Does my employer have to help me find work elsewhere in the company?

[ilovepoppydog]

This is a long story! I have worked for my local council for 6 years. In March I went on Maternity leave for the first time. I opted for additional maternity pay as I intended to return in December.

I Sept my mother became terminally ill with cancer - it had spread to her brain and I became her full time carer as she could no longer look after herself and my dad is 73 and disabled.
I contacted my employer to say I could not return to work due to this & to ask if I could be excused from repaying the additional pay considering the circumstances - they said no.

I had to return to work - on a reduced basis - for at least 3 months or repay the extra £1500 (I didnt have the funds for this). I am now 2 months in to this period.

My mother sadly passed away and so I informed my employer that I could return to work, but as I couldn't get childcare for weekends I requested a change to my rota - this was denied. I was also told that they couldn't continue my reduced hours now my mum had passed.
Basically meaning I have to leave.

I asked if I could use the redeployment policy to relocate to a different department (it basically gives employees who have to leave their job preferential treatment in recruitment) I was told my circumstances were not severe enough.
What do I do? I have to resign, meaning no job, no money etc. I am so worried and fear for my small family.
I have been applying for all jobs and vacancies but because of the huge unemployment I'm not even getting to interview stage.

Is what my employer doing legal? Is there any safety nets available for mothers who want to stay in employment but cant due to circumstances?

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Does my employer have to help me find work elsewhere in the company?

bumped

[Eloise01]

Re: Does my employer have to help me find work elsewhere in the company?

I fear your employer may be correct, but before we assume that, I need some more information please:

What was the basis of the agreement for reduced hours - how was this arranged and were there any conditions placed on it (e.g. timescales, needs of the service etc)?

Have you formally requested flexible working on the basis of parental responsibilities, and if so, what excatly was the response? If not, how did you ask? And what was said?

I certainly agree that within the normal conditions applied to council redeployment, it would appear the employer is correct - this is generally reserved for people facing redundancy or unable to do their job due to ill health - and if they are not redeployed within a certain period it leads to termination of contract. This would not be an appropriate route in your case, since you are neither ill nor redundant, and would lead to losing your employment anyway. And the council is by law required to prioritise these two groups over you.