Legality of tailoring a job description

Hi all

I was wondering if you could advise me on something.

I'm a brit living in Germany having moved country twice for the company I work for. I am currently on maternity leave until next year. My boss has just resigned and I'd like to apply for the job. However there are a couple of issues:

1) My boss and I clashed quite badly and she would never recommend me for the job
2) The job has been offered (without waiting to see if there were any other applications) to someone else in the team - someone I trained.
3) I have been told I can apply however the job description has been tailored to this person above and with it as it stands, I don't qualify even though I'm more qualified to do the job.
4) My availability is in question (obviously).

In the UK, I know that I would have just as much right to apply and my being on Mat leave wouldn't affect the outcome. They would simply put in someone to cover me until my return. How is the law on this here?

How legal is it to tailor a job description to one person thereby excluding other applicants?

How legal is it to offer the job without giving time for internal/external applicants to apply?

Thanks so much in advance for your responses

Erm. I don't have any legal qualification, but why would it not be legal?
If you have to fill a job you take the person that is in your opinion best for it fullstop.

And: is there such thing as 75% legal? (since you're asking about HOW legal it is...)

Apparently they don't want you for the job, but the other person. Of course that sucks for you, but don't think there's much you can do about it.

Really sorry for you.

Theres nothing to say they cant write the job description to fit one particular candidate.

There nothing stopping you from applying but I cant really believe that if you had two suitable candidates in the UK, one of which wasnt able to do the job, that that candidate would get it. Thats nonsense.

To be honest, if you think no-one is holding their breath for your return, plus they have a favoured candidate for the job already, plus you cant actually do the job at the moment and would force them to go through the expense and hassle of getting a temp in, I would save the price of the stamp for the application. I dont think you have a snowballs chance in Hell of getting the job.

If they were really keen to have you return and do that job, you would know it.

Under German employment law, you have a right to return to a job and that job must be equivalent to what you did before your maternity leave but you have no right to the exact same job and certainly no right to a promotion that might have been yours if you hadn't left.

andy M

Indeed. The OP can't have been in the UK jobs market for long if they really believe that pregnant women can't be dealt with in a similar way. I've seen so many new mothers I saw sidelined in various ways (right through to "you weren't here and the work carried on fine without you so your role's redundant").

So it's not worth going down the "Germany's so unfair, why can't it be like (unrealistic, idealised version of) the UK" route imho.

Thanks all for your honesty I guess you're right

Aly