Forced Relocation After Maternity leave - legal rights?

Hello, My maternity leave is completing in few weeks. I contacted my senior and asked him the process to re join the company. He said currently your position is already fulfilled and you have to relocate to some other state or city. Actually he is playing game . He knows that i can't relocate to any place without my husband and kid. Kindly suggest what are my legal rights? He said either relocate to some other place or resign. Tell me what to do?

If it is mentioned in your appointment letter that your job is transferable, then you have no legal remedy. You can at best send them letter requesting them to cancel transfer as you are joining after maternity and relocation will cause anxiety & hardship to you and your baby.

Dear THEGR8KD,

As such Shrikant has given you the reply. Two possibilities emerge from your post. First one is that as such your company has requirement at some another city or state. Therefore, the transfer could be normal. Second possibility is that your company wanted to remove you anyway. They filled the vacancy that arose because of your long absence. When you approached to rejoin, your transfer to another city or state is a ploy to remove you.

By the way, in the first sentence of your post, you have used the term "the process to re join the company". However, after a leave, be it a long leave like maternity leave, employees "resume" their duties and not "rejoin". There is no process as such. A smart manager should know on which date who is resuming duties. From your side, you could have sent just a mail or SMS stating that your maternity leave will complete on ____ date and you will resume your duties on the next day.

Anyway, when you receive the transfer order, you may put up application for the cancellation of the transfer owing to your family requirements. Approach to the highest authority. Possibly senior authority may show clemency and put on hold your transfer.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

1. Maternity is a statutory obligation on employer and as such the employer can not resort to such unfair labour practice.
2. What ever your employer has done is incorrect & immoral.
3. What is your designation?

it does not appear to be a Bonafide Transfer.You can report for duty with your Medical Certificate & question the illegal Transfer before appropriate forum.Admitting that during your Maternity leave, Employer has made recruitment, which should have been on Temporary/Contractual basis.