I'm due to return to work in August after 6 months of maternity leave. My manager is a lovely woman but takes forever to get anything done! I want to come back to work part time (dropping from 5 days to 4 - I've said I'll have any day in the week off, I don't mind which one). I sent this request to her officially 4 months ago before I started my leave. I then sent her 2 reminders and spoke to her about it when I saw her in person. So I've chased it (thoroughly) 3 times. I had a phone call from my childminder saying I need to book now otherwise she's going to be full. We looked for weeks and weeks to find a childminder that suited us and that we trusted. Anyone who's a parent will know how important this is. I told my manager that I needed an answer about my part time hours and she said sorry I'll sort it etc.
Nothing. Radio silence.
I just booked the nursery spaces and am now hoping they'll be able to go with the days I've chosen (the only ones the childminder had left!). If my manager now comes back to me and says no, I'll be tempted to hand in my resignation because I've been chasing her for 4 months about it. She's an intimidating lady and I know that if I kept pestering she might just say no. If I went above her head she would hate me forever. I feel like because I was pregnant and going on mat leave that I was pretty much invisible to her, so my problems weren't immediate.
What if she says no? Do I have a leg to stand on re appeal because she ignored my request for 4.5 months?