Returning to work after maternity leave when my boss doesn't want me to.

Actually, Tanizaki, if you go look at the definition of sex discrimination at the link I provided, no, it's not. Pregnancy discrimination is a special case of sex discrimination in Australia, and all direct pregnancy discrimination requires is that "a woman is treated less favourably than another person because she is pregnant or because she may become pregnant." Has nothing to do with the sex of the worker who replaces her.

Sounds mighty like http://www.humanrights.gov.au/sex_discrimination/publication/guide/index.html to me. Have a chat with thehttp://www.humanrights.gov.au folks or your local http://www.naclc.org.au/directory to find out your options. Sometimes, even if you don't want to change anything, it still helps to know that you're in the right and you could take action.

PPL has been fairly recently introduced in Australia, so an employee taking parental leave from a small company and returning to full time duties could be seen as unexpected While paid parental leave is recent, 12 months of unpaid maternity leave has been available and widely used in Australia for a long time. This is not a remotely uncommon or unexpected occurrence in this country.

Further to that, Googling tells me that the right to unpaid maternity leave was introduced here in 1979, so employers have had over 30 years to get used to the idea of mothers being entitled to return to their jobs.

Fair Work Ombudsman should be your first port of call, absolutely. Even if you've been given a position, marginalisation at your workplace because you have had a baby is absolutely discrimination, and is against state and federal laws http://humanrights.gov.au/info_for_employers/what.html The size of the business might be relevant, as sometimes small businesses have exemptions from complying with legislation like parental leave. So maybe make sure you have that info when you contact the Ombudsman.

What is fair and what you are legally entitled to are two different things, and the latter if very dependent on the laws in your locality. I would look for a local working parents advocacy group or similar government office for guidance. I'm in the US, so I know nothing, but maybe some Aussie mefites can point you in the right direction. Regardless of what you are entitled to, you might start thinking about looking for another place to work. Caring for a child will mean you need a different kind of work/life balance and flexibility when the expected happens. It sounds like this boss will make that difficult. Regardless of what the law requires or allows, life is MUCH easier if your boss is reasonable and willing to work with you on work/life balance stuff.

This is probably a good time to become familiar with http://www.fairwork.gov.au/BestPracticeGuides/03-Use-of-individual-flexibility-arrangements.pdf as well. Fairwork.gov.au is indeed an excellent first instance resource!

Two thoughts:It's unclear to me what your problem with your employer is. So far as I read your question, your employer has not denied you your position and, in fact, has already accepted your right to work. You have only had the "impression" you would be given space next to a photocopier. You have no evidence so far that you have been demoted in any way. It seems like you are preemptively assuming the worst.You're somewhat asking the wrong question here:So my question is, am I entitled, as I believe, to return to a identical position and office to which I left and how do I approach this without creating more drama and bad feelings?The thing about legal requirements is that they are not self-enforcing. It doesn't really matter what you are entitled to, it matters how much you are willing to assert yourself against your employer. Even if you are entitled to an identical position and office (I have no idea whether that is true or not), if your employer denies you that position/office, the only avenue you have is either government enforcement of the law or a lawsuit against your employer. Either of those cannot possibly achieve what you want without drama and bad feelings. In other words, the question you should be asking yourself is, "do I want this office/job enough to force my employer to give it to me?" I'm certainly not saying the answer to that question is "no", just that asking questions about legal requirements without considering that the law is a blunt instrument is going to lead you astray.

PPL has been fairly recently introduced in Australia, so an employee taking parental leave from a small company and returning to full time duties could be seen as unexpected because there is little precedent for taking leave when a child has come into a family. There is a tendency for working women to accept (sometimes asking for, other times not fighting for more) reduced wages, work hours, duties, and promotion opportunities after having a child -- recent literature on parental leaves in the UK, US, and Canada confirms this behaviour as prominent though not universal. he is an older gentleman with a traditional and sexist perspective Your boss's age and perspective would lead me to expect him to plan for you to "do the traditional/right thing" and not return to work after parental leave even though you indicated and reaffirmed that you would. Since you work for a small firm, your satisfaction with work will depend strongly on how you and your boss handle this transition. In your position, I would plan to return to full time hours as soon as feasible and firmly, repeatedly, assert my expectation of resuming my position, duties, office, and perqs. The occasional comment about my partner taking an equal share of household duties would also find its way into casual conversation as a reminder that times have changed in the past 50 years. You may want to see what other positions in your field are open at organizations with more progressive leadership, even if you choose to remain with this firm.