Mother's rights to return to "same" job following leave questioned

A mother's rights to return to work following maternity leave may not be as black and white as previously thought following a landmark case, successfully defended by Stockton on Tees Borough Council against the claim of Reception Teacher Mrs Blundell.

Mrs Blundell, a Teacher at St Andrews Primary School, had correctly instructed the head of the school that she was pregnant whilst still a full time teacher. Later, and as a matter of course, the school had discussed with all teachers their preferences for class allocation for the coming year and, whilst still in work, Mrs Blundell had firstly indicated a preference to move to floating duties and then later decided to rescind that decision.

Upon her return to work following maternity leave, Mrs Blundell was given what she felt was an unsatisfactory choice between floating duties and becoming a year two teacher. The resulting claim against Stockton on Tees Borough Council brought to light an issue that had so far managed to avoid any substantive debate. The rights of mothers to return to their "same" jobs following their period of leave had seemingly gone unquestioned, but the council's successful defence illustrated a hitherto unacknowledged distinction between "same" and "identical".

It was decided that returning to the same job does not impose a requirement for the person in question to return to precisely the same role, instead that the role should be comparable in nature, capacity and place where the work is undertaken. On all three counts, legal requirements had been met by Stockton on Tees Borough Council.

James Tait, an Associate specialising in Employment Law at Shakespeare Putsman, has followed the case closely and feels that this ruling resolves one of the fundamental questions over maternity leave legislation. According to Tait, "It had been the understanding of many employers that there is an entitlement to return to exactly the same role after maternity leave - but this does not appear to be the level of protection which the legislation provides.

"Clearly, if exactly the same job is not available after maternity leave, employers should make every effort to accommodate any requests of the employee and, so far as possible, to adopt a consultative approach. Keeping lines of communication open is always key in order to avoid a potential conflict and the associated disruption that can cause."