Returning from maternity - what is 'the same job?'

"Dear Busy Girls. I am expecting my first child and believe me, I'm delighted - but I've always been a career girl and I really do like my job. I'm very worried about what job I'll return to and wonder if you can shed some light on this for me. Thanks in advance" Kiera, Worsley, Manchester

Dear Kiera,

Firstly congratulations! We wish you all the best with your pregnancy.

If you're planning your first child, or have found you are pregnant & plan to return to work, we agree that one of your first questions will be ‘'is my job safe?'. We have a number of similar letters every month, so we decided to tackle your question head on & hopefully help a few of you at once!

At The Busy Girls Guide, we're lucky enough to have some fantastic lawyers advising us on all aspects of employment law, so we can keep our readers up to date on the latest facts.

We asked Helen Watson of Aaron & Partners in Chester to fill us in on where exactly our Busy Mums to be stand when it comes to maternity leave.

According to Helen, The Work & Family Regulations entitle women who have been away from work on maternity leave the right to return to the job in which she was employed before her absence. But we're wondering what is the "same job?"

"The employment appeal tribunal have handed down a decision considering what this actually means" says Helen, "They suggest it's necessary to consider three factors when comparing the old & the new jobs - nature, capacity & place".

This briefly means...

Nature: If you're employed as a primary school teacher - then on your return to work, you must be re-employed as a primary school teacher.

Capacity: You must be employed in the same capacity as you were before you left to go on maternity leave. Therefore, the role in the above example, would have to be as a primary school teacher, teaching primary children.

Place: You must be re-employed at the same place as before your maternity leave. Again, taking the e.g. of a teacher - you should be consulted on the class you would like to teach on your return to the same school.

If you're still confused & would like to take personal advice on this or any other issue, why not give Aaron & Partners Solicitors a call - here's our review Aaron & Partners

We'll be covering off some other aspects of maternity law over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, you may be interested in this article on how to look good not naked .

Good luck & we wish you all the best with the bump... love The Busy Girls Team x

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