Return from maternity leave

Q: We have a member on maternity leave at the moment who is due to return to work. She is employed as a personal assistant to one of the directors. She has been told that when she comes back she will be working for a different director in another department. Is this allowed?

A: A woman returning from ordinary maternity leave is entitled to return to "the job in which she was employed before her absence" and her terms and conditions can be no less favourable. If she is returning from additional maternity leave she is entitled to return either to that job or, if that is not reasonably practicable, to another job which is suitable and appropriate in the circumstances.

However, "the job in which she was employed" is interpreted as anything that she is contractually obliged to do in terms of the nature of her work, the capacity (which includes status) and place.

So if her contract just states "personal assistant" and doesn't specify that she will be working for a particular director, the employer may be entitled to ask her to work for somebody else on her return.

However, if you can demonstrate that the job she has been asked to do on her return is of a different nature or status, or in a location she was not contractually obliged to work in, then this would be a different job and the employer would be acting unlawfully by insisting she worked there.