to try and think of a diplomatic way to tell my employer to get a move on

[stdorothymantooth]

I am currently on mat leave and suffering with post natal depression. I am due to return to work in 7 weeks but both my gp and health visitor have recommended a phased return to work (for many reasons not going to go into to help keep this post short)
I have sent in the note from my gp and a supporting letter from hv and nothing is happening. Whenever I call to chase it my line manager informs me she's "been really busy and will deal with it when she gets time"
Now I understand she probably has a million things to do and this may not be the most important job for her but I only have weeks left, I can't sign the contract with my childminder until I know what I will be working and its really stressing me out not knowing if my phased return will be accepted or not or not knowing what I'm supposed to be working.
Ok so now I'm ready to be told I'm Bu and I should learn to wait......

[stdorothymantooth]

I suppose lesley I've just been hearing that for ages......and something else always comes up and my stuff gets pushed to the back.

[lesley33]

I think you need to give her time next week to look at it before you can do anything else. If you went higher up she would just say to her boss, what a cheek I said I was going to sort it out next week. And you would be given a response that basically said we are sorry you have had to wait so long, but wait till next weeked when your boss said she was going to do it anyway.

[stdorothymantooth]

Well, I sent a polite email outlining the reasons I could really do with getting a speedy resolution and just got one back from my manager saying that she will probably be able to get round to looking it over toward end of next week.....I know it sounds silly but she has had this info for ages and I just want to know where I stand.

[lesley33]

I would do the nice email to your boss as suggested above. Sometimes people don't think about why you need to know the details i.e. for childcare. She may just think you want to know for your own peace of mind and she may think, well its not a big deal if I don't get a decision quickly.

[carocaro]

YANBU at all, you just need to know one way or the other.

How about an nice email? EG: Thanks for your understanding at this hard time, you appreiciate she is very busy, but you are getting childcare in place and need to confirm the details, which you can't do until you know where you are at, ask if she needs more details, has any questions etc and thank her for her time.

Can you pop into work and see if you can pin her down for a quick meeting. Face to face can be better sometime for both of you.

Good luck with it all, PND is tough, but getting back into something does realy help and phased entry sounds like a great idea.

[LatherRinseRepeatAsNeeded]

Can you speak to your HR dept?

It may not be important to your boss, but it's important to you.

YANBU