Ms A had kept the communication lines open .She informed her employer of her wish to take parental leave and the dates that this would start and finish. However, when Ms A was on leave, she was telephoned by her employer and asked what she was planning on doing when she came back to work because her duties had been absorbed by others.
Ms A’s position was “disestablished” while she was on parental leave. The employer argued that her position had become redundant while she was on leave.
According to law there is a presumption that an employee’s position will be kept open during periods of parental leave. The exception to this is if the position genuinely becomes redundant. When redundancy is a genuine possibility for an employee on parental leave, it is even more important than normal to ensure that the employee is fully consulted with and involved in the process. It is particularly important because he or she has the added disadvantage of being absent during the company’s reorganization.
The Authority ruled that Ms A’s position had not genuinely become redundant and that the employer had simply used the process as a facade for the fact that they had reorganised her out of a job. Even if the redundancy had been genuine, her dismissal would have been unjustified, as the correct consultation procedures had not been followed. The employer acted arrogantly and without respect for Ms A and her position with the Company.
The Authority went further and found that the employer had conducted the entire process of making Ms A redundant in bad faith. No steps were taken to ensure that her position be kept open and there was no consultation. The employer were ordered to pay $15,000 in compensation and also lost remuneration.
When management asked the Authority what they could have done better the answer was quite simple really – keep Ms A’s job open.
