Returning to work after maternity-told no job

C

CKT

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Hi,

A friend was managing a premises and she went on maternity leave, during this time the premises was lease out to new people. She was involved in this process and was written into the the new employers contract as a going concern, with the same hours and same rate of pay. She even went in to help the new people with a few problems when she was off.

Her maternity finished last week and she rang in to say she would be back to work on friday. She was told there was no job for her and they couldn't afford to pay her.

She then said that she wanted a letter saying that there was no job for her for the dole office and also they would have to pay her redundancy as she had been working there over 3 years for the previous owner as well.

They disagreed and said she was not registered with the company as she was not available to work because she was out on maternity leave and also they would not be paying any redundancy and will not give her a letter for the Job seekers benefit...

Can they do this or is it the responsibility of the previous owners??
 
Did the company that took over the lease take over the existing business? It sounds like it could be a transfer of undertakings situation but we will need more information.

"was written to the the new employers contract as a going concern" - do you mean that your friend got a contract of employment from the new lessee or what do you mean by this?
 
missdaisy said:
Did the company that took over the lease take over the existing business? It sounds like it could be a transfer of undertakings situation but we will need more information.

"was written to the the new employers contract as a going concern" - do you mean that your friend got a contract of employment from the new lessee or what do you mean by this?
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Yes the company took over the existing business.

The contract they signed stated that my friend and a 2 other members of staff had to be kept in employment with the same rate of pay and hours, and anyone else they could let go. The new employers kept the 2 other people, laid off everyone else and because my friend was on maternity leave they didn't even register her as an employee. So basically, if she had not have been on maternity leave she would still have a job.
 
Luck for her, she should be in for a nice payday if she takes a case of discrimination, for a instance as obvious as this one. The new owners are idiots.
 
The problem with that is (1) there is a huge backlog for a case to be heard (2) no matter how big the payout, she is still without a job. BTW, the average unfair dismissals award is about 10/15k, the waiting time for an equality case is years
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I would suggest sending a registered letter to the new owner, with a copy of the contract. Explain that she considers that she is an employee, that her maternity leave is ended and she wants confirmation that she is being offered an appropriate job in line with maternity legislation. Explain that if no reply is received with a week that she will be forced to lodged unfair dismissals and employment equality cases. At least that gives her a chance of a job if she wants it - if that does not work they cannot rewrite history to the tribunal and claim that she resigned or whatever.
 
Thanks for replies everyone.....

just an update, they have spoken to their solicitor and they have to confirm that her name was on the contract, and if it was they have said they would pay any redundancy due.

Does she still have a case for unfair dismissal??

It seems to me that their solicitor told them to give her what she wants because they made a big mistake...
 
It would not yet be unfair dismissal, however see this link and the returning to work section:


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...conditions/leave-and-holidays/maternity_leave

So, she has a right to return to the same or best equivalent role.
If her role is now redundant, they need to show her this and follow procedures as laid out here:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...d-redundancy/redundancy/redundancy-procedures

If they cannot show that it is a fair redundancy, or if they replace her directly then it is an unfair dismissal.

Best of luck,m.
 
CKT said:
Does she still have a case for unfair dismissal??

It seems to me that their solicitor told them to give her what she wants because they made a big mistake...
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It may well be in her best interests to reach a negotiated solution now. An unfair dismissals case will take a long time, be very stressful for her, and will involve legal costs etc.
 
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