Acting-up role cancelled on maternity leave

When you return to work after a period of maternity leave which is 26 weeks or less, you are entitled to return to the job in which you were employed before the absence with your seniority, pension and similar rights as they would have been had you not gone on maternity leave and on terms and conditions no less favourable than those which would have applied had you not been absent; i.e. you have the right to return to exactly the same role you left and to be treated as if you had never been absent.

You should be paid the same rate of pay that would have been payable had you not been on maternity leave and this includes any pay increases that would have been awarded whilst you were on maternity leave.  When you return to work after a period of maternity leave which is longer than 26 weeks then you have the same rights, except that if reinstatement in your old job is not reasonably practicable, your employer can offer you another job which is both suitable for you and appropriate for you to do in the circumstances.

Leaving aside the fact that you are on maternity leave, an employer must consult with you about the redundancy and consider suitable alternative employment as an alternative where vacancies are available.  Employers have a statutory responsibility to offer suitable alternative employment first to any employees made redundant whilst on maternity leave.

You have been informed by the employer that due to redundancy, the post you were acting up in is no longer available as there is a reduction in the requirement of the number of employees required to carry out that particular job.  However, I consider that it is reasonable for you to contend that as you have been acting up for several years, you should be considered in the selection pool along with other employees in that role, although I acknowledge that this would effectively put the three existing employees in the post at risk.

Alternatively, you could argue that you should be offered suitable alternative posts at that grade as a priority as you are on maternity leave.  In the event the employer fails to follow a fair redundancy process by taking into account the fact you were acting up at the time you went on redundancy leave, you could potentially have claims for unfair dismissal and/or sex discrimination.  You should be aware that the time limit for bringing these claims is three months less one day from the date of the dismissal or discriminatory act.

In respect of your KIT days, whilst you are entitled to up to 10 days, these are optional and need to be agreed between the employer and employee.  Based on the information available, I am unclear as to your intentions in terms of attending work whilst both your acting up and substantive roles are at risk.  I recommend checking with HR if there is any requirement for you to attend work during the consultation period.

*Samantha Tanney assisted in answering this question.

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