CAN I BE MADE REDUNDANT?????

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

eeeeekk!
as if im not worried/stressed enough about my bloody hands and wrists hurting,i have found out today that they are making many people in our office redundant.
as i am pretty close to starting my Maternity leave and am currently on sick for 2 weeks im worried that they will not see my as an ideal candidate to keep on??
i have not been forced to give an exact date to leave as yet but was going to stay til 3-4 weeks before my EDD,i told my HR department this and they were fine and said to give them the official date in january when im closer to leaving,are they allowed to get rid of me at the stage im at now??
i have googled this but it mainly tells you your rights once you are on maternity leave.
i know i will get SMP whether or not i am made redundant or not but my works pay is much better then SMP and if i was made redundant now,im assuming that my SMP would start straight away leaving me less time to spend with bubs once they stop paying me this??

any advice ladies ..........please!!

 

[emmie]

hi ya hun our company has just gone through this and i was told by many people they would have to be really hard pushed to make a pregnant woman redundant because of the risk of court casses etc if you were to complain as you could use it as discrimination.

 

[Naterjack]

Having just been through this worry myself and taken legal advice, i know that they CAN make you redundant, BUT i work for a legal company and even they told me that they have to be very very hard pushed and careful to get rid of a pregnant woman !!

Also, when you are on Mat leave, they claim back 90% of your SMP so you wont be a large cost to them in the near future anyway - probably more cost effective to keep you on. I think this was MY saving grace !!

Finally, when you have given your leaving date and are past 25 weeks, your employer has to honour your SMP !
If you did get made redundant before this, you can still claim Maternity allowance from the government so if worse did come to the worst, you wouldnt be entirely out on your ear.

Hope this helps
I know what it feels like having just had this very same worry. I cried for days and didnt sleep !

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

thanks for the replies!
am i better to get my date in with the HR departmet that i i want to leave on asap?? i was just going to tell them 4 weeks before my EDD and hope for the best?
i worried that as i am on sick at the moment for 2 weeks,that once i go back (if my gp sends me back) they could force me to start maternity leave early or decide to get rid of me then??
would i be best to try and stay on sick or go back asap if the doc allows me??
grr its so frustrating and im stressing now about money as OH will probably finish his temporay job on xmas eve...........

 

[Naterjack]

i'd get your date in ASAP to be honest

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

i am going to,i will ring them tomorrow,do you think i should go for about 4 weeks before my EDD???

 

[Naterjack]

hhmm depends on your job really - manual ? secretarial?
I finished at 36 weeks but had 2 weeks holiday to take first so my maternity leave officially starts this week - week 38

I'm glad i finished a bit earlier though

 

[Rosebay]

Hi,

what a stressful time . Hopefully it sounds like being pregnant could be a good thing in the circumstances because of your legal rights. I would get that date in asap and if you can actually manage to work I would personally try to go back after your sick weeks are up as I think they can officially say that you are on maternity leave if you're off sick after a certain point. At least that's how my employer does it. Last time I finished work at 36 weeks and it was about right really. Physically I couldn't have done much more and mentally it wasn't too long to wait until my due date (my those last few weeks drag!) but it depends on your physical state really. I'm a librarian so it's not that physical and frankly I spent the last few months surfing for baby info anyway it's just that when I got home I went up the wall with impatience but on the other hand I could lie down a lot! It depends on how you are in yourself.

Try not to stress. To be honest we're probably the lucky ones as our being pregnant seems to shield us from the sudden redundancies that are happening everywhere. Hopefully by the time we're back to work the economy will have recovered a bit or at least companies will have stopped the panic!


+++

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

hhmm depends on your job really - manual ? secretarial?
I finished at 36 weeks but had 2 weeks holiday to take first so my maternity leave officially starts this week - week 38

I'm glad i finished a bit earlier though

yes i do an office based job,sat down typing all day (with my dodgy fingers!)
i am going to call them tomorrow and tell them i want to finish 4 weeks before i think......thanks

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

Hi,

what a stressful time . Hopefully it sounds like being pregnant could be a good thing in the circumstances because of your legal rights. I would get that date in asap and if you can actually manage to work I would personally try to go back after your sick weeks are up as I think they can officially say that you are on maternity leave if you're off sick after a certain point. At least that's how my employer does it. Last time I finished work at 36 weeks and it was about right really. Physically I couldn't have done much more and mentally it wasn't too long to wait until my due date (my those last few weeks drag!) but it depends on your physical state really. I'm a librarian so it's not that physical and frankly I spent the last few months surfing for baby info anyway it's just that when I got home I went up the wall with impatience but on the other hand I could lie down a lot! It depends on how you are in yourself.

Try not to stress. To be honest we're probably the lucky ones as our being pregnant seems to shield us from the sudden redundancies that are happening everywhere. Hopefully by the time we're back to work the economy will have recovered a bit or at least companies will have stopped the panic!


+++

hello rosebay! hope your well
i hope being pregnant does work to my favour!
ive had a few people at work contact me today to give me a brief update on whats happening,apparently the people who are already aware they are going have been told (no one has contacted me today to say im one of them

the next ones to go are being named in january.

im going to give my leaving date tomorrow to start my maternity leave 4 weeks before my EDD hopefully i might be saved from the next lot??

im abit worried as im on sick at the moment they might consider picking me more as im getting paid and not there?? i wish i was still at work as im bored at home,but my hands hurt so much constantly typing for 8 hours a day.

im going to get some advice tomorrow from a link someone gave me on this site!



thanks everyone!

 

[Snooky]

sorry but they can make you redundant when pregnant as they did me, its not hard at all as long as there is a genuine reason for it, so dont assume you are safe cos you are pregnant - like i did!

YOu will get your works maternity pay though hopefully if it did happen or at the last resort SMP so just sit tight and keep your fingers crossed it doesnt happen to you. If it does, once you have sat down and thought about it it isnt the end of the world, although it seems that way at the time. Not nice but you can get through it.

Good luck!

X

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

hi all!
ive just called my HR department to give my leaving date,my last day is the 23rd january,so 4 weeks approx before my EDD!

i feel abit better as nothing was mentioned about the redundancies when i spoke to HR.
i was instant messaging a few people from work on facebook last night and they seem to think that us who work in the customer services department are safe............ (for now )

.............so i have six weeks tomorrow until i finish and to keep my job!

feeling abit more positive today!

i just need to get some sleep now with these bloody hands!


(ps...ACAS are a nightmare to try and get in touch with........................)

 

[EllieBelle]

Hope it all works out for you hun........I shall keep my fingers crossed!

Its such a bad time at the moment - I have 3 friends who have all recently been made redundant, and one of them is pregnant - the other has been in his job for 16 years!!!!

Im sure being pregnant helps though. I was made redundant after being very ill (I was in hospital over a month), and ended up with a HUGE payout, to stop me taking them to a tribunal.......to be fair my job was never re-filled etc, but to stop it going to court they paid me what I wanted so it can sometimes work in your favour too.

 

[lisa-marie]

I understand what you are going through as My Team all got made redundanat in October and I woudl have been made redundant in April next year. But Bump is timed so well that they cant make me redundant so I am goin on maternity leave for a year being paid and then I will be made redundant if there is not suitable job on my return. I dont think I will be coming back so the bonus side is I get another year added to my redundancy package and acrus holiday which they will have to pay me for too.

It was very stressful when it was all being announced as it took ages to finalise dates etc and I had to manage my staff and motivate them for a couple of months when they knew they were being made redundant but also I was affected too

We are all here if you need any support - if you do have any meeting with Managers/HR about redundancy always take someone in as a witness someone from a Union/staff council or a colleague just so you have a witness and also someone to help take anything in as you often miss things.

 

[*CLAIREBEAR*]

thanks ellie-belle and lisa-marie!
sorry you had to go through the same thing,its a stresssful situation at the best of times but really something you don't need when your'e pregnant!