Made redundant while on maternity leave

[Lina]

Hello! I was made redundant on my 40th week of maternity leave. I joined the company in mid December 2013 and went on maternity leave early January 2015. on 21 September 2015, I had a returning to work discussion with my employer (upon my request) and I requested for a flexi hour when I return to work from maternity leave but instead of coming back to me with a decision on my request, my employer made me redundant instead. This happened last Monday which is exactly 2 weeks after the request was communicated. I was called for a 'consultation' meeting, was told of the reasons I was to be made redundant (no exploration of alternatives, just simply saying that it was due to reduced workload) and I received an email on the same day (4 hours later) saying that I am dismissed by reason of redundancy and I don't have to return from my maternity leave and I will be paid what is due to me. Everything was positive at the discussion and I was surprised by the redundancy news. As for the number of the employees the company has, this is quite tricky as the the company has another office in the city. I think there are about 20 employees if I were to take into consideration the other office but I am not sure their employment status (how many contractors, how many employees) so I think to be on the safe side and not giving inaccurate information, I will just say less than 20 employee. I think I have a strong case of discrimination (can't do unfair dismissal as two months short of working 2 years for the company) and I am considering to engage a solicitor to represent me but I would like to your opinion too. Please advise. Thanks!

[Lina]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

More info:
1) My employment contract was for a permanent/staff role
2) There have been 4 redundancies including myself (1 before me and 2 after) but there have been evidence that the company is growing as they hired 4 new people a couple of months ago and is advertising to hire 3 more.
3) All these changes started to take place after a new manager was hired a couple of months ago.
4) There is no denying that the workload has been reduced but it has not completely diminished as 2 other colleagues are now doing my task. Working on reduced hour as I requested would've helped the company in reducing cost.
5) Before I left for my maternity leave, the CEO of the company did say that I can always come back on maternity leave. But this is of course, my words against his. I have no emails or letters to prove this.

Thanks so much for your reply, be it negative or positive. I appreciate any input/opinions.

[judgemental24]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

I need to be sure on this as there s a difference

Were you made redundant or was your job role on return from maternity made redundant?

Were other positions/vacancies discussed within the business?

How much notice were you given that you were being made redundant when on maternity leave?


You must be given first refusal on any suitable alternative employments. If your company is part of a chain, they need to offer you any jobs that become available elsewhere. As with any other employee, people on maternity leave who are threatened with redundancy should be notified of the redundancy process, be consulted, be included in the pool and put forward for redeployment.

[Lina]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Hi Judgemental, thanks for your reply

The wordings used in my Notice of Termination of Employment are
1) You were being discussed for redundancy
2) Decision to dismiss you by reason of redundancy with immediate effect
3) You are not required to come back after your maternity leave

BUT, on the last paragraph it says 'necessary to make this role redundant'. No role was mentioned in the letter.

As for the 'consultation'; no, there was no discussion as to other alternatives (vacancies/position) it was merely the employer telling me why they had to take such measures. No other opportunities were explored.

Notice: In my employment contract it's one month notice for termination but I was paid this one month notice. They consultation meeting was at 1pm and I received the Termination Notice at 5pm the same day.

Thanks

[judgemental24]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

If no consultation period was discussd and minuted then you have been Unlawfully made redundant.

Pregnancy has a protected status

Give ACAS a call as they have to do a mediation process first before instigating an employment tribunal claim

This has Employment Tribunal 101 written all over it

I would take screen shots of past and current positions being advertised by your company

[Lina]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Thanks so much for your advice. All the while I though only companies with over 20 employers need to adhere to the consultation period rule (14/30 days depending on the number of employees).

[judgemental24]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Pregnancy is different as it is covered not only in the Equality Act 2010, but also the Employment Rights Act 1996

Redundancy through pregnancy has a totally different procedure than normal redundancy measures.

Being pregnant you have a "Protected Characteristic" under the Equality Act"

Think of it as sex discrimination by your employer in not following statutory duty

[Lina]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

As for the screen shots, the roles being advertised are different to mine. Will it still be relevant? Is it to prove that the company is doing ok and does not have any genuine to resort to redundancy?

[judgemental24]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

If you are capable of filling those advertised roles then it is relevant

This is a slam dunk anyway as your employer failed to follow the correct consultation procedure/period when making you redundant

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

As for the screen shots, the roles being advertised are different to mine. Will it still be relevant? Is it to prove that the company is doing ok and does not have any genuine to resort to redundancy?

It's not to do with the company's financial situation as positions can be made redundant even when a business is doing well, for a number of reasons. It would be to establish that you were not given the opportunity to apply for suitable roles internally.

If you were made redundant as soon as they heard about your request for flexible hours it sounds like they were not happy with that request.

The redundancy rules state that it is the ROLE that becomes redundant rather than the individual filling that role, which is why they'll do everything they can to make it sound like all roles are different. "The role has changed" is a phrase you very often hear. :mmph:

[Lina]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Perfect! Just thinking of gathering as many arguments and reasons as possible. I guess the lawyer who takes up my case will be happy

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Perfect! Just thinking of gathering as many arguments and reasons as possible. I guess the lawyer who takes up my case will be happy

Your first step should be ACAS, these days it's mandatory to submit a request for early conciliation and get a certificate from them before issuing a claim in the Employment Tribunal: https://ec.acas.org.uk/Submission/SingleClaimantPage

It may be possible to get pro-bono legal representation in employment matters, see my previous post here: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...629#post581629 :grin: :grin:

[Lina]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Thanks for the clarification, Flaming Parrot. I will keep looking if they advertise a job similar to my role. However, the month prior to my redundancy, I receive a letter from the company announcing several new employments and one of the role is something that I could easily transfer my skills to. This is also my main argument that the redundancy was not a genuine one.

[Celestine]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

It's hard to believe employers still think they can do this??

It's a running joke in the employment law industry...Never, ever **** with a pregnant lady!!

These guys are going to get hauled over the coals and so they should! Good luck xx

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Made redundant while on maternity leave

Thanks for the clarification, Flaming Parrot. I will keep looking if they advertise a job similar to my role. However, the month prior to my redundancy, I receive a letter from the company announcing several new employments and one of the role is something that I could easily transfer my skills to. This is also my main argument that the redundancy was not a genuine one.

Keep that letter as well as screenshots of relevant job adverts. If you end up going to the employment tribunal all that information will be part of your evidence to accompany your witness statement and will go in the bundle. :thumb: