Can't return after maternity leave..

I took maternity leave from my job of 11 years in July 2007. During this time the business was sold - very recently, the new owners have not yet taken over, may not even be 100% approved yet. Anyway, i went in the other day to talk to my current bosses about returning to work soon and was told there isn't a position available for me anymore. The story then changed to the new owners don't want to take me on and aren't obligated to do so - which i guess is going to be my current bosses story so they don't look like the bad guys.. Can they do this?

I dont have any useful info for you but just wanted to say... THAT SUCKS!! Surely they cant get away with that.. There would be some hotline you could contact, maybe wageline?

*em**

This definaltely sounds suss to me!! I am sure there is someone you can call i just dont know who- a union or something like that? There has to be something you can do!!

Good luck!!

OOOooh what a nightmare!!!!! Its complicated when a business is sold, I know in Queensland that sometimes its a condition of the contract that entitlements are paid if owing etc, but not too sure about maternity leave entitlements and coming back. I'd ring the industrial relations hotline and see what they say. If they can't help, they may be able to point you in the right direction.

Here are some websites that might be able to help:
Wagenet
Law Institute of Victoria

Here's another website where you might be able to get some support and information - they have a phone line you can call as well:

WIRE Women's Information

Em, this sounds quite strange. I do hope you can get it sorted out...
During my maternity leave, my compnay was also bought by another (larger) company. Approximately half of our staff were offered our same jobs but with the company that bought us, and the remaining people were offered jobs within the compny that previously owned the company. Hope that made sense!

Anyhow, from what I understand from some things I read at the time, your maternity leave entitlements should transfer over and so should your years of service. If your job still exists, then you are still entitled to have your job back, and this includes with the new company. If your job isnt there they should be offering you something as close as possible to it. If this isnt possible, then they have to make you redundant. Have you any idea whether your colleagues are being offered jobs? If they are, then it might be an idea to ask why you are missing out (because they cant not offer you something just because you are on maternity leave - its discrimination - but if there is genuinely no position then thats different).

Give the Workplace Infoline (the federal one as i think thats what you are covered under in VIC) and see if they can give you some advice. I've spoken with them quite a few times and they have been pretty good at telling me stuff.

Em, do you have a copy of a contract of employment?

Did they give you any written information with regard to your maternity leave entitlements?

Legally you are eligible to return to work to a "like or somilar" role. So even if your old job has ceased to exist, they MUST offer you a similar level of role on your old salary (or pro-rated for part time)

In terms of the business being sold, your contract of employment is with the organisation/buisness, NOT with the individual owners, so the new owners MUST provide you with a similar role to return to.

HTH

The other are right, if your job no longer exists they have to either offer you a similar job or make you redundant in which case you should be entitled to a redundancy payment. If you didnt take LSL already you should be paid out for that as well.

Lucy and Karina are correct. Basically regardless of who owns the business (seperate legal entity stuff) you are still entitled to your job or you are entitled to a redundency payout. If you think about it large companies are owned by many shareholders, just because 1 shareholder sells their shares does not mean employees jobs are at risk. The same applies to a business of 1 owner that changes hands.

Yep doesn't matter if the business has been sold - you are still entitled to return to a similar position or a payout.
Don't let them bluff you ;) Good luck.

Oh goodness, me Em!! That sounds suss and I would be bringing it up with an Employment Protection agency of some sort. I hope that you can sort it out with them!!

Em

Mat leave means the co must hold a position or make one for you on your return.

However it is a very candidate tight market and if this is the way the treat your return maybe you would be best a looking at other roles.

I have some good contacts in Vic if you would like to PM me

Great advice so far :) Astrid makes a good point: your working contract is with the BUSINESS not the owner of the business. I hope you are able to work through it all... let us know!

ETA: yep, I meant to say what Linda mentioned: there is a labour shortage... it's very different to 11 years ago... finding another role would be much easier.

Thanks so much for all your replies girls. You are all so helpful you make me want to cry! I have rung my boss and requested a meeting - they are trying to find the time, stalling i think - to find out more on why i dont have a position anymore. Our inital conversation was a phone call on Monday to say happy 30th birthday and oh by the way you dont have a job anymore :happybirthday:!
It is a small business and we never had employment contracts or anything. When i mentioned that i had given them a letter stating my intention to take 12months maternity leave, they are now saying they never recieved it. Not sure why they wouldn't have mentioned this when i first left and quite stupidly, trustingly I never kept a copy of the letter and had it saved on the work computer, so i'm pretty sure it won't exsist anymore!
I am not sure if it would make a difference that i have asked to come back in a part time role or not? The way i see it is if they don't have a part time position, they certainly don't have room for a full time position. My boss mentioned maybe they could give me Saturday work knowing full well childcare isnt available on weekends and i dont have family close by to help me out. I assume that if i turn this down, then they have made an offer and i have rejected it, so bad luck on my behalf.
I just dont know if this is a battle i want to get into or just write it off as something that has happened, time to move on with life.. As Linda said, i'm not sure if i would want to return after all this :cry:.

ETA: Apologies in advance for information overload - this is an issue I am extremely passionate about.

They have to offer you a comparable position to the one you prevously held, or make you redundant. They cant offer you one day a week if you were full time previously, and then use that as evidence that they tried to obey the law.
I would get legal advice as soon as possible, preferably before your meeting with them.
Also have a look at the Victorian Industrial Relations website and maybe contact someone there to see where you stand - its really important that you know this before you go in to the meeting with them so that they cant pull the wool over your eyes.

Also look at this

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
Contact our free and confidential Advice Line: (03) 9281 7100
TOLL FREE (country callers) 1800 134 142
TTY: (03) 9281 7110
Email: information@veohrc.vic.gov.au
Free interpreters are available on request

Thanks RayRay - i have submited a email to the Industrial Relations website stating what has happened and they will get back to me. Thanks very much for the link

Em, your boss sounds like a twit!! (no offence or anything) They have to offer you your exact same position back. If you were full time before going on maternity leave then they have to offer full time on your return. It sounds as though they are stuffing you around and trying to make it impossible for you. I hate how these things happen! How can they say they never recieved your maternity leave letter? They obviously didnt recieve a resignation from you, and if they called to tell you what was happening, they were obviously still holding your position at the time! It sounds a bit fishy to me, like they are just trying to palm you off and hope you just go away. They got your letter. Theyre just being stupid.

I have also had some issues: I wanted to return part time, which they agreed to. I confirmed it a number of times, and it was even written on my contract, then they changed their mind at the last minute and told me its full time or nothing, knowing full well I could only do part time.

I found that writing a letter helped. I did some research using the Industrial Relations website, and I called the infoline to confirm what I am entitled to. I wrote about 1.5 pages and I sent it to my manager. I also sent a copy to the HR person at the new company (the one that bought the one I was working for.). I basically explained my situation, gave details of all the conversations I had had with my manager (including dates) and basically told them in a very PC way that they were being really unfair to me. I also wrote the advice given to me by the Workplace Infoline and hinted at the fact that what they were doing borders on unlawful. I got a response pretty quickly :) My manager gave me a call and he sounded very flustered and nervous (very unlike him) so I think I must have made him actually think about it. I wrote the letter because I didnt want them thinking it was ok to do this to people, in the hope that they wont do it to anyone else in the future.
Maybe you could write a letter. That way you (and they) have everything in writing.

One of the things that comes into play here, sadly, is that a lot of women instinctively don't want to appear to be "creating trouble" in standing their ground in relation to their employment rights, especially in relation to maternity.

However, like RayRay, I am pretty passionate about this.

I'll give you an example. Before children I worked for 9 years for a well known Telco. In that time I commenced in NSW, transferred (at their request) to Adelaide, then transferred to Darwin. I maintained continuity of employment through the whole 9 years, and was promoted upwards 5 times (demonstrating I was presumably a valuable member of staff?).

Anyway, then I applied for maternity leave. They attempted to tell me that I was not eligible as my role had changed. WT??!

Because I didn;t want to "cause a fuss", I very nearly accepted this con. I had been dealing with HR (rather than my direct manager.)

On mentioning it to my manager (a male BTW) he was outraged on my behalf, and suggested that I resign and take my long service leave instead. Which I did. THEN the nasty HR department claimed that I was not entitled to my LS leave pay, as I hadn;t been employed for over 10 years. Again, I nearly accepted this. But my boss stepped in and said "Lucy, you have to fight for this. Do not feel like you owe them convenience. To them you are just a number. Fight for this money as it is for you and your new baby." Ummm, good point! Plus I knew that because I was ending my employment in the NT where LSL entitlements kick in at 7 years, I knew I was int he right.

So I went into bat, and it DID get unpleasant, but it was SO SO worth it, for the cash, & for my self respect.

I am waffling a bit, but despite it being a small business, and despite, I am sure, not wanting to "make waves", fight this for you and your family.

I wish you the best of luck.

Good on you for standing up to your HR dept, Lucy. I cant believe how dodgy some companies can be, and I'm shocked that a large well known company would try to be so dodgy! Them telling you that you couldnt take maternity leave because your role had changed... when they were who changed your role! and how many people sty in the same role for 9 years! Ridiculous. I wonder how many other people they have tried to do that to.

I do agree with Lucy though.. Even if you dont want to go back now, I'd still fight for it so they wont do it again to someone else. Dont just let them walk on you like this.

I am usually really really shy, so it was a bit thing for me to write my letter to my work. I dont think they saw it coming and in the end I think they had no choice but to offer me something because they knew I was in the right. Good luck.

Let us know how you get on, I am really interesting in the replies you get about the legality of this.

Well, have just returned from a lunch with my bosses wife in which she once again offered me Saturdays and then when i said I couldn't she said they are just in limbo until the new owners take over, but at the moment there is no work available to me. Me being me, just smiled and nodded like an obedient puppy which is why i am sitting here crying now at how weak I am.

I have decided to write a letter to my boss - just a fairly brief one stating that I wish to know my official position within the company so if I am being made redundant, I can begin to look for other work. I think they are hoping I will go away until the new owners take over - who definiately know nothing about me. Once I have recieved an answer, I guess I can look into it a bit more. I did send an email to one of the links (cant remember which one) but they sent back saying they needed to talk to me in person - which has been imposible with a sick 7month old at the moment! I have decided to write a letter rather than see my boss in person as he can be very difficult to deal with and me being quite shy and super emotional about all of this just can't deal with it all!

will they talk to you over the phone or only face to face? Mmm I would have thought they could talk on the phone.

Good luck with the letter.

Oh darl :hug: try to be strong! Maybe ring that place that said they needed to speak to you in person (I'd say they meant on the phone) when your bubba is napping? I know it's hard... mine always wake up when i'm on the 'phone :wall: C'mon, you can do this!

Sorry I should have said over the phone. Will try to angle it for the second DS shuts his eyes for his sleep!

Well, i got the reply email this morning stating that my position is available full time and I can only return part time if there is something available. It just all sounds so weird but i know why he has done that. My email to him said that if my position is no longer available i would require a seperation certificate - lightbulb goes off in his brain, knowing that he would have to give a redundancy payout and there is no way i would return full time.

I have just gotten to the point where I don't want to return, and i just cant fight it. I cry everytime I think about it. I always knew he was an a**e and could be horrible, but he had never done it to me. I know that if i return part time, he would also make it very difficult in that he would said i had to work the days i have nominated that it is very difficult to get childcare. I am going to send my resume out to some other places - which I will be doing a post about because i need some help with the wording. Thanks for all your help girls - i know you might think i am being weak and wrong, but i just can't cope with it all. Thanks again for all of your help and advice

Hi em,

:hug:

No one thinks you are being weak or wrong hun. You'll dowhat it the right/best thing for your family.

Unfortuntaly the reply that he has given you (assuming you were full time before you went on maternity leave) is right, he is only obligated to offer you the job back that you had before you went on ML.

By the sounds of it they are the ones who are going to be losing out here, not you, and he is not a very pleasant person to work for/with.

Good luck with finding something abit more family friendly :)

Good luck Em.

You are definately not being weak. It is a difficult situation to be in, and it is understandable that you might feel uncomfortable about going back now after the trouble you have had with them. Unfortunately they do only have to offer you the same job back, however you do have the right to ask for part time work.. but then its up to them whether or not they will allow it.

Anyhow, its their loss, not yours! You have done what you can and it is them who are not willing to be flexible and help you out. If it were me, I wouldnt resign. Just wait for them to make you redundant and send you a seperation certificate.

I agree, you're not weak, :hug: you're just human and a vulnerable one at that! I agree with Karina, do you think you could accept the current offer and just cling onto until they give you a redundancy payout or until the new owner takes over?

I just can't bring myself to go back full time. They are long days, 9.00am to 6pm and I just can't be away from my little man for that long. If he was a little older - say at the walking talking stage, I probably could do it for a few months but at the moment i just wouldn't feel right right leaving him in childcare for those hours. I don't have any family close by so its not even like I could leave him with mum. I also feel like I just don't want anything to do with my work now - I have done alot for them over the years - such as working while very heavily pregnant until 7pm while they took a holiday etc - and now i just feel like they really took advantage of me. Thanks again for your replies girls. I really really appreciate everything you have done for me, including sending links and giving me encouragement.

I understand :)

Y'know I really wish there could be a "name and shame" public site for employers like that! But I think things will change... gone are the days of unemployment... soon employers will learn that if they mistreat their workers then the workers will just up and leave knowing that there is a labour shortage!

Em, I'm so sorry this has happened to you :(
It sounds like they are trying to get your salary off the bottom line, for the benefit of the new owners.
Do you know who the new owners are? Not that it matters, like the others have said.
If it eventuates that you don't go back to work there, then there is something you can take away from it - you will stand up for yourself better in your next position...:)

Em, this sucks, it really does. I know what an energy drain & a worry this is.

:

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I wouldnt resign. Just wait for them to make you redundant and send you a seperation certificate.

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I know the thought of that most likely leaves a nasty taste in your mouth, but this would be what I would do.

If not, very best of luck finding somwthing suitable part time.

Not sure if anyone is still subscribed to this thread but thought i would give you an update!

My old work contacted me and offered me work two days a week. I decided to accept it although i felt really funny about it. Had DS booked into childcare and ready to start back there next Tuesday. Until... yesterday I was offered another job at a different place working a 3 day fortnight for lovely lovely people who are extremly family friendly. So, i resigned from my old job this morning and start my new one after Easter!! Thanks so much for all your help girls! :clap:

Woo Hoo! That'll stick it up the other people ;)
Good call - you're looking after yourself :)

Thats great news em, hope the new job is perfect for you. :clap:

Yay Congrats on your new job! Its sounds great that they are more family friendly. That will hopefully mean a lot less stress for you.