Is anywhere mentioned in employment law whether when an employee

You would certainly expect to return to the same role and duties, unless this was not guaranteed when you agreed to go on maternity cover. However, returning to the same job does not automatically mean that you will also return to the same desk. There is nothing specific in employment law that says this is the case and that a desk is directly linked to a job description. In fact a desk is just a desk and it is rare that it would belong to an employee outright, unless they can show that they have worked on it for such a long period of time that it has become an implied contractual term that it is their desk and that they have contractual rights over it. However, for this to happen it must have been made clear over a number of years that the employer was happy for them to treat this desk as theirs and that it was communicated to them that they can expect to have that desk indefinitely. This would be rather rare. So there is nothing specific you can rely on to argue that you need to be allowed to return to the exact same desk you occupied before going on maternity cover and the main issue here is whether you are allowed to return to the same position and job that you did, regardless of what des you occupy.

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