentioning to manager 1 that I was concerned on the time scales which may be implemented on having the videos completed by. I explained to Harinder how hard I was finding completing the work as I had no experience in audio typing and the quality of the videos was making it extremely hard to get all the information on the first attempt, which meant that I would be playing a video constantly forward and backwards to obtain the information. Again because I felt that it may be questioned about how reasonable my point was I played the video tomanager 1 and Cs who both agreed my point was valid.

 

Through the whole process of manager 1 looking for new premises I have been constantly kept informed of any progression which had been made in relation to the move to Birmingham. I did constantly express that I did not believe that requesting me to work from Southam would be suitable to myself because of me being pregnant and because my journey time would be doubled. On checking travel times by car and public transport from where I live the commute each way would be around 1.45 minutes at a minimum by public transport (present journey time is 30 to 45 minutes) so this would mean a 3.5 hour journey to then work a 7.5 hour day, and I believe this would simply be too much. The other factor which I have to consider is my Diabetes which has been affected since becoming pregnant and after consulting with my diabetic specialist nurse she had strong concerns over me being forced to even attempt this length of journey. I constantly relayed information to manager 1 with regards to my health and how my diabetes was been affected. It was agreed with manager 1 that I would be able to work from home until the move to the new location had been completed. As far as I was aware this had been cleared with HR as manager 1 had mentioned she had been speaking to HR about a few issues relating to the move, I had even received an email from E requesting a list of names of people who would be working from home, which I forwarded to manager 1 as I expressed the decision who this would apply to was not mine. When I enquired about how long the move would take manager 1 seemed to be under the impression that as soon as a decision had been made it would take 3 to 4 weeks to complete the move at a minimum. Before the Shirley office was closed I had conversations with manager 1 where I explained the work which I intended to complete from home. We also had conversations with reference to the staff that existed at the Swordfish office as C were looking into acquiring the company. manager 1 mentioned that there was a PA to the director at the company but she did not think she was “much cop” and said that she would be looking to make her position redundant in order for me to keep my job. The Shirley office was packed and closed on Friday 29th August 2008.

 

I then began to work from home from the 1st September 2008. While working from home I was in constant contact via email, I was in contact with Tom to explain what work I had completed and when I would be sending over the final versions of the transcripts. Treplied to my email to say that he was happy with the work I had completed so far and the level to which I had completed it at, but at any point if I felt that I was struggling to complete the work then to let him know. I responded to his email to say that I had already previously raised concerns about the work and getting it completed and these seemed to have not been relayed to him. I also expressed that I was worried that if the work needed to be completed by a certain date that I would not be able to do this and maybe it would have been an idea to get someone to help me to make sure we could meet the deadline, it has since become obvious to myself that any concerns I had previously raised have not been passed on as I thought.

 

On Monday the 8th September I received a call from manager 1 on my mobile and although it was not during my working hours I still took the call, manager 1asked if I had received her email reference to working from Southam. I responded saying I had not received that particular email but I had received others that she had sent throughout the day. I explained that I had worked from 8 until 4.30 so if the email had been sent after that that might be a reason why I had not seen it. manager 1 then informed me that I was required to be in Southam the next morning and to continue working from the Southam office until the move to Birmingham was completed. I explained to manager 1 that I would struggle to do this as I had an Anti natal appointment on Tuesday 9th September at 2.40 pm but I would go into the office nether the less. Upon checking the bus and train times for Tuesday I quickly came to realise that there was no way I could get into the Southam office and return home in time for my appointment, at this I contacted HR with my situation. It was agreed that for Tuesday I could continue to work from home but as of Wednesday I would be required to work from the Southam office as there had been no formal agreement for me to work from home, but as far as I was aware everything was ok and had been formally agreed with the required departments. The reason that was given to me having to be in the office was because my work load could not be monitored but I find this is unreasonable as I was emailing completed work to the relevant managers on nearly a daily basis and my email activity could have been checked and verified to confirm I had been working and responding to emails for my allotted working times. During the time of working at home when I did contact managers reference my work there was never a response to say that they were unhappy with my work, the only responses I had was to say how happy they actually was with me.

 

When I attended my Anti-natal appointment on the 9th September 2008 it was recorded that my blood pressure has gone up to a level which needed to be monitored as it could become dangerous for me and the baby. My consultant instructed me to have the following day off work (10th September 2008) and to go to my local GP’s to have my blood pressure checked. When I attended the doctors on the 10th September I was then signed off work until the 17th September 2008 due to stress. When I returned to the doctors a week later to be reassessed I was signed off again for a further 2 weeks as a result of stress (from 17th September 08 to 30th September 08).

 

On the 23rd September there was a meeting held by method of a conference call to discuss my grievance letter with Human Resources. In the meeting it was mentioned by HR that no one was aware of the severity of how my pregnancy had affected my diabetes, I was concerned about this as I had explained everything to manager 1 and yet again the information had not been passed on. I had also spoken to 2 others members of staff and briefed them on what to do should I experience a hypo; this was done on manager 1's instruction. It was requested by HR that I needed to provide some proof of this. I then arranged for my diabetic nurse to produce a letter to confirm that I was unfit to drive the distance that they were expecting. On the 25th September 08 I then received a copy of the minutes which were adjusted accordingly as I felt there were some errors in them, the final draft of the minutes were agreed on the same day.

 

Throughout the whole time I was signed off sick by the doctor I was in contact with Cs’ Human Resources with relation to my complaint and to see if I could return the date to which I would start my maternity to the original date (1st October 2008). I had made this request as my blood pressure still had not returned to normal and I felt the return to work would only accelerate the problem. I also felt that I could not afford to take unpaid sick leave for a month (until the 31st October 2008) as I was nearly at the end of my paid sick leave entitlement, C did not make any effort to suggest an alternative arrangement which would mean I could work up to the 31st October 2008. Human Resources replied stating that they had no record that my maternity start date had been put back to the 31st October 2008 even though I had emails confirming that this arrangement had been accepted by Human Resources and logged. Because there was no record, Human Resources were happy for me to commence my maternity leave on the 1st October 2008.

 

21st October 2008 I had an anti-natal appointment where again the consultant was concerned with the high level of my blood pressure, she request that I went to see her the following week instead of the normal 2 week check.

 

24th October 2008 I received a response from manager 2 to my grievance; I was then asked by HR to reply to the letter with what I want I wanted to do next. At this point I was still feeling ill and very tired from high blood pressure and been heavily pregnant. Although I wanted to seek legal advice at this time I felt I could not as my blood pressure was been affected by the situation too much already.

 

On the 28th October 2008 I returned to see my consultant and my blood pressure had still remained at a high level and again I was asked to return in a week as they were worried I might have to have the baby a lot earlier as my blood pressure was not decreasing even though I was at home resting.

 

On the 4th November 2008 there had still not been any reduction in my blood pressure and it was then decided that I would be monitored on a daily basis by the community midwife. My condition with my blood pressure did not settle and I ended up been admitted into hospital twice prior to me having an emergency c-section on the 10th November 2008 (the baby was 5 weeks premature). I do believe that the stress from work created the end result of me having my baby 5 weeks premature.

 

After the birth of my son I was kept in hospital for a week but for 10 weeks after I had more admissions to hospital, 8 lots of antibiotics, 3 lots of steroids, nebulizer administered at A and E and my wound popped which also required assistance from a fast response and ambulance team. My mom also had time off work to help look after my son and me due to my ill health. Because of me feeling so ill and worn out by the whole situation on the 2nd December 2008 I replied saying that I could not see a resolve to the situation, that I was not happy with the aggressive manor that the letter was written in and at the time I would not be taking it any further. At that point in time I felt I did not have the energy to seek legal advice because I was so ill, I felt so distressed by it all I just could not deal with the situation.

 

On the 16th March 2009 I sent an email to Nicola requesting the exact date to which they expected me back in work and for a full job description and job role to be provided as soon as possible. I did this as prior to me going on maternity leave I felt pushed out and I did not want to get to September 2009, return to work to find I had no job. Nicola replied stating that at present they were undergoing some restructuring but at that moment in time nothing affected my job and if it did I would be informed accordingly.

 

On the 17th March 2009 I received a call from the Pension Company that C use. I was asked if there was a problem as they had not received any payments since October 2008. Upon checking some of my pay slips last year there was a declaration that a pensions contribution had been made in October and November 2008, even though there hadn’t. So from the time I had started my maternity there had been no contributions. I contacted N and NS to find out what was going on. Upon investigating they came back with the result that it was mealy a financial error, but at no point did I have any notification that the payments had been stopped and surely I should have done.

 

On the 16th April 2009 I received a letter from C stating that my job was at risk and I needed to attend a meeting on the 28th April 2009.

 

28th April 2009 I attended a meeting held by manager 1 and Nicola at the new Birmingham Office. The meeting took approximately 15 minutes. manager 1 informed me that my job roles had been absorbed either by head office or the Office Manager. When I asked if all administration staff had been issued the notice that their jobs were at risk maanger 1 responded by saying that the Office Manager was safe as she was in a more senior position and there was not enough cross over even though she had taken on some of my duties. I then asked if the current office manager was the same person who used to be the company’s PA, the same member of staff which maanger 1 told me would be made redundant in order for me to keep my job. manager 1 answered that it was not as she had been the office manager for a while but she did not specify when she was actually given the title of office manager. On the 28th April I emailed N to ask where they had obtained my job description from, I was informed that my job description had been passed to them by S. I have also asked N for a copy of my appraisal form which was completed prior to the take over by C. On my appraisal form is states that I was to be made Office Manager, all this information was passed onto C when they took over RS.

 

My argument is if C had followed through from my appraisal meeting that was held with manager 1 and with the promises manager 2 and manager 1 made to give me a promotion to Office Manager there would be a 50 / 50 chance of me loosing my job whereas now it is certain that I will. Also if when C first took over my position a lot of my duties were completed by head office and thus the assurance that there were plenty more duties that could be completed by myself and the promise of a pay rise and promotion to office manager. I believe that if the current Office Manager and I were to apply for the position again there would also be a good possibility that I have the correct skills, experience and qualities to perform the job.

 

I believe that the stress that this whole situation has put me under has affected my health both prior and after having my son.

 

I feel that from the moment I informed C that I was pregnant it was always intended to cease my employment, and now they are only following the legalities to make me unemployed. At the time when I was requested to return to work from the Southam office I was encouraged to take my maternity early as at no point was an alternative place of work offered, they did not even attempt to make a compromise on the location where I completed my work, even though my line managers were aware of my health. I accept that the HR department might not have been aware of my health condition but in all honesty they had no idea of what was occurring in RS at that time. manager 2 wrote in his response letter that if they had known about my condition they would have made every effort to accommodate me when in fact they did not. I also find it concerning that the agreement to extend the date of when I was to commence my maternity leave was not logged properly and no one had a record of the agreement.

 

One of the employee benefits is you receive any games that they release as a free copy. I have established that from October to March they have released 3 games which have not been sent onto me and I have not received any contact from C with reference to receiving my copies. I then contacted N after my meeting on the 28th April to obtain my copies; she explained that she would look into this for me.

 

I find it very strange that from the date of when my maternity started my pension contribution that is made by the company were stopped. As an employee C pay a percentage of your wage into a pension weather the employee contributes or not. I had no idea that there had been a stop to my contributions until the pension company gave me a courtesy call.

 

On the 16th August 2009 I will have been working for the company for 2 years, when I asked whether I would be getting redundancy pay I was told I would not and basically that is why they are completing this procedure now. The company are honouring my employee benefits until September 2009 but they will not honour the fact that I would be due redundancy in August 2009.

 

While in the meeting on the 28th April I was asked if there are any openings in the company which I could fill or move to in order to keep my job. I think that this is an impossible request as I have not been at work since October 2008 due to being on maternity. During this time the company has merged the 2 other games development companies which it has purchased. So how can this be fair as I would have no idea who is covering what jobs, what changes have been made or where there are any openings?

Edited May 5, 2009 by elche
It help protects this site if no exact company or personal names are mentioned. Good luck Elche

[kfdh1962]

Hi Hollie,

i havent read through it all yet... ill do that in a mo... but you should edit out all of the names in your post...

[hollie-lou]

lol i would but it would be hard to follow it as i have 2 line managers! this is an account of everything which has happened from start to finish with them.

[kfdh1962]

maybe you will have to call them manager 1 and manager 2 he he!! i know its generaly recommended to remove names... there is a lot of information there. i will go over it again today..

the sex discrimination act 1975 makes it unlawful for an employer to treat a woman unfavourably due to pregnancy or maternity and it is unlawful for an employer to, for example

1. reject a job applicant because she was pregnant

2. refuse to train or promote an employee because she would need to take maternity leave

3. leave a woman out of a redundancy consultation excercise because she was on maternity leave...

 

all 3 points would appear to be relevant to your situation. furthermore there is your diabetes. diabetes is covered under disability discrimination act. employers must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your condition. The reasonable adjustemnets are for the business to decide but for example could include extra breaks for checking and satbilising sugar levels, time of with pay for related appointments, facilities for checking blood and sugars, storage of mediction etc etc. in yorucase a reasonable adjustment following your nurses recomendations would have been to work out of a more local office than southam or work from home. it doesnt appear from what you said that any attempts were made to make adjustments.

on to the redundancy situation. employees on maternity leave have special protection. Employers should always seek to redeploy as an alternative to redundancy. women on maternity leave have stronger rights to be redeployed. where it is impractical for the employee on maternity leave because of redundancy she must be offered any suitable alternative work that may be available with her employer or associated employers. the offer must be made before the end of the employees original contract and the new contract must take immediate effect and on terms and conditions broadly similar to those of her original contract. If suitable laternative work is available but not offered her dismissal wil automatically be unfair, regardless of length of service...

[hollie-lou]

right i think that is all of them

[hollie-lou]

any advice people??

[Jason F]

Do you have legal protection on your house or car insurance? If so, time to make a claim....

[kfdh1962]

so have you actually been given notice of dismissal on th egrounds of redundancy, or already been dismissed on the grounds of redundancy?

[hollie-lou]

i have had the letter to say unless i can come up with an alterrnative poistion i will be made redundant this week

[Jason F]

i have had the letter to say unless i can come up with an alterrnative poistion i will be made redundant this week

 

It is not for YOU to come with a suitable alternative position, that is their job to search through the vacancies etc..

 

I would remind them of the view taken in Alexander v Home Office if I were you in respect of this matter.

[kfdh1962]

exactly.. just as jason says, its up to them to make you aware of suitable alternative positions