# Redundacy on Maternity Leave



## NewUser (22 Oct 2009)

Hi,

Im on maternity leave and a few people have been made redundant in my place of employment.  I contacted my HR dept and asked if my job was ok and they said they could not comment.  What are my rights here? Their silence is a sure sign my job is in danger, can they make this decision when im on mat leave?


----------



## annjan (22 Oct 2009)

You can be made redundant on your return from maternity leave. In other words they could give you notice now that once your leave is finished you will be redundant. The redundancy cannot come into force while you are actually on leave.

Speak to NERA 1890 80 80 90 and the Equality authority 1890 245 545 if you need more info, then maybe ring HR back and ask for the position to be clarified.


----------



## NewUser (22 Oct 2009)

Thanks for this.  The strange thing is there are people being taken on in the department at the moment, but they are all on temp contracts not perm like myself.


----------



## Bill Struth (22 Oct 2009)

NewUser said:


> Thanks for this. The strange thing is there are people being taken on in the department at the moment, but they are all on temp contracts not perm like myself.


 They can't even speak to you concerning redundancy while your on maternity leave, but as said above, the day you return you may get your notice.


----------



## GreenQueen (22 Oct 2009)

Bill Struth said:


> They can't even speak to you concerning redundancy while your on maternity leave, but as said above, the day you return you may get your notice.



Yes they can.  They can give you notice while you are on maternity leave that your redundancy will commence the day you return in order to enable you to make arrangements for yourself.

There was a recent ruling on this at the Employment Appeals Tribunal but I can't find it at the moment.  If anyone else can please post the link?


----------



## Bill Struth (22 Oct 2009)

GreenQueen said:


> Yes they can. They can give you notice while you are on maternity leave that your redundancy will commence the day you return in order to enable you to make arrangements for yourself.
> 
> There was a recent ruling on this at the Employment Appeals Tribunal but I can't find it at the moment. If anyone else can please post the link?


 Interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Thanks.


----------



## oldnick (22 Oct 2009)

Most employers are terrified of communicating anything about redundancy to employees on maternity leave because of the way the law is phrased regarding notice of redundancy for those on maternity.  The recent ruling that the last post refers to would certanly clear up matters. 

Two years ago I closed a shop and gave  the staff their redundancy but was worried what to do about one employee on maternity. Surely, I thought, I could I tell her the shop was closed and that she would be made redundant on her return -especially as she was good freiedns of the staff and lived a mile from the closed shut ? But at the time I was told by various public servants in the relevant departments that i could not. Eventually a supervisor unofficially suggested that " There's nothing wrong in telling her -if she asks - the shop is closing and that you would make sure that you will do everything correctly on her return - but best not to issue anything formally "  !!

Thank goodness matters have been clarified; or have they -I'd love to know about that ruling.


----------



## GreenQueen (22 Oct 2009)

Okay so I've managed to find a comment from William Fry Solicitors on the ruling:

[broken link removed]

I'm struggling to negotiate my way around the Employment Appeals website but I think that they explain it thoroughly enough.


----------



## NewUser (23 Oct 2009)

Thank you all very much!


----------



## oldnick (23 Oct 2009)

Greenqueen - that was brilliant finding that !

Mind you, the court decision will still make some employers cagey on how to approach the subject with employees on maternity leave
On the one hand  the law still "voids any attempt to terminate an employees contract of employment " whilst on maternity leave...

on the other hand
" discussion of such an issue whilst employees are on maternity leave is permissable...."

A very fine line between "discussing such an issue" - termination- without it being construed as  "an attempt to terminate".


----------



## GreenQueen (23 Oct 2009)

Well to save anyone searching through my previous posts, I'll recap my own situation:

In January of this year while 4 months into my Maternity Leave I was advised by my company that my position would be made redundant on my return.  There was another staff member covering for me in my absence but the role would be terminated at the end of my maternity leave.

I have to say on a personal level knowing 4 months into my leave tainted the rest of my leave.  I spent days researching my options, trying to figure out how to manage financially and taking advice on whether the company's move was legal.

However, now I appreciate being told before my leave ended.  If I hadn't been informed I would have paid a very large non refundable deposit to a creche and made arrangements to go back to work.  On the day of my return I would have had a meeting with my line manager & HR and been told of my redundancy and been requested to work out my notice of 1 month.

I had time to work out what my rights were and was able to force the issue of me not working out my notice period and receiving pay in lieu.  It would have been a nightmare to find fulltime childcare for only a month to say the least.  While I certainly didn't want to be made redundant, being told partway through my maternity leave enabled me to make the best choices for me and for my family and thus get the best outcome.

The ruling as mentioned in the article above has been a positive one imho.


----------



## Joanne1 (23 Oct 2009)

Good link.

Yes it does seem in the employees interest to be informed of impending redundancy on maternity to avoid them recruiting childminder, paying deposit to creche.


----------



## Latrade (23 Oct 2009)

oldnick said:


> A very fine line between "discussing such an issue" - termination- without it being construed as "an attempt to terminate".


 
I think it may be down to the careful solicitor speak as in not wanting to give the impression you can dismiss pregnant employees.

The case shows that where it is a genuine redundancy and not unfair, then with caution, it can go ahead. You can discuss it with the employee and this would follow the normal "statutory notice" period, but it is only effective at the end of the Maternity Leave.


----------



## Deas (23 Oct 2009)

If they are taking in staff doing the same work as what you would normally do at present it would appear that the role is not redundant. This is a key question. It is the role, not the person that can be made redundant.


----------

