YINKA’S STORY
Yinka received support to challenged the discrimination that she faced being selected for redundancy during maternity leave
I am employed in a senior administrative role within an educational institution and when I went away on Maternity Leave was not contacted by the institution about significant restructuring changes and jobs that had arisen in my absence, in particular a more senior job role that I believed I was in a strong position to get had I been informed about it. It was only on my return to work from Maternity Leave that I was told about these changes and that my job was under threat of redundancy. I raised a grievance about a new policy that was introduced in my absence about not informing women whilst on Maternity Leave about job vacancies unless they provided specific contact details, about not being given the opportunity to apply for the senior job, and about the requirement for me to reapply for a job even though I was on Maternity Leave. My grievances were not upheld.
I approached Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council (NREC) who helped me make a claim to an Employment Tribunal for pregnancy-related Sex discrimination. Eventually the matter was settled financially without the need for me to go to a full Employment Tribunal.
Had I not approached Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council I would have not received financial support from my employer or more importantly for me the
acknowledgement that they had not approached the matter properly, I can now get on with my life.
*The names have been changed to hide the identity of the Claimants and Respondents.
Tel 01604 400808 Fax 01604 400813 info@northamptonshirerec.org.uk
Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council 