Maternity/redundancy
Discussion
The wife is just coming to the end of her maternity and requested flexible hours (declined/appealed/declined again) she offered to do as a trial but declined, offered job share and yep declined saying no-one out there wants a job share. 
She was earning a pretty good salary with commission so a part time (2 1/2 days) would have been on near on 20k.
Anyway lots of emails/ACAS solicitors etc it looked likely an out of court settlement would be made and she would be laid off with the usual redundancy (7 weeks is it? ) plus all outstanding holiday and commision that we have worked out to be around £7k, she just recieved an offer of £3200.
also mentioning she would have to resign. Now she doesnt want to resign but they wont allow her part time work (altho he said financially its a tough time so surely that is an easier option of reducing hours)
Now in theory i know the original job is there and she would go back to this if feasable but TBH it isnt unless as he has done with other employee's and she worked out of the office remotely but he wont allow that either.
Does she have no option but to resign?
She was earning a pretty good salary with commission so a part time (2 1/2 days) would have been on near on 20k. Anyway lots of emails/ACAS solicitors etc it looked likely an out of court settlement would be made and she would be laid off with the usual redundancy (7 weeks is it? ) plus all outstanding holiday and commision that we have worked out to be around £7k, she just recieved an offer of £3200.
also mentioning she would have to resign. Now she doesnt want to resign but they wont allow her part time work (altho he said financially its a tough time so surely that is an easier option of reducing hours) Now in theory i know the original job is there and she would go back to this if feasable but TBH it isnt unless as he has done with other employee's and she worked out of the office remotely but he wont allow that either.
Does she have no option but to resign?
PMSL its nothing to do with the money, my wife has a pretty good career (40k job) and im running a family business, She would like to continue this career but on a reduced (flexible working) basis. The company have survived for a year with 2 people on maternity leave and 1 person there temping to cover both. Also she has offered to be on call the days she wasnt in the office as she already has a company mobile its not really hard to contact her but he is adament that this isnt an option albeit that 2 salesMEN have worked for 6 months from south africa and france on numerous occasions.
The commission is what is already owed from previous/ongoing contracts that were due for payment after maternity leave had started.
The commission is what is already owed from previous/ongoing contracts that were due for payment after maternity leave had started.
stumpage said:
As I read it they are not making her redundant. Her job that she left to go on maternity leave is still there on the same terms she left.
If she wants to change the job but the business can prove it's not a practical or cost effective option. Then all she can do is resign.
This is pretty much on the mark i would think. obviously every parent has the right to request flexible hour and the emplyer should seriously consider them BUT dont have to accept. If she wants to change the job but the business can prove it's not a practical or cost effective option. Then all she can do is resign.
He is saying its not practical for the business BUT 1 person has covered 2 roles for the last year. The Other new mum (my sister actually) has now resigned altho well before this all started So its likley that the temp who is doing the 2 roles will be taken on full time. My wife would like to reduce her hours or do 2/3 days from home. They are an IT security software reseller so already have remote capabilities as has been proved by the south africa/france.
Its not a massive company around 10/12 employee's.
Grey Ghost said:
In all seriousness forget the ACAS route and speak to a specialist employment lawyer. Making a woman redundant during or soon after completing a maternity leave is a big minefield for any employer. Most shy away from it or accept a substantial cost will have to be met if they go ahead with the proposal, see below.
My wife is coming to the end of a fixed term contract at one of the biggest Swiss banks. Since she has been there a role occupied by a woman on maternity leave has been made redundant by the boss leaving and the whole department being split up by further redundancies and realignmment of responsibilities - i.e. true role redundancy. The woman on maternity leave now wants to come back part time (she was full time) and job share with someone. My wife's boss (he is a COO) has tried everything to stop this and appoint my wife to the role she is now doing on a permanent basis as she will be able to do her current role and cover anything that is left of the previous role at the same time. His every move has been thrown out by HR as they are scared s
tless of what the costs would be to make a "compromise" offer to the woman on maternity leave so she does not take them to a tribunal.
Given a payment to this woman of any sort would not even register on the radar at this bank I would think your wife's position to be stronger than ACAS have the experience to help with and hence why I think you should speak to a specialist lawyer.
She was talking to a solicitor about an unfair decision re flexible/homeworking through a personal insurance scheme we have but they aren't willing to take on the case unless its 60% confirmed they will win. My wife is coming to the end of a fixed term contract at one of the biggest Swiss banks. Since she has been there a role occupied by a woman on maternity leave has been made redundant by the boss leaving and the whole department being split up by further redundancies and realignmment of responsibilities - i.e. true role redundancy. The woman on maternity leave now wants to come back part time (she was full time) and job share with someone. My wife's boss (he is a COO) has tried everything to stop this and appoint my wife to the role she is now doing on a permanent basis as she will be able to do her current role and cover anything that is left of the previous role at the same time. His every move has been thrown out by HR as they are scared s
tless of what the costs would be to make a "compromise" offer to the woman on maternity leave so she does not take them to a tribunal.Given a payment to this woman of any sort would not even register on the radar at this bank I would think your wife's position to be stronger than ACAS have the experience to help with and hence why I think you should speak to a specialist lawyer.
which funny enough they wasnt. She is going to find a local employment solicitor tho. edc said:
What about the business needs? In a small company it can be very hard to accommodate.
Have you considered that despite your view that such arrangements have happened in the past that they have not been a success and may have been on trial or fixed periods?
The guy has been to south africa 3 times in 4 years for 6 months a time Have you considered that despite your view that such arrangements have happened in the past that they have not been a success and may have been on trial or fixed periods?
They are an IT reseller that 90 % of the work is done by email, the odd phone call and the odd site visit but in truth i think she has had one meeting offsite in 5 years.
Were not in it for the money we just want the correct outcome. Why should one male employee be allowed to work hours away and a female cant do the same for 2 days per week?
While I agree that sales in general probably wouldn't be suitable but the wife only works on renewal work not new business. She isn't employed as sales staff either and doesn't have to meet the sales teams targets.
All of her can be forward planned so much so that she did 3 months into her maternity leave before she finished.
Anyway I'm sure we could continue this for weeks. The wife has arranged to see an employment solicitor.
All of her can be forward planned so much so that she did 3 months into her maternity leave before she finished.
Anyway I'm sure we could continue this for weeks. The wife has arranged to see an employment solicitor.
very possible, he could have halved my wife's wage easily and let her work part time but refused. lol
Altho i do know that part of the roles wasnt cover by the temp, they are just dealing with admin work where the wife dealt mainly with renewals these were passed to the original sales person to deal with.
They are now trying to get her to sign a compromise agreement which states that she is leaving and waives ALL rights of further action and classing her Holiday pay/commision as compensation.
She has been emailing the solicitors and we will discuss over the weekend and decide where we go from there.
Altho i do know that part of the roles wasnt cover by the temp, they are just dealing with admin work where the wife dealt mainly with renewals these were passed to the original sales person to deal with.
They are now trying to get her to sign a compromise agreement which states that she is leaving and waives ALL rights of further action and classing her Holiday pay/commision as compensation.
She has been emailing the solicitors and we will discuss over the weekend and decide where we go from there.
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