# returned to work after maternity leave and they want to change my role



## Joss (24 Sep 2012)

Hey, 

If anyone has advise from experience....

Ive just returned to work after maternity leave & 4 months unpaid leave so a total of 10 months. On my first day back my boss had a meeting with me and asked me to move onto another sales team. Its´not a step down or a step up its simply a step across to a different type of sales team with diffrent managers and different stratagies. Not a team that I had any desire to move to. 

I first of all dont think im in the right mind set to make a career change when Ive just come back from Maternity Leave. They have said that there is just is too many people on my team and not enough on the other. I feel like im being punished for being on maternity leave. Any advise?


----------



## Bronte (25 Sep 2012)

Is it true that there are too many people on one team versus the other.  If yes, and you were the boss what would you do?

What is wrong with a career change after 10 months of maternity leave?  What is so bad about the other team?  How is it a career change if it's just two different sales teams?

Maybe the other team will actually be a better place to work.


----------



## Nutso (25 Sep 2012)

You have an entitlement to return to your old job or one equivalent in grade and location.  If this is not possible and employee is entitled to "suitable alternative work" based on the place of employment, terms of work and rates of pay.  If it's not a demotion, I don't think that you have any cause to take action against this.


----------



## liaconn (25 Sep 2012)

I think you have to be reasonable about this. Ten months is a long time to be off work and things can't always stand still during that time. I have no expectation that in ten months time I will be doing exactly the same job with exactly the same team. Things change and your employer can't put a protective bubble around you simply because you're on maternity leave.


----------



## argentina (25 Sep 2012)

Having returned to work twice from being on Maternity Leave you have to be prepared for change. After 10 months off its unreasonable to expect to be back to your exact job. I think you have to make an extra effort and try and get on with your new team as much as possible, this can be extra difficult having been off for nearly a year and trying to settle yout LO into childcare.
If its not a demotion than you don't have a case for being unfairly treated.


----------



## Complainer (2 Oct 2012)

Forget the fact that you've been on maternity. Let's say you haven't been on maternity, and your boss lands on you with this new idea. Would you be happy? Would you understand why you in particular had been selected for this role? Is it a permanent move or temporary move?


----------



## Leper (3 Oct 2012)

There is no argument here.  You are returning to work after Maternity Leave + a few months extra with no pay.  You are getting a job back albeit in a different team.

Talk to any public service lady who back in the 1970s had to resign her job on marriage or at best resign on the birth of her first child.  They were obliged to resign as in having no choice.  You have a job in which to return.


----------



## Diziet (3 Oct 2012)

I don't think the 70s public service marriage ban has any relevance to the question whatsoever.


----------



## Charley (3 Oct 2012)

Responses seem a little on the harsh side to me.  Some posters seem to be of the opinion that she should be happy with whatever she gets simply because she availed of her right to maternity leave.  It's obviously a source of stress for her so a bit of empathy wouldn't go amiss.   
I would agree with Complainer, would you have been in line for this role anyway had you not been on maternity leave?  If not, it seems strange that they didn't move someone else over before you got back if the staffing levels were that uneven.

Maybe you could agree to be flexible and try it for six months or so, but request a commitment that you can move back in the future if staffing levels change again.


----------



## orka (4 Oct 2012)

Charley said:


> I would agree with Complainer, would you have been in line for this role anyway had you not been on maternity leave? If not, it seems strange that they didn't move someone else over before you got back if the staffing levels were that uneven.


I think it makes a lot of sense to give the move to someone returning from maternity leave as they will be making a fresh start workwise anyway - whereas transferring someone from one team to another will involve some work transfer, finishing up assignments, reassigning clients as it's a sales team.  So in a sense, the OP probably is being selected because she was on maternity leave - but for practical reasons, not punishment reasons.


----------



## liaconn (9 Oct 2012)

orka said:


> I think it makes a lot of sense to give the move to someone returning from maternity leave as they will be making a fresh start workwise anyway - whereas transferring someone from one team to another will involve some work transfer, finishing up assignments, reassigning clients as it's a sales team. So in a sense, the OP probably is being selected because she was on maternity leave - but for practical reasons, not punishment reasons.


 
I agree with this. No one is saying the OP isn't entitled to maternity leave. We are just pointing out that if you are out of work for ten months you cannot expect everything to be exactly the same when you return. Neither can you say that you're being 'punished' when your manager makes a pragmatic decision in which s/he takes into account the fact that you've been out of the loop for nearly a year and it is, therefore, simpler for everyone if you are the staff member asked to transfer to a new team. Otherwise you will have two people trying to bring themselves up to speed instead of one.


----------



## Latrade (9 Oct 2012)

Sometimes jobs do change and circumstances do too. Did they replace you during the maternity leave or was your role absorbed among a team or another?

One reasonable question is why were you selected for the move over others. If it was a matter of all being equal,  as in experience, qualifications and performance, then it isn't unreasonable to ask why you were specifically approached about this.

Although the decision could have been influenced by you being on maternity leave, the key factor is whether you're now at a detriment as a result. If it really is the same job, hours, rewards, etc then that could be difficult to argue.

If on reflection there is no detriment to moving, then it's up to you what you want to do. There may well be a genuine business and operational need to move a member of staff from one are to another and the jobs are comparable and don't have any detriment. However, if this decision was made not on performance or that you are a better employee for the job and because of maternity leave, then while you might not have a strong case to make, it would leave something of a sour taste in the mouth and perhaps introduce a lack of trust with the employer, especially in the event that you wish to take future maternity leave.


----------

