returning to work after maternity leave

[grimo2002]

Hi,

Wondered if anyone can give me any advise. I'm trying to return to work after my full maternity leave but my employers are being very difficult and I wanted to see if I had any claim against them.

I requested part time work which was refused and I was told I had to work full time. I then requested flexible hours 8am - 4.30pm so I still covered the same hours. I was told over the phone by hr it would be fine but then a week later I got an email asking me to work 8-4.30 on Mon, Thurs and Fri but to work 8.30 - 5.30 on Tues & Wed. The very latest I can work is 5.15 due to collecting my daughter from nursery but they are insisting I have to be in the office. They state that as they have already given my male colleague early finishing on those 2 days, I had to work until 5.30. My job is not a job which is purely office based so I've tried to fight it but they are not budging. I've even offered to be available by phone and email from 5.45 (no service on the tube journey) for the rest of the evening. They have offered me 4 days a week at our warehouse doing a more junior job for the same basic salary but I'd have to miss out on a possible £12k bonus to do this job.

Are they in their rights to treat me like this? I've worked for them for 10 years?

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Hi welcome to CAG, you will see there are some threads about maternity leave and rights to flexible working, have a read around them you might discover some useful information.

Should you need more help and advice you could send a PM to forum contributers who have HR expertise, I am aware of elche, sidewinder, and ell-enn.

You should include a link to your thread, I am sure you will soon receive advice.

 

Andy

[elche]

Hi,

 

meant to get to this post yesterday.

 

Anyway, three issues i see.

 

Firstly, congratulations on the recent arrival, I hope he or she is bringing you much joy.

 

Secondly, you are an employee RTW following mat leave. Thus you are, entitled to return to your old job, on terms and conditions that are not less favourable than you would have enjoyed had you not been absent. But if it is not reasonably practicable (for a reason other than redundancy) for your employer to permit you to return to that job, your employer must permit you to return to another job which is both suitable for you and appropriate for you to do in the circumstances; on terms and conditions not less favourable than those which would have applied had you not been absent .

 

Thus, you have a right to return to work, if you wish.

 

"In other respects than the nature of the job to which she returns, the employee is in the same position as respects seniority, pension rights and similar rights."

 

The third issue is your request for PT work. If you RTW after mat leave then you were entitled to submit a request for "flexible working".

 

Allow the following to explain:

 

"An employee who seeks a change in working conditions must do so in writing (a term which includes email and fax). Only one request may be made within any one year; there is no statutory right to make a further request following a (successful or unsuccessful) request until a year has passed. The request is just that; there is no entitlement to have it granted. But the employer is constrained to refuse it only if he considers that one or more of a number of specified grounds (specified in ERtsA 1996 s 80G(1)(a)) applies:

 

 

• ∙ burden of additional costs;
  
• ∙ detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand;
  
• ∙ inability to reorganise work among existing staff;
  
• ∙ inability to recruit additional staff;
  
• ∙ detrimental impact on quality;
  
• ∙ detrimental impact on performance;
  
• ∙ insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work;
  
• ∙ planned structural changes;
  
• ∙ such other grounds as may be specified in regulations (as at 1 September 2008, no further grounds have been specified).
  

You, "...may complain to an employment tribunal under ERA 1996 s 80H either that the employer has failed to comply with the duties imposed by s 80G(1) or that he has based his rejection of the application on incorrect facts."

 

The award for such not excedding eight weeks pay.

 

Hope this helps

 

Che

[KAZ77]

Hi,

The quote below : Is that stated somewhere official that I can see please?

 

 

"An employee who seeks a change in working conditions must do so in writing (a term which includes email and fax). Only one request may be made within any one year; there is no statutory right to make a further request following a (successful or unsuccessful) request until a year has passed. The request is just that; there is no entitlement to have it granted. But the employer is constrained to refuse it only if he considers that one or more of a number of specified grounds (specified in ERtsA 1996 s 80G(1)(a)) applies:

 

 

• ∙ burden of additional costs;
  
• ∙ detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand;
  
• ∙ inability to reorganise work among existing staff;
  
• ∙ inability to recruit additional staff;
  
• ∙ detrimental impact on quality;
  
• ∙ detrimental impact on performance;
  
• ∙ insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work;
  
• ∙ planned structural changes;
  
• ∙ such other grounds as may be specified in regulations (as at 1 September 2008, no further grounds have been specified).
  

[Lula]

Try googling Returning to Work after Maternity leave, should bring up legislation.

[elche]

Hi,

The quote below : Is that stated somewhere official that I can see please?

 

Yeah it is stated here by me! - but if you want to check it out just look at the new sections 80F - 80I, which were inserted into the ERA1996 by the Employment Act 2002 s.47(1) and (2).

 

I use a subscription source but you can see it here also:

 

Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended)

 

Che

[KAZ77]

Thanks. Sorry, was trying to prove a point to someone and they needed to see the "official version"