Mecca ‘coaching’ for questions about maternity leave court case
Mecca’s senior leadership is offering to ‘coach’ staff on how to respond to questions about allegations that have been launched against the beauty giant.
Mecca’s chief people officer has offered a group of the beauty giant’s leadership team “coaching” on how to respond to questions from staff about an urgent fair work case it is facing, as the company’s senior staff start circling the wagons in the wake of discrimination allegations made by a staff member and new mum.
It comes after head of brand marketing Alethea Larkin — who is due to return to work from unpaid maternity leave in months — alleged on Thursday Mecca failed to consult her properly, after she was given less than one day notice of a meeting in which she was told a restructure meant her position was at risk of redundancy.
Chief people officer Vanessa Freeman sent a message to a group described as Mecca’s “extended leadership team” on Monday at about 10.30am.
Ms Freeman said given Mecca is still in the “consultation phase” it is not “appropriate for us to go into further details”, according to the message obtained by The Australian.
“It’s natural that some team members may be curious about this matter and frustrated that we’re unable to provide more information,” she said.
“If you or your team have any concerns, or if you would like coaching on how to respond to any queries from your team, please feel free to reach out to me, Jem or Sara. V.”
Earlier in the message, Ms Freeman said she wanted to give the leadership group “some context in case you receive any questions from your team,” she said.
“Last week, we started a consultation process regarding a proposed restructure in marketing. Consultation is normal practice when making structural changes within a team and provides us with the opportunity to understand any feedback or concerns.
“This has resulted in an individual deciding to pursue legal action.”
It is believed about 40 people are part of this internal group chat. A Mecca spokeswoman declined to comment on Monday.
Ms Larkin’s lawyer, Tony Pick of Hector Douglas HR Legal, told The Australian his client “was ghosted for 2 months when she was trying to plan her return to work”.
“(She was) then directed to attend a Teams meeting with less than 24 hours notice and no agenda, then told her position would be redundant after a 48 hour ‘consultation period’. That is not taking reasonable steps.”
Businesses are required to consult with an employee about major workplace changes likely to have a significant effect on the employee, and give them an opportunity to provide feedback to their employer on the impact of the change per enterprise agreements or awards.
Court documents obtained by The Australian say Ms Larkin was called into a meeting by human resources business partner Sara Hekmet last week with less than 12 hours notice — Ms Larkin said she received a request on February 12 at 3pm to meet via Microsoft teams the next day at 11.30am — when she was told her time off on parental leave was an “opportunity to test if her role could be absorbed into another” within the marketing team.
She said she was told her position was the only role in the team at risk of redundancy and no other suitable redeployment opportunities were identified.
“Mecca failed to take all reasonable steps to give the Applicant information about and an opportunity to discuss the effect of the Redundancy Decision,” the court documents state.
At the time of the meeting Ms Larkin had a nine-month-old daughter, and her maternity leave agreement was approved for a period between May 8 2023 and May 13 this year, according to the court documents. She made childcare arrangements to start from May 13 accordingly and was due to return from maternity leave in a little over two months.
Between December 13 and January 30 Ms Larkin said she requested to arrange “keep in touch days” with her manager, chief marketing officer Kate Blythe, to facilitate her return to work but “Mecca refused and/or failed to consent to and/or facilitate” the requests, the court documents read.
Ms Larkin launched proceedings in a bid to stop Mecca from taking further steps in the restructure process until the court matter is finalised, and an injunction prohibiting the company from terminating her employment.
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