Part time working Mums facing redundancy

[JMT]

I was made redundant in May. The reason, only thinly veiled, was the fact that I was a part time employee and a mother. Since then, I have heard so many similar cases that I feel it is time we stand up for ourselves. If you feel you have been made redundant, or are being bullied out of your job, because you are working part time and unable to put in the extra hours, please let me know.

[ratty]

My missus may soon be in the same boat. Will find out in November. Pregnant too!

[sunbob]

Remember to join your union, which can give you free legal advice and act on your behalf. This kind of discrimination is absolutely illegal and reflects badly on the organisation. A well put, standard letter (written with the help and guidance of or even coming from your union) could help 'remind' your employer of this fact.

You could also try a positive approach. How about setting up a working party to show your employer how they could boost their reputation by becoming a beacon of best-practice in employee management/conditions.

[Mellors]

Do unions still exist?

Happened to me earlier this year, ave every sympathy - it was really stressful (although I am now glad to have seen the back of them!). Keep a note of all emails/discussions/correspondence in case you need to go to a Tribunal.

[busymum]

yes there does seem to be alot of this going on! one of the reasons being part time workers are much cheaper to get rid of than full time employees as your redundancy pay is based on your current contractual hours. So if you are entitled to 2 weeks full pay for every year of employment as redundancy compensation, it is obviously a lot less that a full time employee, there is no pro-rata backdated calculation, at least not where i work. It is outrageous and discriminates against women in particular as often it is us who want/need to reduce hours after having children, but many of us will have worked several yrs for the company full time before having children. One of the main reasons I went back to work almost full time following baby no. 2 was to protect my redundancy pay as my employer is public sector and we're being cut.

They have cut the legal aid budget aswell haven't they?! so no chance of taking employers to court.

[nunheadmum]

But isn't there a cap on the amount you can use as a week's pay to calculate redundancy - if we're only talking Statutory? Depending on what level your pay is at, there may be no difference between being 3 days or 5 days, the cap brings it down to the same amount anyway.

[Mellors]

If you think you might get made redundant and have to bring a claim then check your household insurance. They often cover personal legal expenses including employment claims, and you would only pay the small excess. If its not covered, upgrade it quickly before you get any first letters etc.

You won't get legal aid, although your employer might have to pay your costs if they lose.

[Mrs TP]

I have been down the whole redundo at the end of mat leave, thinly veiled spurious reasons and pursued a case against my employer for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination via the family legal aid section of our household buildings insurance.

Eventually settled at mediation prior to a full court case. The main problem I faced via using the house insurance (which was completely hassle free from the respect of dealing with the insurer) was that I wasn't the client the house insurance company was and so they decided what was a reasonable settlement not me. It was reasonable but I did feel backed into a corner and that it wasn't my clear decision to settle at the point we did. However, we couldn't have afforded to do it ourselves and my union was completely shite, only bothering to return my calls / emails when it was all over (it is on my to do list to write to them to claim all my fees back as they were so utterly useless).

Also no matter how badly your employer behaves it is massively up to you as the employee to mitigate your losses. If you walk into a new job two weeks later and so have only in effect lost 2wks salary then there is no point in pursuing the claim. You need to be able to show that you have gone through every possible avenue to get a new job and need to compile a folder of all your activities in an attempt to get alternative employment whilst you are waiting to come to court.