return to work has been a bit weird

Has anyone else returned to work and found their job isn't there?

I've returned to work and the person covering my maternity leave is now permanently in the post. Although I was told via email that a new position was going to be made for this person, my exact job was advertised in the newspaper while I was off (for 10 months) which was a surprise. I have tried to not let this worry me and have gone back to work with an open mind - and I've kept in touch with my employer - all seemed ok and I believed it would work out well as this person is a great addition to our team and has different skills from me.

I've been back for two weeks and although I get on well with and respect the person in the job, I feel like I have gone back as this persons assistant. I no longer sit on the committees I used to. Part of this is circumstantial - because I am part time I can't attend some commitees and also the person sits at the desk where I used to sit. However, when I can attend meetings, the person also attends them rather than giving them over to me as a responsibility. The person also tries to tell me how to deal with some situations and when I deal with another staff member the person interjects a lot. I honestly feel like I am a trainee. I have been in the post for 4 years and this person for just 10 months.

Effectively this feels like a job share or less - I am being passed work by this person at their choice. Even though we have made attempts to divide responsibilities, I'm only being passed a small amount of work of a very low level. I'm not sure what the person doing my job is working on, but they are extremely busy whereas I am scratching around to fill 3 days a week at the moment.

My supervisor is on leave and this person is acting manager - so effectively my supervisor, but has not addressed the situation at all. I can't help feeling pushed out. I keep trying to supress these feelings, but last week I felt so down about it I was in the toilets crying. I spend my lunch breaks breastfeeding my baby and it's really difficult just being at work, never mind dealing with these extra issues.

I am trying to stay open minded, but this experience is going to effect whether I return to work full time as at the moment I don't feel like I have the job I left behind, or an equivalent one for that matter.

I want to be able to approach this person, but feel awkward as I can understand what it must be like to own a job, and then have the post holder return. I honestly don't think any malice is intended, and I think this person doesn't have the skills to effectively address the situation which is part of the problem. This leaves it up to me though, and I'm not sure I have the skills either! I'm worried about sounding like I@m complaining. ;) We also don't have private office space and are constantly interrupted making any kind of formal meeting impossible.

Should I leave this a few months until my actual supervisor returns and deal with it then? Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? How would you handle it?

Noobie, I'm not sure that I have answers for you, but I'm sending you big hugs. My first thought on this is that while you are pt, it might not be so bad. As you say, you aren't there when all the meetings are anyway, and I'm sure that it's really good being able to bf at lunchtime and leave early enough to have time with your bub, instead of being overworked and doing more hours than you would like. I can fully understand how frustrating the situation is anyway, but maybe you can use this time to ease into the workforce again, and then address it when your real supervisor returns.

Now believe me, I know this is easier said than done. Truthfully I'd be feeling stressed and upset too if it was me. But I do know that my attitude to work is different post-kids than it used to be, and I do prefer to be "comfortably busy" and be able to be home to the boys at a decent hour, than stressed and working back. If you can just ride it out for a little bit, until the supervisor returns, you might find there are some benefits. Just think of how nice it is having time with your bub.

Best of luck with it. I hope you feel happier about things soon.

I've swapped roles with the woman who used to work under me and she covered my leave.

It's CRAP. She did my old job on 28hrs a week, when I had 40, now she's full-time she hasn't taken back the responsibilities so I'm doing her old 20hr-a-week job AND what took me about 15-20hrs a week too all on just 20hrs a week. She should get her finger out big-time! But how do I tell my manager when I've been doing it for months now?

Anyway, no solutions, but it is awkward and tbh they CANNOT give your job away, you are entitled to keep it, you can in fact talk to HR or Personnelle or whomever and point out what was done was in fact illegal - maybe the CAB or something could help? You can choose to come back to flexi-time but they gave your job away while you were on maternity leave, which is not allowed unless you said you didn't want the job anymore, which it doesn't sound like that happened.

I have gone back part-time at two levels below what I used to work full-time.

But that was my choice - I couldn't do my old job part-time because it's a full-time position. I am, however, being paid at my old rate.

But if and when I decide I want to go full-time, I get my old job back.

You sound in a similar position - presumably you didn't want to go back to your old job and work full-time but given that they needed someone full-time, they advertised it.

I would make an attempt to sort this out with the person in your old position. I can't remember whether you're worried about whether you'll be able to get your old job back should you decide to go back full-time (sorry, bit of short term memory loss here).

If there is confusion about that, you need to get something in writing pronto from HR.

I would also try to get a formal job description outlining your role and take it from there. There is nothing worse than not having enough to do or nothing meaty to do.

Don't wait until the boss gets back, it will just look like you've let it fester and are raising it higher to embarrass her.

Obviously if it's not resolved then take it to a higher level but I'd make every effort to resolve things between the two of you first. Arrange a formal meeting and get away from your desks - you can't have a proper chat if you've got people popping in and out and phones ringing.

If you have an HR department, have a chat with them too.

Thanks for the replies - sounds like I'm not the only one going through this. I have been genuinely trying to put all the emotion away and use the time to focus on just getting back into work (it has been hard) but then on some days, I don't know, I just feel a bit ripped off. Like lots of people I've worked really really hard to get there, have a $15000 student debt and though job worries pale in comparison to my love and focus on my little girl, I just don't want to be so distracted that I get walked all over. I'm not the assertive type, but I think I need to quickly learn. I actually caught an episode of Friends the other day where Rachael goes back to work early from maternity leave because some guy is in her job. It's scary when a tv sitcom echoes your life!!! he he ;-)

I've gone back part time because my work place supports this for a few months as part of the maternity leave support - you then have to formally apply to go part time or go back to full time so I have some big decision to make!!!

Thanks for listening and I'll post an update when I decide exactly what I'm going to do...