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Hi, I'm new here and wondered if anyone could please give me some advice...
In December 2019 my 25 year old daughter applied for a Deputy Nursery Manager position. She holds a foundation Degree and Masters in Early Years learning as well as lots of experience in a nursery setting.
At her interview, she explained that for most of her teen/adult life, she has suffered with Endometriosis - a debilitating illness affecting women and that she was actually still recovering from her 4th operation from a week earlier. The manager (let's call her Emma) and more importantly the business owner (let's call her Jane) waived it off saying they knew about the condition from a previous employee and that this was fine and offered my daughter the job. She accepted feeling confident that she was joining a team who would understand and support her condition.
In May 2020 she looked forward to her probation coming to an end, but instead the owner sited her endometriosis as unacceptable sickness absence (she had taken 3 days sickness after being taken to hospital in an ambulance ) and extended her probation for a further 3 months, In November it was again extended.
In March 2021 the same thing happened. She had another Endo flare-up, was taken to hospital, had a couple of days off, and her probation was extended again.
The probation continues to be extended every 3 months - she hasn't always had Endo flare-ups but in one instance had a sickness bug which kept her at home (as per sickness policy) for 72 hours She was screamed at down the phone by the business owner for not going in and letting everyone down.
On the other side, when she competently handles safeguarding issues, policy breaches etc., they have become so reliant on my daughter - let's call her Victoria - that she is forbidden to be off at any time the manager is, because despite there being 2 other deputies, the business owner will not allow anyone else to run the business in the manager's absence. This means sometimes she does 45 hour weeks - 12 hour days and is often called at 6.30am to start at 7.30am to cover sickness etc. And she always steps up.
To her credit, the manager sympathises with Victoria and is on her side, but she is governed by the business owner and has to do what she is told to.
Her latest probation period is due to end on 30/6/2021. It was confirmed to her a few months ago, that if she passed this latest probation, it would be her last and she would be given a pay rise to £10/hour (currently £9.25) They called a meeting with her this morning and said that they would be promoting another team member to Deputy (the other deputies have stood down/left) and offered her a job share. This to-be-promoted team member is only qualified to level 3, whereas Victoria is level 5/6. As this is a change - they have said they can only afford to pay them both £9.50/hour even though Vicky has been doing the job for the last 18 months, has lots more experience and knowledge and of course, the actual qualifications.
Can they do this to her? Is penalising her progress because of her illness discrimination? Can they perpetually keep her on probation for 18 months? Can she site employment law etc? PS: She does not get paid if she is off sick
Any advice, guidance or info would be extremely appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
In December 2019 my 25 year old daughter applied for a Deputy Nursery Manager position. She holds a foundation Degree and Masters in Early Years learning as well as lots of experience in a nursery setting.
At her interview, she explained that for most of her teen/adult life, she has suffered with Endometriosis - a debilitating illness affecting women and that she was actually still recovering from her 4th operation from a week earlier. The manager (let's call her Emma) and more importantly the business owner (let's call her Jane) waived it off saying they knew about the condition from a previous employee and that this was fine and offered my daughter the job. She accepted feeling confident that she was joining a team who would understand and support her condition.
In May 2020 she looked forward to her probation coming to an end, but instead the owner sited her endometriosis as unacceptable sickness absence (she had taken 3 days sickness after being taken to hospital in an ambulance ) and extended her probation for a further 3 months, In November it was again extended.
In March 2021 the same thing happened. She had another Endo flare-up, was taken to hospital, had a couple of days off, and her probation was extended again.
The probation continues to be extended every 3 months - she hasn't always had Endo flare-ups but in one instance had a sickness bug which kept her at home (as per sickness policy) for 72 hours She was screamed at down the phone by the business owner for not going in and letting everyone down.
On the other side, when she competently handles safeguarding issues, policy breaches etc., they have become so reliant on my daughter - let's call her Victoria - that she is forbidden to be off at any time the manager is, because despite there being 2 other deputies, the business owner will not allow anyone else to run the business in the manager's absence. This means sometimes she does 45 hour weeks - 12 hour days and is often called at 6.30am to start at 7.30am to cover sickness etc. And she always steps up.
To her credit, the manager sympathises with Victoria and is on her side, but she is governed by the business owner and has to do what she is told to.
Her latest probation period is due to end on 30/6/2021. It was confirmed to her a few months ago, that if she passed this latest probation, it would be her last and she would be given a pay rise to £10/hour (currently £9.25) They called a meeting with her this morning and said that they would be promoting another team member to Deputy (the other deputies have stood down/left) and offered her a job share. This to-be-promoted team member is only qualified to level 3, whereas Victoria is level 5/6. As this is a change - they have said they can only afford to pay them both £9.50/hour even though Vicky has been doing the job for the last 18 months, has lots more experience and knowledge and of course, the actual qualifications.
Can they do this to her? Is penalising her progress because of her illness discrimination? Can they perpetually keep her on probation for 18 months? Can she site employment law etc? PS: She does not get paid if she is off sick
Any advice, guidance or info would be extremely appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
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