Angry my manager has taken away WFH perk?

If WFH is not normal for the office because it makes work less effective, I can see why a manager might consider that a reduction in hours would only be feasible if it's the WFH hours that are cut. Otherwise it means fewer hours working, fewer hours in the office and a higher percentage of the time you do work being away from the office. Whether he's reasonable to be so against WFH is a different question, but it's not one we can really judge and it's probably not one you can have any push back on (other than the crude but powerful leverage that another job offer would give you).

If I were them I’d be very concerned about the potential for a constructive dismissal claim- although your WFH arrangement isn’t contractual, it’s longstanding and has presumably (?) been working well up until you took a period of protected leave at which point your manager has decided to revoke it. I wouldn’t fancy standing at a tribunal and trying to justify that.

This is why you don't take legal advice off the internet.

Constructive dismissal is something that is extremely difficult to prove and hardly any claims win.

If you leave your job because of this and then make a claim on the basis you have no choice you will lose.

If I were the employer, I wouldn't be concerned about a constructive dismissal claim at all, and I d be quite happy to go to the tribunal and defend any claim brought.

If your agreement is not contractual then the employer is within their rights to change it. You mentioned you’d asked for a reduction in hours and the suggested solution for the business is to remove the WFH time so you are still in the office in the days you worked in person anyway. Is that right?

Contractually speaking I think they are in the right. You requested something and they offered something that works for the business. If I was working 2 days a week I think I’d have accepted doing the 2 days at my old hours and find a side hustle to plug the income gap.

Approach HR without him and ask for a chat. You are concerned that you experiencing maternity discrimination. Please can they mediate/advise

It’s nothing to do with working mothers - what about working fathers?

The OP had a perk which no one else had - that perk has been removed. It wasn’t contractual.

She's put in a flexible working request to change her hours so everything becomes negotiable.
Her bosses job is to ensure the efficient running of the business. Not facilitate her childcare needs.

She's put in a flexible working request - that means everything is up for negotiation.

Do not approach HR or your manager until you have taken independent advice (PP mentioned ACAS and also Pregnant and Screwed), and considered what you want the outcome to be.

HR are there to protect the business, they act for the business.

What's you companies flexible working policy?

You’re getting some bad advice on here.

He’s not taken anything away from you.
you requested to reduce your hours. He agreed to this but the only day he can accommodate is the Friday where you WFH. He clearly needs you on site Tuesday-Thursday. You can try to demonstrate how your role can be (if it can) done from home on one of those days but he can reject this if he can demonstrate it cannot.

So this perk is written in your contract?

Can you give him a list of reasons how you wfh benefits the company?
Be as precise as possible - so "I'm more productive" would be too vague. Is it possible to say something like "I do 20% more work per hour at home due to lack of interruption." Or whatever.

Agreed, I’m not sure previous posters have picked up on this. Had the OP not requested a change in hours the WFH ‘perk’ (now I suspect effectively contractual after such a long time) would still be in place.

However because the OP has requested to do fewer hours the employer has said, yes you can but you can’t have the same WFH hours on reduced hours. A few posters have confidently said that would be discrimination because of maternity leave, but I wouldn’t be so confident about that based on the facts posted.

Yes, doing something for a long time can mean it becomes part of your contract, but OP is the one who wants to change her contract terms.

I think you should contact pregnant then screwed. I'm not 100% sure but I read somewhere that if you have been doing something for a long time even if it's not stated in your contract it becomes a contract term.

I would get legal advice, as this has been going on for 6 years, it could be covered by 'custom and practice'. This means 'Custom and practice" refers to unwritten workplace rules, benefits, or arrangements that, through consistent and long-standing application, become legally binding implied terms of an employment contract. These established norms, not found in written contracts, must be long-standing, consistent, known and accepted by both employer and employee, and understood as a legal obligation to be enforceable in an employment tribunal.' (Google search)

What reason did he give?

What is the change you wanted to make?

I wouldn't ever assume an arrangement like that was permanent unless it's in the contract. All kinds of things can change that mean wfh isn't something the manager wants to continue.

I don’t think you’ve got anything to be disappointed in him about. He’s given your favourable working conditions for 6 years. That’s a long time, it’s not like he’s changed it 6 months after you turned down the opportunity to work on the other team.

Honestly, without knowing the details of what your role is and the impact on the team from his perspective, I don’t think it’s easy to give advice. You will obviously say that the Friday morning wfh work perfectly, your output is brilliant and there is no negative impact on the organisation or rest of the team but he might say different and have valid reasons for not wanting you to do it anymore.

My organisation is strictly against wfh apart from a few roles. There is good reason for this. Covid saw a lot of working from home and then there was resentment when this reverted back. Some staff left to jobs with more wfh, they were happy, they were replaced by people happy to work in the building, we were happy. Maybe time to look for another job.

I'd remind him of his promise and ask him what's changed.

I would never give up my wfh 'perk'. My role needs me available in the evenings as I work in a global team so wfh during the day gives me the flexibility to be available in the evenings.

Agree with this.
Speak to HR.

I think @ZaHaK you have submitted a flexible working request to reduce your hours. The wfh was previously just for a half day on a Friday.

I'm not entirely clear what you wanted your working pattern to be but think it may have been for a later start so you could drop your dc to school.

Presumably if you hadn't submitted the flex working request, your morehouse arrangements would not have changed.

Your employer is allowed to refuse yiur flexible working request or aspects of it if there are significant business reasons to do so.

Honestly, baby or not it wouldn't matter. Childfree employees also have just as much right to request it and equal rights to receive it. OP shot herself in the foot by not making it official.

I wouldn’t take it for granted that HR are fully involved in the decision making process. He’s cc’d them in, but he could have told them any old shit to justify his response.

If I were them I’d be very concerned about the potential for a constructive dismissal claim- although your WFH arrangement isn’t contractual, it’s longstanding and has presumably (?) been working well up until you took a period of protected leave at which point your manager has decided to revoke it. I wouldn’t fancy standing at a tribunal and trying to justify that.

Please consider taking professional advice from a space where you can give them the full facts of your situation- ACAS or Pregnant Then Screwed are both very good resources.

It's not really got anything to do with your maternity.
Even with maternity, thw perk would still be there if you hadn't requested to reduce your hours.

Yes really. Perhaps someone else has complained. You're not the only employee to have a baby and you won't be the last employee to have a baby.

If they do it for you, they have to do it for everyone, perhaps somebody has complained. They can either give everyone arrangements like you or they can take your arrangement away.