Is this discrimination?: rejection of job share proposal.

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Lulu123

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Will try and keep this short.

Am currently on maternity leave from a large US Financial Services company.

Myself and another colleague are due back at a pretty similar date so decided to put forward a proposal to job share. We have been turned down but 2 years ago the company gave another 2 workers the green light but one girl pulled out last minute.

My other colleague had some medial problems and also her baby was born v prematurely (who is doing brilliantly now - thank god) but we believe that this is the reason behind the rejection of our proposal but of course this isnt the official line.

Do you think we have grounds for claiming discrimination?
 
Re: Is this discrimination?

Lulu123 said:
Do you think we have grounds for claiming discrimination?
Click to expand...

I wish you the best of luck sorting this out, but why oh why oh why does everyone have to claim 'discrimination' these days?! Maybe what suits you just doesn't suit your company?
 
Re: Is this discrimination?

Excuse me but unless you have something helpful to contribute then dont bother posting....
 
Re: Is this discrimination?

Lulu123 said:
Excuse me but unless you have something helpful to contribute then dont bother posting....
Click to expand...

It was a balance reply-there are two sides to every situation. Perhaps while it suited you employer previously it does not at this moment in time. There is nothing discriminate in this approach. Whereas if others are being offered job sharing at this moment and you are not, that is different. Ultimately its your employers decision -as they know the staffing levels that they want.
 
Re: Is this discrimination?

What are their stated reasons for declining your proposal? Without breaching any confidentiality, what is the nature of the role? Does your company have a formal job-sharing policy?

If you feel that your colleague has been discriminated against based on her family or gender and you really want to go down the 'discrimination claim' route, contact The Equality Authority or a good solicitor for details about how to take an Equality Tribunal case. But be prepared to see your relationship with your employer deteriorate rapidly,
 
Re: Is this discrimination?

Lulu123 said:
Excuse me but unless you have something helpful to contribute then dont bother posting....
Click to expand...
Your post took the form of a question. If you only want replies from people who agree with you then you should state so or otherwise people like Bushfire who have a different idea will reply to you.
 
Lulu123 said:
Do you think we have grounds for claiming discrimination?
Click to expand...

I cant see where you have grounds for claiming discimination.

Are you a member of a trade union?

Does the company have published policies surrounding granting of job share etc?
 
Lulu123 said:
Will try and keep this short.

Am currently on maternity leave from a large US Financial Services company.

Myself and another colleague are due back at a pretty similar date so decided to put forward a proposal to job share. We have been turned down but 2 years ago the company gave another 2 workers the green light but one girl pulled out last minute.

My other colleague had some medial problems and also her baby was born v prematurely (who is doing brilliantly now - thank god) but we believe that this is the reason behind the rejection of our proposal but of course this isnt the official line.

Do you think we have grounds for claiming discrimination?
Click to expand...

Why do you think its discrimination? On what grounds?

Did you ak them for a reason for their decision?
 
Some years ago a friend of mine working for a financial services company asked if she could go part-time after having a baby. It didn't seem to suit the employer, but they were family friendly and agreed.

Three years later they needed to reorganise things and asked her to return to full-time work and she refused. In the end, they had to pay her generous redundancy to be able to reorganise things the way they wanted. My friend felt that she had triumphed over them. I felt that she had abused them and had wrecked it for future employees who wanted to go part-time. That particular employer's generosity was abused and I imagine that they will be unlikely to show that flexibility again.

Brendan
 
No employee has the automatic right to jobshare - the fact that some employers facilitate this pattern of work is coincidental.

While some employers facilitate job-sharing by employees, remember they are not legally obliged to do so, and normally this occurs following negotiation and agreement between employer and employee.

I do not see how discrimination has occurred by the employer turning down a jobsharing application in this situation. It is true they permitted an application some time ago - but since this never actually was fulfilled, it is arguable as to whether precedent was set.

Furthermore, we do not know the reasoning why the employer has rejected the application to jobshare this time around - there may be very valid reasons for doing so. For example, the job requires someone in a full-time position, the job requires specialist skills, etc.

The OP may consider the possibility of negotiating and agreeing an ongoing period of unpaid leave with the employer (which again is discretionary), or they may consider applying for Parental Leave to cover time off work.
 
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