{"id":391268,"date":"2026-03-18T10:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T10:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/391268\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T10:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T10:31:07","slug":"i-returned-to-work-after-maternity-leave-and-was-issued-with-a-notice-of-redundancy-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/391268\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I returned to work after maternity leave and was issued with a notice of redundancy\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently returned to work from <\/b>maternity<\/b><\/a> leave to be issued with a notice of redundancy.<\/b><\/p>\n

The rest of my team were made redundant while I was away, so it was not a total surprise.<\/b><\/p>\n

However, while I was on leave, I was told by HR <\/b>there was a vacancy in another team that I was suitable for and this was being held for me.<\/b><\/p>\n

It was said initially when I was informed of the rest of the team being put on notice of redundancy, then again when I was informed <\/b>they had all been made redundant one month later.<\/b><\/p>\n

It was only ever spoken, not put in writing.<\/b><\/p>\n

After being put on notice of redundancy on my first day back after maternity leave, I was surprised and I immediately asked what happened to the role.<\/b><\/p>\n

I was told this was being filled by a temp and <\/b>it had been decided it would end in February, therefore it was no longer suitable for me. <\/b><\/p>\n

I have since learned, through LinkedIn, that someone has been hired externally to fill the role permanently.<\/b><\/p>\n

Is this legal?<\/b><\/p>\n

An employee cannot be made redundant during maternity leave, with the company in this case appearing to have taken a \u201clegally correct\u201d route in doing so on the reader\u2019s return. <\/p>\n

However, they are obliged to offer alternative roles if available, according to experts in employment law and HR.<\/p>\n

Moira Grassick, chief operations officer at employment law and HR firm Peninsula Ireland, says legislation concerning redundancy is \u201creally clear\u201d on the requirement to facilitate a consultation process, which must include consideration of alternative employment.<\/p>\n

Noting that the reader says she was told an alternative role was being held for her, Grassick adds: \u201cUnfortunately, it is \u2018he said, she said\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could still argue she should have been offered that temporary position,\u201d she says, adding it may have delayed the process or given an opportunity for alternative employment to be found within the company.<\/p>\n

She suggests contacting the company about the external hiring and questioning why the permanent role was not offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she\u2019s not happy with the response and she decides she wants to make a claim, she could make a claim through the Workplace Relations Commission [WRC<\/a>] for unfair dismissal or unfair selection for redundancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company would have to be able to show they weren\u2019t looking for a permanent person at that time, and she would have to be able to show she was suitable for that role at the time, if it was available\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that case, the company would have a case to answer in relation to why she wasn\u2019t offered it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0I have a highly respected degree but can\u2019t get a decent job. AI might be the problemOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Michelle Halloran, independent HR consultant and workplace investigator, of Halloran HR Resolutions, believes the reader could have a \u201cstrong case\u201d if she can prove her former employer hired someone for a role she was suitable for, which would be \u201cvery worrying\u201d.<\/p>\n

The \u201conly weakness\u201d in the reader\u2019s case is that the conversations regarding the alternative role were verbal, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be good if she had any written confirmation that these discussions actually happened,\u201d she says, adding it could be difficult to prove should the company deny they ever happened.<\/p>\n

Regardless, however, Halloran believes there could be sufficient reason to take a case to the WRC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve done exactly what I would advise a company never to do. You go out of your way to ring-circle that person on maternity leave and keep them,\u201d she says, describing it as a \u201cnearly sacrosanct protection\u201d.<\/p>\n

Under the Maternity Protection Acts 1994-2004, those on maternity leave must be offered any suitable alternative role in priority to other employees.<\/p>\n

Ideally, the reader\u2019s employer would have consulted with them and considered redeployment, relocation or retraining, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere a company is shutting down a whole department, and if someone\u2019s out on maternity leave, they\u2019re vulnerable. They\u2019re not in a position to engage in a consultation or discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey appear to have just gone and made her redundant with no discussion on the day she arrived back from maternity leave,\u201d Halloran adds, saying: \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t happen\u201d. <\/p>\n

If you have work-related questions, from how to deal with burnout to running your own business, The Irish Times Work Q&A column is here to help. You can use the form below to submit your question. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less and please include a phone number. Your name and contact details will be confidential and only be used for verification purposes. Any details about your employer will also be anonymised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I recently returned to work from maternity leave to be issued with a notice of redundancy. The rest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,19,17,2645,80,162346],"class_list":{"0":"post-391268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-pregnancy","13":"tag-work","14":"tag-work-q-a"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116249722079572705","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}