Flexible Working
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Wife told job not available after maternity leave
My wife is returning to work after maternity leave and has been told that her part-time job is no longer available because her new manager has taken over her duties and all new hires need accounting qualifications which she doesn’t have. She has been offered an alternative part-time role. Does she have to take this additional role?
Firstly, they must consult with her on making any changes to her role, even if the alternative role is on the same pay and hours.
Any change must be discussed with the employee so they can make their views on the changes before a final decision is made. That is not to say that the decision to make the changes can’t be done, but its important to ensure that employees are told about the proposed changes and have a chance to express their opinions on them. She might be able to come up with some alternatives to the change that haven’t been thought of.
This is also linked to the job description, I would get her to have a look in her contract. There should be a clause in there about making changes to job roles/ descriptions. Employees should be protected from changes in their job description and this is a basic employment right.
The company could make changes to those who they employ moving forward (say we are only employing those with certain qualifications), but that doesn’t mean they can change the rule for existing employees and move them to different roles without consultation.
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