Does anyone know much about your work rights after maternity?

[ame555]

I came back to work on Jan 3 after a year of maternity leave. I have worked for my employer for 10 years. The person who took my place was a friend of my bosses daughter. It all seemed fine.

At the end of December I found out my replacement was staying on. That was fine, but I didn't learn until I got back that half my duties have now been taken away and will be done by her.

Needless to say I am quite upset. I finally decided to talk to my boss about it yesterday and in short form I was told "I thought you were more flexible then this, and I don't want you stirring the pot" and that "she is the boss".

It's not a unionized environment. We don't have and HR department. Legally do I have any rights. My pay is still the same. (I know half the work in the same pay; I shouldn't complain) but I'm worried about the future if there is ever layoffs I would be one to go as I have less work.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I've cried my eyes out but now I need to suck it up and move forward.

[anisa]

Rights During Pregnancy and Parental Leaves

Employees on pregnancy or parental leave have several rights.
The Right to Reinstatement

In most cases, an employee who takes a pregnancy or parental leave is entitled to:

• the same job the employee had before the leave began; or
• a comparable job, if the employee's old job no longer exists.

In either case, the employee must be paid at least as much as he or she was earning before the leave. Also, if the wages for the job went up while the employee was on leave, or would have gone up if he or she hadn't been on leave, the employer must pay the higher wage when the employee returns from leave.
If an employer has dismissed an employee for legitimate reasons that are totally unrelated to the fact that the employee took a leave, the employer does not have to reinstate the employee.
The Right to Be Free from Penalty

Employers cannot penalize an employee in any way because the employee:

• took a pregnancy or parental leave;
• plans to take a pregnancy or parental leave;
• is eligible to take a pregnancy or parental leave; or
• will become eligible to take a pregnancy or parental leave.

The Right to Continue to Participate in Benefit Plans

Employees on pregnancy or parental leave have a right to continue to take part in certain benefit plans that their employer may offer. These include:

• pension plans;
• life insurance plans;
• accidental death plans;
• extended health plans; and
• dental plans.

The employer must continue to pay its share of the premiums for any of these plans that were offered before the leave, unless the employee tells the employer in writing that he or she will not continue to pay his or her own share of the premiums.
In most cases, employees must continue to pay their share of the premiums in order to continue to participate in these plans.
Employees who are on pregnancy or parental leave can also continue to participate in other benefit plans if employees who are on other types of leave are able to continue to participate in those plans.
In addition, a female employee may be entitled to disability benefits during that period of the leave that she would otherwise have been absent from work for health reasons related to her pregnancy or childbirth.
The Right to Earn Credits for Length of Employment, Length of Service and Seniority

Employees continue to earn credits toward length of employment, length of service, and seniority during periods of leave.
Length of service
Trina's employment contract states that she earns 1 paid vacation day for each month of active service and that after 5 years (length) of service she will begin to earn 1 ½ paid vacation days for each month of active service. She is on pregnancy and parental leave for her entire 5th year of employment.
Because her leave will count towards "length of service" the year on leave will count to complete her 5 years length of service and she will be then be entitled to earn 1 ½ paid vacation days for each month of active service when she returns from her leave.
However, while she was on the leave she was not earning credit for active service and so under her contract she was not earning paid vacation days during the leave itself. At the end of the leave she would not have earned any paid vacation under contract but the employer would be required to ensure that she received at least the minimum vacation entitlement for that year (2 weeks of vacation time off plus 4% of any wages earned in that year).
Seniority
Karen is a member of a union that has bargaining rights at her workplace. Under the collective agreement, an employee's seniority determines such things as order of layoff and recall, job promotions and annual vacation entitlements. Karen continues to accrue seniority for all purposes during her pregnancy and parental leaves, just as if she had been actively employed.


http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/.../pregnancy.php

[anisa]

notice they say the same job, or comparable job.

the type of position/level should be the same in my opinion.

bring it up with your employer, sooner rather than later. tell them that you are concerned about your future as an employee when you have been demoted.

allow them to fix their mistake, show them the gov't info.

if they don't fix it, i would complain. the process is fairly simple if you place a complaint with the ministry. you don't need a lawyer, they have their own process.

[erin9mmm]

That happened to me. I came back and not only was my replacement staying on but was getting my office too and I was going to be her assistant! So I contacted labour relations and found out I had a case. All I wanted was my job back (I was the director of a new daycare which I licensed, created all the policies and forms, designed and furnished got funding for etc. etc. and was replaced by the board of directors by someone older than me). To make a long story short I didn't get my job back (didn't want it after the whole ordeal) and got a big settlement.
What really hurt was that until that point I was praised for doing a good job not only from the board but the ministry that licensed the centre (was told it was the most organized they had seen!!).

[gracesmommy]

i had something similar to that happen. i dont understand why people are punshied for starting familes.

[Midnightly]

with how you word it, it sounds like your old job has been split into two new jobs, could this mean the company is growing and they feel they need a second employee on staff? (just seeing another side of the coin) is the new person going to be a floater and do other jobs if other people are away?, technically you would have seniority over her so if you do get laid off due to too much employees and she stays on there is a legit issue there that you can fight

[JennyFromTheRock]

Something similar happened to me when I had my first daughter - I ended up quitting because I didnt like my "similar" job and it turned me off from work so bad that I decided not to ever work again lol

[sheetsofemptycanvas]

From what I understand, the have to hold your job and your position for 6 months- if you take a year, they have to hold your job but NOT your position.

[Brynhilde]

That sounds frustrating but you are being paid the same and doing less. Am I missing something? It may be possible too that your employer may want to keep his/her daughter on until you get used to working at the place of employment again. You have been out for a year so that's something to be considered. I returned from mat leave with my DS#1, had the same position but got paid less.. I was very upset. Not only did my employer at the time make a big deal about me taking mat leave but they discriminated against me because of family status (DS has special needs).

anisa posted a really good article that outlines rights to employees. You do have rights but I'm not too sure if anything illegal happened here. You could call the Ministry of Labour, explain your situation and see what they have to say. Do you have a contract of any kind with your employer? You said you worked at your employer for 10 years.. I would think you would get some kind of severance package if you did lose your position. Technically, I would think bosses daughter should go first in case of layoffs because she has not been working there as long.

I think after you talk to Ministry of Labour if you decide to do that, it may be a good idea to talk with your employer gently.. share your concerns and phrase them in a way that an employer would want to hear (e.g. how much you enjoy giving to your employer and applying your skills to help better the company) Good luck

[nightlite]

Unfortunately this why they use the word "comparable" in the document that anisa provided. It's a dirty little piece of red tape, but they do not have to give you your exact job/title when you return. Most employers do just b/c it's well a nice thing to do and less complicated than trying to find another spot to put you in. But legally as long as they have a job that you can do and is similar to your skill set and pays the same, then they can do that.

I've had friends who have had their actual jobs posted to be filled again before they got back from mat leave and someone else was hired for the position. Then they were told that they were being moved depts etc. When I went back after mat leave I came back early at 6 months. Then our company was bought out and I lost my job that same month. That was a tough lesson learned.

If you feel like you are being pushed out then that's another story. If your boss insinuated that you were stirring the pot, did you explain why you were bothered by it? Any intelligent boss should be able to understand that if you come back to work and someone else has taken over your role, you're going to be a bit unnerved. YOu don't usually give away a role to someone else unless you're not happy with your previous employee etc (I'm not suggesting that is the case with you, that is just a generalization). Your boss doesn't sound very understanding if that's the case. From now on, you have to decide whether or not you want to remain working for a company/individual like that or take your skills elsewhere. If there's anything I have learned is that I will NEVER ever be loyal to a company again b/c if push came to shove, they wouldn't flinch twice about not being loyal to me.

[ame555]

Thanks everyone for your replies and information/opinions. Things are not getting better, and I'm looking at what my options are.

I really need the money and benefits so I can't just quit. I'm trying not to take it personally against me, but rather as just wanting to keep this other person on. It's hard, having been there for 10 years.

Back to work tomorrow, wish me luck!

thanks again.

[ame555]

That sounds frustrating but you are being paid the same and doing less. Am I missing something? It may be possible too that your employer may want to keep his/her daughter on until you get used to working at the place of employment again. You have been out for a year so that's something to be considered. I returned from mat leave with my DS#1, had the same position but got paid less.. I was very upset. Not only did my employer at the time make a big deal about me taking mat leave but they discriminated against me because of family status (DS has special needs).

anisa posted a really good article that outlines rights to employees. You do have rights but I'm not too sure if anything illegal happened here. You could call the Ministry of Labour, explain your situation and see what they have to say. Do you have a contract of any kind with your employer? You said you worked at your employer for 10 years.. I would think you would get some kind of severance package if you did lose your position. Technically, I would think bosses daughter should go first in case of layoffs because she has not been working there as long.

I think after you talk to Ministry of Labour if you decide to do that, it may be a good idea to talk with your employer gently.. share your concerns and phrase them in a way that an employer would want to hear (e.g. how much you enjoy giving to your employer and applying your skills to help better the company) Good luck

I don't mean to sound like whiner for doing less and getting paid the same, but it seems the duties that were taken off my plate were the "higher level" duties I had, which feels like a bit of a stab. If it were the "lower duties", I probably wouldn't have such an issue!

[Brynhilde]

Honestly, I'd be p'd off too that the bosses kid gets to do a lot of the 'higher level' duties too.. but hey, if the boss wants to be stupid, let him/her. Maybe the daughter will do so poorly that your boss will beg for you to do them again Let us know how the talk with your boss goes if you decide to do that.