Maternity Leave - possible redundancy

[Ronnie93]

Good afternoon,
My wife is working for the same company for over 4 years right now. She is now on maternity leave until mid-April followed by a month of holiday. She is employed as an Inventory Support and she works with the Stock Manager in her department. The whole company is divided between more or less 10 different departments, which structure is the same as hers – Stock Manager(s) and Inventory Support(s), as some departments are bigger. Currently we have been informed by one of our friends who works on the same position in a different department, that the position is going to be cut across the whole company. She has the logs of her first consultation, that proves it has been said but she should not be informing anyone about this. However, my wife has been informed, that her role is a key role and she is safe until January, when the whole situation will be reviewed again (Our company is busier until the end of Christmas).

I am not sure, if I understand Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations correctly but I believe if she has been given a notice of possible redundancy during the Maternity Leave, she should be offered an alternative role before any other person (apologies if I am completely wrong). The whole thing looks to me like they are keeping her job safe for now just to avoid offering her alternative job now (other Inventory Supports are encouraged to apply for a few roles, including Stock Manager role in one of departments), as then they would need to arrange a cover for this role anyway. In January we are pretty sure that there will not be any alternative role available, so she might be made redundant then.

I wonder if there will be a chance of questioning the potential redundancy in January then, or is it a better idea to contact HR now. What might be a proof, that her role is not a key role at the moment, is the fact that no one is covering her role during her leave (Stock Manager is working on her own). Is what company do legal and (if it's not) should we contact the employer now or wait until January to see what happens,

Thank you Everyone for all the help.

Best regards.

[ULA]

Yes you are correct, if your wife's position is to be made redundant whilst on maternity leave then, if there is a suitable alternative position, this should be offered to her.

I would suggest that given her employer has already spoken to your wife that she speaks to them about what suitable alternative positions are available to her .

[Ronnie93]

Thank you so much for your reply.

Sorry, if I wasn't clear in my post but the problem is that the company informed that her role is safe now until January when they are going to review that again. However all the other employees on the same position as hers are now during consultation and they were told that the position will no longer exist across the company, which is the reason of their meetings. My wife is then the only person on her position who is "safe" until January and we think she will have her consultations then (when no other roles will be available, so it might end with redundancy). We can imagine that the reason for that is to avoid giving her another position now (when such positions exist and she should be offered these before anyone else), as they would need to arrange a cover for her anyway. Do you think it is something that company can legally do? I know it might be hard to prove but as she will be the only person on this position left until the end of December, with no one covering her role, isn't it pretty obvious?

I would really appreciate your help.

Thank you and best regards.

[ULA]

Hi yes you were clear in your post that is why I suggested that your wife speaks to her employer over her concerns about the situation.

If the role that your wife does is being made redundant across all departments then she needs to be considered for alternative positions in accordance with Reg 10 at the same time as all her colleagues which is now, regardless of whether or not they are delaying when your wife's redundancy may take place because her role is safe until Jan, although not sure why as she is on mat leave.