[matt1972]

My wife had our daughter in May and was in full time work up until late April.
She arranged with her employer to take the rest of the year off as maternity leave and return to work 2 days per week when the business reopened in January. All of this was agreed to by all parties at about the midstage of the pregnancy.
Today they had their meeting to discuss the return to work in January and she was told that she was being made redundant. She was given 6 weeks pay at her full time rate and that was that.

I don't think that either of us are particularly shocked by this but does my wife have any legal recourse?

The official line was that the position was made redundant which probably can't be disproved, I guess apart from the obvious the most frustrating part is that she organised a meeting about 4 weeks ago with them to discuss working remotely between September and January and there was no indication given during that meeting that they had this Christmas present in store for her.

Oh and she isn't in a union so that's not an option.

[Orangedrops]

If her position has been made redundant then yes unfortunately it is legal.

[katpaws]

I was made redundant while on maternity leave - yes it is legal as long as it is under the premise that the position no longer exists in the organisaton. It is a lovely loophole for businesses to remove women from the workplace.

If you think your wife has been discriminated against, contact your state Equal Opportunity oganisation. A google search (or the Federal human rights website) should bring up the legislation and guidelines.

If you are in Victoria, JobWatch are an excellent (but under resourced) organisation for help. If you look at their website there is some good information there.

As for entitlements, Fair Work Au or the employment contract should help.

[mpjp]

What do you mean by legal recourse? What is it you want?

Unfortunately jobs DO get made redundant, and people do lose their jobs, despite best intentions at time of discussion.

On the 6 weeks payment - can you give more info about your wife's work contract (i.e. perm?), notice periods stipulated in her contract, what Award if any she workds under, is there an EBA in place and how long she'd worked there? There are national redundancy standards, and I wonder if they've been followed if this is all she got.

[Z-girls rock]

I suggest making your enquiry to Fair Work Australia: contact details are on this webpage http://www.fwa.gov.au/index.cfm?pagename=headercontact

I called about a dismissal years and years ago and they were helpful with their advice.

[katpaws]

Also, if you want to question what has happened, and make a complaint, etc, it is vital that your wife collect all documentation about her return to work and write up all recollections of meetings she had with her workplace (ie who attended, what was said, etc). It can be hard to prove as a women you were discriminated against due to pregnancy/maternity leave so you need as much evidence as possible.

If you want to take it further PM me. I have been through the process, however thas was before Fair Work Au ws set up.


ETA - re union membership, I was in a union and they did FA to help me, so don't let no union membership worry you. Job Watch helped me so much, they got me through a hard time.

This post has been edited by katpaws: 07/12/2012, 10:33 AM

[Lucretia Borgia]

It happened to me when I returned to work after having my first son.....I went to an employment lawyer because, firstly, I was p*ssed off and secondly I thought it was a bit dodgy....I had requested to come back on a part time basis, which they agreed to. A month later I was effectively demoted, loss of status (lost my office, lost direct reports etc)... Then a few weeks later I was made redundant.....we queried the redundancy because a person was hired - full time- to effectively take my position. There was a whiff of discrimination about it...or so my lawyer argued. They also messed me around a bit with my redundancy payout.

To cut a long story short I got more money out of them.....I think it was worth it. If your wife has doubts tell her to see an employment lawyer...the fact that she's not in a union shouldn't matter...?

[lozoodle]

Yes it is legal.

Legally there doesn't need to be an official agreement about the return to work until 4 weeks prior to return, and that is to be confirmed in writing.

[matt1972]

What is it you want?

The financial stability for the forseable future as offered and agreed to by her employer previously.

[katpaws]

http://www.netlawman.com.au/info/pregnancy...k-australia.php

http://www.eowa.gov.au/Information_Centres...egnancy_PDF.pdf