Hi BettyBlue,

I was in a very similar situation, and I certainly felt ripped off and short changed by the company that I worked for.

I had been working for them for 8 years, as has my DH. They asked him to move interstate, so we did, even though it meant me leaving my role and taking on another role in Darwin. Because Darwin is such a small branch, they could only offer me "block-time contract" work. (This in itself annoyed me, as we moved up at their request, but I couldn't cause a row about it as it is a small branch and I didn't want to make things awkward for DH!)

A month later I fell pregnant. On investigating my terms and conditions it seems that I has given up the right to paid maternity leave as my terms and conditions of employment had changed. My boss (great bloke) was as horrified as I was, so investigated it totally for me, but the company would not make an allowance, even though I had worked for them for 8 years and had always recieved very high ratings in all my appraisals etc etc.

I had a feeling they were discriminating against me, so I did complain to the head office (in Sydney) and they offered me leave without pay. But in the end they had ****ed me off that much I decided to resign so that I could get my hadns on my long service pay & all my accrued holiday pay. So they lost out financially big time in the end, silly buggers!

It is SO frustrating, so I totally empathise with you.........