A difficult decision can be made worse for Mums
I received an email from a pregnant Mum this week who was feeling very confused and upset by her employers regarding her returning to work after the birth of her baby. Usually getting nothing but praise and encouragement fro her bosses, all of a sudden since announcing her pregnancy they have begun to find fault with her work and are making her feel inadequate.
When discussing the possibility of her returning part time, the bosses have been giving her the impression that her position cannot be fulfilled in this capacity. So, where does this poor woman stand??
According to the Directgov website :
"When returning to work after Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks of your Statutory Maternity Leave), you have a right to the same job and the same terms and conditions as if you hadn’t been away.
This also applies when you come back after Additional Maternity Leave (the last 26 weeks of your Statutory Maternity Leave). However, if your employer shows it is not reasonably practical to return to your original job (eg because the job no longer exists) you do not have the same right. In that case, you must be offered alternative work with terms and conditions as if you hadn’t been away."And the advice I have given is to speak to the citizens advice bureau to find out more about where she stands. They have no right to make a person feel so inadequate and uncomfortable. It is all about negotiating what is best for everybody, rather than making people feel pushed out.
Good luck to the lady in question, make sure you fight for your rights ,as well as looking after yourself and your little baby!!
To refuse a non-statutory request for flexible working on inadequate grounds, without due consideration, may give an employee a number of potential claims, so employers should ensure that requests made outside the statutory procedure are handled fairly and consistently.
ReplyDeleteThe claims most likely to arise are constructive dismissal, sex discrimination, age discrimination and/or disability discrimination.
A claim for constructive dismissal may arise if employers arbitrarily or unreasonably refuse an employee’s request for flexible working and, in refusing the request, act in a way likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence (which is implied into all contracts of employment).
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees because of sex, transgender status, married or civil partnership status, pregnancy/maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality, ethnic origins and national origins), any religion or belief (including philosophical beliefs), sexual orientation, disability and age.
Case Law makes clear: that refusing a request for part-time working from a female employee with children may constitute unlawful indirect sex discrimination. The employer must ensure that, before refusing any such request, the rejection is based on a legitimate business aim (and not, for example, on the manager’s personal views) and that the requirement for the employee to continue working full-time is necessary with a view to the achievement of that aim (i.e. the test for justification for indirect discrimination).
source: XpertHr
The right to request flexible working includes the right for an eligible employee to ask for changes to:
ReplyDeletethe number of hours worked, eg part-time working, term-time working;
the times of work, eg the days of the week worked and start/finish times;
the place of work, ie a request to do some or all of the work from home.
In order for an employee's request for flexible working to be valid, it must be in writing (email is acceptable) and must stipulate:
whether the employee has made a previous application for flexible working, and if so when the application was made;
the change applied for, ie the pattern of working the employee wants;
the date on which the employee wants the change to take effect;
the effects that the employee envisages the changes requested will have on the employer; and
how any such effect might be dealt with.
Any request that is not in writing, or that does not contain the required information, need not be dealt with under the statutory procedure.
Employers are not obliged automatically to agree to a request for flexible working, but are under a duty to consider a valid request seriously. If the employer agrees to the employee's request and provides written notification of such agreement to the employee within 28 days, no further procedure is required.
Source: xpertHR
The employer may refuse the request only if the refusal is for one of a list of specified business reasons. These are:
ReplyDeletethe burden of additional costs;
a detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand;
a detrimental impact on quality;
a detrimental impact on performance;
the inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff;
the inability to recruit additional staff;
insufficiency of work during the periods the employee wishes to work;
planned structural changes.
Source: xpertHR
Thanks for your comments there it is great to get some helpful info on this subject
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