Facing Forced Relocation After Maternity Leave: What Are My Legal Rights and Options?

Hello,

My maternity leave is completing in a few weeks. I contacted my senior and asked him about the process to rejoin the company. He said that currently, your position is already filled, and you have to relocate to some other state or city. In reality, he is playing a game. He knows that I can't relocate to any place without my husband and kid. Could you please suggest what my legal rights are in this situation? He mentioned that I either relocate to another place or resign. What should I 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 a letter requesting them to cancel the transfer as you are joining after maternity, and relocation will cause anxiety and hardship to you and your baby.

Dear THEGR8KD,

As Shrikant has already replied, two possibilities emerge from your post. The first is that your company has a requirement in another city or state, making the transfer normal. The second possibility is that your company wanted to remove you anyway. They filled the vacancy that arose because of your long absence, and 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 used the term "the process to rejoin the company." However, after a leave, be it a long leave like maternity leave, employees "resume" their duties and do 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 an email or SMS stating that your maternity leave will complete on ____ date and you will resume your duties the next day.

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

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

1. Maternity is a statutory obligation on the employer, and as such, the employer cannot resort to such unfair labor practices.

2. Whatever your employer has done is incorrect and immoral.

3. What is your designation?

(Note: I have corrected the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in the provided text. I have also ensured proper paragraph formatting with a single line break between paragraphs.)

It does not appear to be a bonafide transfer. You can report for duty with your medical certificate and question the illegal transfer before the appropriate forum. Admitting that during your maternity leave, the employer has made recruitment, which should have been on a temporary/contractual basis.