Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

[teaboy2]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

Well am more then willing to help and certain @matt3942 is as well. He is right it is for the tribunal to decide if the employers actions are discriminatory, but i think it pretty much speaks for itself in regards to if it is or not. I think it is anyway, point nine even made it certain to me, but am not the tribunal chair/judge.

So thats basically six months away. I was hoping it be less as you only have up to 3 months from last course of action to take a claim to tribunal. Though am sure if need be, we can ask the claim be stayed or dates of hearings moved to after the baby is born.

[RJH]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

She can self certify as sick for the first seven days. So all she has to do is say shes got slight bleeding again and is trying to arrange appointment with her doctor, so she won't be in today as a precautionary measure!

Also i wouldn't take the letter to the nursery, as chances are (if my suspicions are correct and the other owners are not aware of this situation and z and manager have been feeding them bullshit about your OH's performace etc etc) they won't pass it on to the other owners. So is there anyway you can get it to the other owners directly?! If not then leave it. As other owners will find out once your OH makes a tribunal claim, but you really do not need your OH getting stressed through the process, so you may be best to fill in the forms for her and have us help you with it, and only bother your OH when we need details of events that happened etc etc! Though your OH will have to attend tribunal hearings, though we could request the proceedings be stayed due to your wifes preganancy. Though saying that - when did you say the baby was due again? As we may be able to wait till after the baby is born!

[MENTION=19071]teaboy2[/MENTION] The baby is due 25th December :tinysmile_aha_t:. I am quite happy to be filling everything and sorting everything I possibly can with the help and assistance of you guys, so if you are able to carry on assisting throughout then that will be great.
[MENTION=67649]matt3942[/MENTION] thank you for the concern, I intend to take the stress wherever possible - broad shoulders and all that

[matt3942]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

[MENTION=59438]RJH[/MENTION] - It's absolutely your choice but just be aware that it will get more stressful.

Whether the employer was discriminatory will probably be determined later by an ET.

- Matt

[teaboy2]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

@teaboy2 you really have no idea how much your assistance is helping.

I will get another copy of that letter sent to the nursery F.A.O. the other owners tomorrow. My OH states that they don't ever come to site, but she doesn't have their home address?

Also, she is due at work at 7:45 tomorrow, so what can she tell them as to why she isn't going in as she won't be seen by the doctor before this time?

They had scheduled her key child's consultation for the 2nd of July, but they have made her talk to child's parents tonight and push it back to the 9th so she can finally receive the information she has been asking for, for weeks!

She can self certify as sick for the first seven days. So all she has to do is say shes got slight bleeding again and is trying to arrange appointment with her doctor, so she won't be in today as a precautionary measure!

Also i wouldn't take the letter to the nursery, as chances are (if my suspicions are correct and the other owners are not aware of this situation and z and manager have been feeding them bullshit about your OH's performace etc etc) they won't pass it on to the other owners. So is there anyway you can get it to the other owners directly?! If not then leave it. As other owners will find out once your OH makes a tribunal claim, but you really do not need your OH getting stressed through the process, so you may be best to fill in the forms for her and have us help you with it, and only bother your OH when we need details of events that happened etc etc! Though your OH will have to attend tribunal hearings, though we could request the proceedings be stayed due to your wifes preganancy. Though saying that - when did you say the baby was due again? As we may be able to wait till after the baby is born!

[RJH]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

[MENTION=67649]matt3942[/MENTION] it is definitely worth it. I am taking most of the flak of sorting things, and if it goes to a tribunal (which at the moment I'm pretty sure it will), then I'll be helping there too.

There is no way either of us are going to back down and just give in, what is that showing them? They deserve to have their names dragged through the mud and shown up to be the people they really are. Discrimination is wrong, and so is harassment.

[matt3942]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

I would consider writing a letter to the other owners to inform them of the issues and that it does amount to sexual discrimination and bullying and harassment which could cost them at tribunal, whilst making clear all you OH wants is fair treatment and to be happy at work! Or alternatively send a copy of the previous letter to the other owners, that way person z and manager can not hide the issue under the carpet from the other owners.

I wouldn't advise doing this.

It's not sexual discrimination, it's discrimination because of pregnancy, which was identified in the grievance letter (i.e. being treated less favourably because of pregnancy). Also, I'd be surprised if an ET construed a few phone calls (although terribly insensitive) as harassment under the Equality Act 2010.

My advice is to let the grievance process run its course, and ask the doctor to sign your OH off work in the meantime.

- Matt

[RJH]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

[MENTION=19071]teaboy2[/MENTION] you really have no idea how much your assistance is helping.

I will get another copy of that letter sent to the nursery F.A.O. the other owners tomorrow. My OH states that they don't ever come to site, but she doesn't have their home address?

Also, she is due at work at 7:45 tomorrow, so what can she tell them as to why she isn't going in as she won't be seen by the doctor before this time?

They had scheduled her key child's consultation for the 2nd of July, but they have made her talk to child's parents tonight and push it back to the 9th so she can finally receive the information she has been asking for, for weeks!

[matt3942]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

Hi [MENTION=59438]RJH[/MENTION] - I think most of what you've listed has been covered in the grievance letter and I wouldn't advise doing anything else until you know the outcome of the grievance meeting.

Of course your OH may go to her doctor and be signed off from work if the doctor thinks its necessary.

I will say that if your OH is stressed already, it won't get any easier having to go through a grievance meeting and probably then the appeal process and ultimately a tribunal. You really have to consider if it's worth going through this process.

Do keep us updated though.

- Matt

[teaboy2]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

Yes she is within her rights to be signed off and it will not effect her right to claim satutory maternity pay either, should we get the employer to back down.

What is the date of the parents evening?

Point 9 i do not think you mentioned before, but that would constitute harassment! They knew your OH was bleeding they knew she was having an emergency scan yet still hounded her with phone calls to come in to work! Thats also a breach of duty of care which is a contractual term as they are responsiable for the health and saftey and welfare of their employees. There actions were clearly detrimental to your OH's welfare and they clearly showed no sign of consideration for her health and welbeing despite the seriousness of your wifes situation!

For now sign off sick and see how they respond to the letter. We can bring all the rest up at a later stage if need be. I also seek the instigator of the problems is person Z as she seems to be at the center of everything and the manager/owner seems to be taking advise from person Z - I would consider writing a letter to the other owners to inform them of the issues and that it does amount to sexual discrimination and bullying and harassment which could cost them at tribunal, whilst making clear all you OH wants is fair treatment and to be happy at work! Or alternatively send a copy of the previous letter to the other owners, that way person z and manager can not hide the issue under the carpet from the other owners.

[RJH]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

[MENTION=19071]teaboy2[/MENTION] [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] [MENTION=67649]matt3942[/MENTION] + any others that wish to contribute........

So, today my OH has been into work, and there is a parents evening coming up which bizarrely they are still asking her to be there for, as she has a key child (who they don't allow her to spend much time with I may add). She mentioned to a couple of members of staff that she wasn't sure why this would be beneficial to anyone because of the situation you are all aware of. These members of staff then went in to see the owner (the one that gave her the 'end of employment' letter) and tried to say she was refusing to do parents evening, which then ended up with the owner and the member of the management team (lets call her Z) that coerced my OH into signing and backdating the contract, vs. her. My OH has been given no information on what she needs to do to be prepared for this and Z tried to make out in this 2 vs. 1 that she hadn't asked for help. I know she has asked because she's come home numerous times telling me the same thing. They have pretty much ganged up on her today, leaving her in quite a state and now wanting to go to the doctors tomorrow as she is feeling really down about the way they are treating her. Another comment made about her today from Z to two other employees was that "....well she still has a job to do".

Below are all of the things we have noted down that may be of interest, and I would appreciate further advice on moving forward:

1. Job given as permanent position upon completion of satisfactory 3 month probation (due 21/04/15)
2. 21st April, was told that I needed an NVQ Level 3 in Childcare to be permanent (this wasn't given as a requirement when being offered the job) and that probation should have in fact been 6 months. Owner told my OH this.
3. Told a member of the management team (Z), that she was pregnant - this was on 19/05/15. No risk assessment ever carried out.
4. 16/6/15 - my OH was coerced into signing a contract, under the watch of Z without being given time to read through it and look at any amendments (I.e. the switch from seemingly permanent to a now temporary/fixed term contract).
5. 18/6/15 - Staff meeting held - Owner said that she would be in w/c 22/6/15 to look at new academic year hours and she would do this as soon as possible for the staff - Showing they hadn't already done this IMO.
6. 19/6/15 - Our 'Dating Scan' for baby. The management team (all of them incl. Z and the owner, and N the admin girl) knew she was going for this scan. As she was walking out to go, the owner pulled my OH to the side and gave her an envelope containing the letter you have seen about her 'end date'. This took place in a corridor, and the owner told her that both her and the other owners had a meeting earlier that week and 'decided' that there were no hours for her in September - this totally contradicts her previous statement in the staff meeting the night before.
7. Following on from point 6, before OH left to meet me for the scan, she said how can you do this as I'm not on a temporary contract, to which the owner claimed she had told her it could always be a possibility (this again has never happened). My OH had been told that hours would be cut for everyone in September, but always pick back up again.
8. 21/05/15 - OH offered more hours as another staff member was decreasing theirs.
9. 26/05/15 - OH left work because of bleeding and stomach pains, doctor rang her at work to advise of emergency scan the next AM.
10. 27/05/15 - At hospital for scan, assuming we had lost baby, with work being aware of the situation, OH receiving numerous calls throughout us being there to ask her to come in and cover someone else!
11. A further staff member joined after my OH, and she has not had anything like this happen to her. This new member is the daughter of a current staff member.
12. Has been told numerous times to make any pregnancy appointments on days off or first thing in the morning so that it is easier for them. The admin girl, N, told my OH that her scan date on 19/6/15 would be covered and she wouldn't be required into work. Next day she was told by Z that she had to come in because (in Z's words) 'it would be better for the owner to know that you are still coming in after'. On top of this, she was scheduled to come back in at 4:30pm, even though my OH explained she was going for a scan and had other hospital staff to see that day - Further pressure on her.
13. OH has never been given a maternity policy to read.
14. Regarding 'hours', there is a member of staff retiring in September; the nursery is open 48 weeks of the year and some of the staff only work term-time; and my OH has spoke to someone that helps out with cover there who has told her she is now having to turn down work because there is too many hours they are asking her to cover.

I'm sure there is more, and will be more.

Your thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated and we are both so grateful to all of you that are taking time out of your day to help us with this.

One vital question - is my OH within her rights to go to the doctors and get signed off, as she is on the verge of a breakdown due to these people, and she was nearly in tears tonight. To keep putting herself through that isn't good for her or the baby?

[teaboy2]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

Ok will do

[RJH]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

@teaboy2 thanks for the number

There's going to be a very long post from me shortly, detailing everything we have written down about this case as there has been more issues today and I need urgent advice as my OH is due back in tomorrow and is really unhappy about having to go in. Please wait for this long post

[teaboy2]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

call this number here 0800 055 6688 to discuss the situation, its the same number for making a claim for maternity allowance! They will be able to advise you on whether you need to make a claim etc

[RJH]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

Well the letter is in tonight's post, so let's see what happens now.

As a direct result of this situation as it stands, my OH is going to have to try and claim maternity from the Government, but when I read through the requirements I don't fully understand.
What does she need to be eligible for the Government maternity, and for how long would she be paid? I've tried to find an email address to email the relevant person as my OH isn't too confident, but can't find one!

[teaboy2]

Re: Pregnant and made redundant - HELP

Yep basically - Plus it would be seen as unreasonable behavior on their part, as the chance of them not receiving it after its been signed for on delivery is next to zero.