to feel fed up that I'm being denied flexible working after childless colleague also requested it

[RooTwo]

I have been working four days a week since I went back after maternity leave, with one of those days at home. Now I'm being told that I can no longer have this day at home; that others at work are requesting a day at home too and they can't have everyone having a day at home, so I can no longer have mine. AIBU to feel really fed up about this? I get loads done at home, work extremely productively, and it just means I can manage my work and home life more easily and things are just a bit less stressful in terms of managing the pick ups etc of three children.

I know that all employees are entitled to request flexible working, and that's how it should be, but for me, that day at home is just so vital, it keeps me sane as a working parent - I would never have thought to ask for flexible working/days a home as a childless 29 year old (as my colleague who has requested this is ...)

I'm trying to work out whether to go back to employers to challenge this and put in a formal request for flexible working (which had never really happened before).

AIB very U?

You have the right to request flexible working, but I don't think your employer is obliged to grant it. I suppose it boils down to them not wanting to have one rule for you and another or everybody else

check your household insurance policy in case it includes legal expenses cover, which would probably cover the cost of getting advice from a solicitor about your position

The friends-watching employee wouldn't have such an impact!
How do you know?

Make your case in writing, be prepared to appeal and consult with your union.

Floisme - well, why would it? You did not make the case that the person watching Friends had ME, or any physical or mental health issues that would mean their work benefitted from a day off, or were "winding down" to retirement. Frankly if someone's work suffered from not being able to laze around on the couch all day, they're not someone I would like to employ!
(I suspect the numbers of people making requests for such reasons are around 0.01%)

You need to take legal advice on this, but after 6 months of working in this way and the the business paying you as normal, by custom and practice this has become part of your contractual terms of employment without you ever having a formal request. If this is the case they can not just stop the flexible working, they would have to consult you and you have the right to disagree. I would post in employment issues where there will be people who can give you specific advice.

Rather than focusing on and complaining about what other people are doing, you need to think about whether you can argue you've been doing this long enough that it's now part of your contract. I forget the exact term. And as others have said, make a business case. Facts and figures. If you get more done, point this out, and if they don't regard increased productivity as a reason to depart from outmoded ways of thinking, try and take your talents to somewhere without such a presentee culture. But you may need to spell it out to them because some managers are not very good at their jobs.

And of course this isn't about covering gaps in childcare. Some people take the piss in that respect, although it's no more objectionable than using wfh to cover for being hungover which I may have done once in my pre children days. But for most people, the advantage is in not commuting and not being interrupted. I wfh only about once a month, as I'm pretty client facing and part of my job is to be there to be pestered. I also have a shit commute. On the rare days I'm at home, I get sooooooo much of my paperwork done and it's a shorter day not because I work fewer hours but because there's no commute. I still need my children looked after while I do this.

Iggi999 I'm not making a case. I'm saying that as long as you deliver when at work, then what you do with your time when you're not being paid should be none of your employer's business.

I think employers also don't always get that they can sometimes get away with paying less if they offer more flexibility. I've known a few people who worked for a bit less than they could get because the employer had a 1 day a week wfh option once the training period was completed. Flexibility is effectively a perk that employees may be willing to pay for.

Maybe they feel that they are already allowing you to work flexibly by agreeing to you working 4 days a week, and that if you have one of those days at home, then it means that you are only in the office for 3 days - that could have an impact on the business.

Maybe your colleague works full time, and so if she is allowed to work from home for one day, she is in the office 4 days - same as you.

I have recently had to refuse an application for flexible working because it would have meant that a service set up to support post graduate students would have been un-manned for one day a week. It is irrelevant whether that person had children or not, caring responsibilities or not, dog walking businesses or not - it was a purely business related decision which they understood.

Zee surely they can't refuse a flexible working request on the basis that the ops part time? Wouldn't thay be treating pters less favourably?

The fact that your working at home might set a precedent is not one of the eight business reasons in the legislation and your employer is not entitled to take this into account when making a decision about you. It's about you - not other people.

Also, the fact that the regs are expressed as they are does not affect your employer's liability for sex discrimination - both direct (eg withdrawing your existing arrangement without good reason and without consulting with you) and indirect - anymore than it would change their responsibilities to disabled workers who want to adjust their hours to manage their condition. The equality act didn't just fly out of the window when these new regs were enacted.

I it's said maybe that's their reasoning. I don't know, obviously, and I'm not am employment law specialist.

However I did check when I was considering the case I mentioned and I was assured that I could refuse on those grounds.

Yes you do have more of a right to flexible working as a parent of a young child, as the above it is enshrined in law. I think that it is on the onus of the organisation to say why they can't and be reasonable.

In this case it does sound unreasonable. And if only one other person has asked, and you can put your case that in YOUR case it does not negatively impact their business or your job, then I would fight this.

Personally I think everyone, irrespective of children could really benefit from flexible working, and so what if the office is not always in, in 90% of cases this does not affect business at all. You could help your business by doing some research yourself and see how a business can run with a certain percentage of staff working from home, what the problems and solutions were, do their work for them and they may well come out positively for you.

In your case Zeezeek, was it impossible to find someone to employ to fill the one day a week?

Why do I as a childless 28 year old deserve flexible working less than you who chose to have a child?

Exactly roar

Lots of posters seem to be missing the point that OP has been working this way for some time with no complaint or negative feedback from managers. Which means that unless something fundamental has changed (and no that doesn't cover someone else asking to wfh) then they can't refuse on business grounds. Because OP has demonstrated she can successfully do her job with one day a week wfh.

I had a vaguely similar situation, I negotiated a flexible working pattern when I got a new job (9 day fortnight). I agreed it as part of my contract. 2 months in a colleague complained to our mutual line manager that it wasn't fair I was allowed to work this pattern (he wasn't asking to do the same, he just thought I shouldn't be allowed to). Thankfully he was told where to go. But equally, my immediate boss didn't help matters by making it clear he wouldn't have looked kindly on anyone else making a request for flexible working, and that my arrangement was as a result of my negotiaton when starting the role. There was no reason at all why my colleagues couldn't have done similar, my immediate boss was just very old fashioned (my working pattern was agreed by his boss, who was a bit more forward in his thinking).

I have colleagues who work a range of flexi hours (one a nine day fortnight and one who works at home to care for her grandchild) it really bugs me that because of this you sometimes can't have leave when you want as no one is in the office!! It's really annoying!! I think it should be one rule for all!!

OP states she has never formally requested flexible working, but that her manager has allowed it as some kind of favour. Perhaps her manager assumed this would only be for a month or two, not forever.

Other colleagues have seen that one person is being allowed to work from home one day a week and are asking if they can do the same. The manager appears to think this won't work in the office as a whole. While a fair amount of the job can be done from home, I think it's fair to assume that OP doesn't cover her colleagues' phones while they are at lunch or in meetings, so that puts extra duties onto those who are in the office.

Imagine you have a team of six people, each working one day at home, so there is at least one day when two are working from home. Another is on two week's annual leave, so there are only three in the office. One has a hospital appointment which they have waited ten weeks for ... And then one goes sick, or has a burst pipe .... There is now only one person actually in the office, dealing with all "in person" work, covering the phones of the three who are supposed to be in, and having to spend time planning workloads by email and phone rather than a quick chat. Flexible working is a privilege which CAN be withdrawn.

As for the childless 29 year old - perhaps she's having early morning hospital treatments (I knew someone who arranged their weekly chemo for 08:00 so they could be at their desk in Whitehall by 10:00), or perhaps they have offered to pick up the children of a recently separated abused friend. Perhaps they are doing an OU course and want to use their saved travel time for study. There could be a million reasons why "it makes their life easier" - just the same as OP.

Yes you do have more of a right to flexible working as a parent of a young child, as the above it is enshrined in law

It's law for everyone now isn't it- but the right is to be considered not to get flexible working

The OP's boss said they'd see how it went and now they don't like it. It was an experiment, not a permenantly arrangement.

Just because as childless 29 year old you wouldn't have wanted flexible working doesn't mean that everyone else should be the same. You have absolutely no idea about their circumstances or commitments outside work.

It's a massive red herring anyway. Concentrate on your own care for flexible working and stop judging others.

Iggi - it is al,last impossible to find someone who would be willing to work one day a week. This is a role that requires particular skills, so that makes it more difficult - most people I'm this office have specialist skills and qualifications and are very difficult to replace.

The person concerned totally understood my decision, and I've promised him (yes, it was a man - he wanted an extra day at home to help his disabled wife) that we would review the situation in 3 months time, once our senior analyst returns from a year's sabbatical.

Excuse typos. Mixture of iPad and heavy dogs head!

Ooh, dogs head sounding nice! It's good it can be reviewed. Maybe at some point you might need a little more than one person (a 40% post being easier to fill than a 20% I'd imagine).