Anna Munkevics successfully sued her employer, recruitment firm Echo Personnel, for maternity discrimination and unfair dismissal.
In September 2021, Munkevics informed her managers of her pregnancy and went on maternity leave in April of the following year. In December 2022, Munkevics' line managers verbally confirmed that she could return to work on a phased part-time basis once her maternity leave ended in March 2023.
However, in March 2023, Echo Personnel's finance director wrote to Munkevics to tell her that they could not accommodate a part-time position due to the nature of the job, and so would require Munkevics to return five days per week full-time.
Employment judge Gidney stated that this was done with "very little opportunity" for Munkevics to arrange additional childcare for her daughter. Munkevics resigned the position.
When Munkevics attended the office in May 2023 to work out her notice period, upon arriving, she found that the office had been "vacated and abandoned", the tribunal heard. She told the tribunal that she had not been informed that the office had shut.
Clear communication is crucial as soon as an employee requests maternity leave, said Alison Wilde, founder of coaching consultancy Birdsoup.
She told HR magazine: “Clear communication of the policy and any ‘hard lines' i.e. no flexibility on working patterns or location of work should be communicated from the moment the pregnancy is confirmed. This way, the leaver will not be working under any false impressions or wishful thinking.”
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Wilde added: "I always encourage parents to broach the idea of flexibility before they leave, if only to stress test their initial thoughts. Employers often welcome this as it gives them a much more time to plan for the needs of the business.
“When a parent takes maternity or paternity leave, they do not leave work. Keeping them in the loop about significant changes should continue to happen and keeping in touch (kit) days can be used to keep people up to speed. It is no good having a policy if you don’t have a clear way of adhering to it. What is the process for agreeing adjustments to days/hours of working on return? Who can agree this? When and how will these be confirmed or any changes discussed? This all needs to be crystal clear to everyone involved.”
Managers should consider re-inducting employees who are returning from maternity leave back into their roles, stated Frances Cushway, founder of coaching consultancy The Maternity Coach.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “It's common for managers to expect colleagues to return from maternity leave and 'hit the ground running', which for most mothers returning from maternity leave is not going to be possible. They haven't been on holiday, but have been through one of the most transformative identity transitions we go through in our lifetime. Keeping this in mind will go a long way to supporting colleagues when they return and following a process more like re-inducting them back into their role. Lots might have changes both with systems and processes, so allowing time for learning these or attending training courses is also useful.
“In an ideal world, whoever is covering the maternity leave will stay on for a hand back period, so that when the colleague returns from maternity leave they can phase their return more easily by working part-time.”
If managers are no longer able to offer a part-time return to work, they should communicate clearly with the employee, added Joeli Brearley, founder of maternity charity Pregnant Then Screwed.
Brearley told HR magazine: “Once a flexible working agreement is in place, it should be honoured, unless there are exceptional and clearly communicated circumstances. If accommodating a phased return or flexible arrangement isn’t feasible, HR leaders must engage in open and empathetic consultation with the employee.
“The goal should be to collaboratively explore alternative solutions that meet both organisational and individual needs. If an agreement cannot be reached, the employer must provide a written explanation detailing the reasons. This explanation must align with one of the eight statutory grounds permitted by law for refusing a flexible working request.”
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Judge Gidney said during the tribunal: “We find it very hard to understand why [the finance director] did not write to [Munkevics] in advance of that date, prior to the end of the protected period, (or cause someone else to) and explain that the Hereford office had been permanently closed and moved out of.
“[The finance director]'s behaviour was calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence. There was no reasonable and proper cause for it, in the absence of any attempt ... to fairly explore and consider the request."
Managers should be trained on how to manage and communicate with employees on maternity leave, stated Natasha Kitson, founder of parental consultancy Maternity Mentor.
Kitson told HR magazine: “The lesson [from this case] is clear: proactive, two way communication is non-negotiable. Managers and HR teams should receive training to initiate check-in conversations before, during (where appropriate), and after leave, share mandatory business changes (e.g. closures, restructures) as part of a pre-agreed plan, and embed phased return discussions into your standard parental leave policy. Communication should be used as a strategic tool, not an afterthought.”
If HR leaders or managers are not able to communicate something with an employee while they’re on maternity leave, they should clearly explain why, added Charlotte Speak, parental support consultant at Power of the Parent.
Speak told HR magazine: “Talk to the parent-to-be about how they would like to be communicated with, and if there are particular things they'd want to hear about. Then meet them in the middle of that conversation to agree what you can cover and how frequently. There are instances of things with my own clients where someone on parental leave has asked to be updated on a particular project, and it just wasn't feasible. It's okay to say that, but explain why.
“It's also essential you're clear on who is responsible for communicating. It's often the belief it should be HR, but the line manager is pivotal. It's not just about maternity leave: any type of parental leave where you're taking a chunk of time away from your organisation needs these considerations. The times it goes wrong are when you have poor communication and fuzzy clarity at best.”
