Hi there,

Sorry for yet another question.

This issue has come up a couple of times recently in different ways initially as a general question and now as an actual scenario though the actual scenario is a little different, and I hope you can help as always.

We had a person go on maternity leave at the end of June, and had recruited someone to replace them, however that person became pregnant completely unexpectedly and has returned to her home country to be with family etc.,

We are now looking for someone to be with us for approximately 4 months, probably not longer as our lady on maternity leave is very much looking forward to returning in January/February.

The role is on the surface an easy role to recruit for but does have complex financial issues to deal with and deals with people at high levels.

I’ve been asked by the manager to recruit someone at company secretary experience level and my feeling is that this will exceed the salary of the person on maternity leave.

Given that it’s a short term role and that we have been faced with an unusual circumstance and need someone very experienced who can fulfill this role with minimum training, are we able to look at paying more for someone than the person’s salary who’s on maternity leave?

I don’t feel particularly comfortable about this and do feel that we could get someone very capable to come in and assist the team for the 4 months, however I think the manager is concerned they won’t be a 110% match.

Thanks for any advice.

Antonia Harrison