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Original poster

Pissed at my employer - flexible working

115 replies

Sharon1983 · 29/08/2019 22:27

I am currently on maternity leave and since march a colleague from my team has become a team leader. She keeps pushing me to come back to work earlier than my return date which is in November.
I spoke to my manager and requested to reduce my hours to 2 days a week and that would mean taking annual leave accrued whilst on maternity from my return date in November and therefore would officially be back in the office in March 2020.
My manager said to drop her an email of my request and that would be it and thats fine.
Today i receive and email back from the team leader (who will not be my team leader as i manage a team also) with my manager copied attaching the company flexible working policy and requesting a bloody essay of how me going part time would affect the team and the company..WTF!!

I am on very good terms with the team i manage and i have been in contact with them throughout my maternity and have been told how our colleague now team leader wants to step on my managers toes and try be “the manager”!

Advise- should i reply to my manager only and say what was agreed in conversation
Or should i give them an essay- and if so what to write without being bitchy

OP posts:
june2007 · 29/08/2019 22:30

My hubby is having same prob with his employer. IO don't think they have to offer it if they think it is no feasible.

Babyroobs · 29/08/2019 22:31

I think most companies would need you to put in writing a flexible working request, this is just standard s far as I'm aware. you need to show how it could work for your company without impacting working arrangements. If they allowed you to work part time just because of an informal agreement with a manager then it wouldn't be fair on others. I imagine they have procedures that need to be followed.

SciFiRules · 29/08/2019 22:35

Just go back to the manager and re-confirm what you agreed. Also ask if they have any inkling as to why you colleague feels the need to interfere.

Original poster
Sharon1983 · 29/08/2019 22:35

My department work alongside HR and on a number of occasions mainly from the people at top; have never put official requests in for any changes to their contracts. My manager obviously hasn't had to either he ce why she told me to drop an email!

I don't know what to put in this blooming essay they now want!! I thought my uni days were over a long time ago 🤦🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
Ilikewinter · 29/08/2019 22:35

I would reply only to your direct line manager, its got nothing to do with the other team leader.

Why dont you contact her/him and say that youve recevied the form xxx sent you and do need you to complete it as previously she/he had said an email was sufficient.

LolaSmiles · 29/08/2019 22:36

There's a procedure that has to be followed and that's right and proper.

But if she's not your manager and she's not in your chain of command then she needs to butt out as it's not her job to get involved and, I'm sure legal experts will clarify, it could well look like she's actively trying to hinder your position etc based on maternity and cause an issue in the company because when you put your formal request in, you've got evidence of colleagues with nothing to do with you prempting your devisions, passing judgement and so on.

PookieDo · 29/08/2019 22:37

You have the right to ask and they have to consider it but they don’t have to agree

What reasons do they give for refusing? It has to work for the company and the whole team. A team leader who works 2 days a week may well not work well for them

Also re your annual leave you can ask to take it that way but they don’t have to agree either. It may make it difficult and unfair on other people to have a manager on leave most of the week from November to March. I have no idea what cover arrangements they have for you but they will have to pay someone to cover when you aren’t there and this is not very cost effective for many companies

If you want a part time job you may have to apply for a part time job. Flexible working cannot just be what is flexible for you

Original poster
Sharon1983 · 29/08/2019 22:39

The colleague who has had her promotion thinks she should cut corners when it suits her and everyone else should follow the rules.

She was always a people watcher rather than get on with doing her work and now wants to be best buddies with our manager 🙄

OP posts:
PookieDo · 29/08/2019 22:40

Also clarify whether she has been instructed to respond to you via her manager, just clarify who you are reporting to. You shouldn’t ‘confront’ anyone or try to cut her out without the facts first

littleblackno · 29/08/2019 22:40

We have had issues where one manager has agreed flexible working with “it’s ok just send me an email” which doesn’t in anyway follow the policy. It’s then really hard to sort out who works what and who should work what and if there are any hours free to recruit to.
I would suggest looking at and following the policy would provide you with the protection you need should any of it be questioned. It’s a PITA but necessary- perfectly normal for them to ask for the reasons to your request and any possible impact on the rest of the team. I would send this to your manager though not anyone else.

PookieDo · 29/08/2019 22:42

@Sharon1983

Look without being harsh you currently are not in this office and if you are gossiping with your team when you are their team leader about your colleague this is a bad look for you. You shouldn’t be so negative about your fellow colleague before you have even returned you do not even know what instructions she is following. It sounds a bit toxic and petty

Original poster
Sharon1983 · 29/08/2019 22:44

@LolaSmiles the colleague/team leader does not get on with the cover they have in place for me whilst on maternity and thats why shes been always pushing me to come back earlier from maternity leave. I told her i would not be coming back early nor would i go back full time; which my manager has always been aware of the team leader seems to now to be making issues for anyone possible in the teams.
My cover at the moment will also work alongside me when i go back as i will be going back to project manage.

OP posts:
AlexaShutUp · 29/08/2019 22:45

Presumably your line manager discussed your request with the other team leader, and that's how she came to be involved. Why would that be? Is it possible that you going part time will impact on her world workload in some way, or on that of her team?

Are you going from FT to 2 days a week or were you already part time and just want to reduce further? How will you do your job in the reduced hours? It's standard practice to expect someone to explain how their proposed change to their working pattern can be managed effectively so that there isn't a negative impact on their employer or on other employees. I'm sure you've thought about how you can make it work, so that's all you need to write.

You don't have to copy the team leader into your request, but be prepared for the fact that your manager might share it anyway.

Underworld345 · 29/08/2019 22:46

I wouldn’t write the essay without speaking to your manager again - just because he’s copied in doesn’t mean he agreed to the essay. It’s your managers decision on this that matters, not the team leaders.

PanamaPattie · 29/08/2019 22:47

I wouldn't respond to the email. She is not your line manager. Email your manager for confirmation of your new hours. The team leader should wind her neck in.

Original poster
Sharon1983 · 29/08/2019 22:49

@PookieDo i have a very good relationship with my team and have never made them feel uncomfortable about approaching me with any issues they have. I am also on very good terms with my manager and the managers above. So it is not petty gossip but would say more of discussions how a promotion has got to someone and now they want to be CEO.
My manager also agrees as she has said in conversation.

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 29/08/2019 22:49

OP, it's not for you to be telling them you will not be returning full time. You have to request it, your employer can deny that request.
I can't see how working 2 days a week would work as a team leader TBH.

Lulualla · 29/08/2019 22:52

So this woman isn't your manager, or in your chain of command at all?

If that's the case, don't do anything about her email. Just send an email to your actually manager asking why someone who is not your manger or in anyway involved in managing you sending you requests for paperwork. And ask what is expected of you from your management.

elessar · 29/08/2019 22:54

There's a formal process you need to go through to for a flexible working request, a simple email isn't enough for HR records.

So just do it, don't copy in the team leader if you don't want to.

PookieDo · 29/08/2019 22:54

@Sharon1983

So what? This is none of your actual concern. You should be concerned with your own situation not her ambitions. It is unlikely she hacked into your managers emails and took it upon herself to reply to you with the flexible working policy, someone asked her to do that. That would be your managers fault

LolaSmiles · 29/08/2019 22:54

I think, however well intentioned, you've been a bit foolish to discuss you return to work plans with anyone other than trusted friends, your manager and HR. That's even more the case when you were going to use some of your rightly accrued leave over a few months (which there isn't anything wrong with as holiday can be taken with the OK of the manager).

You've handed her an opportunity to create issues in the team which she can use to say "see but if Sharon wasn't here then who would deal with this? This would be a problem on the days Sharon doesn't work".

When you make your formal request, you need to also cover any potential arguments against your request (which conveniently PITA team leader has already shown you). For each one state how it is either a non issue or how it can be resolved.

E.g. Issues pertaining to X can be effectively responded to by Sarah on my days off.
By upskilling Max in this area, we boost his skills and gives us another area of coverage should an issue arise when I'm off.
As a project manger I can do X Y Z on the 2 days I am in and I would be happy to be on call during specific hours making my official working hours 2.5 days a week.
The person covering for me already has demonstrated excellent skills in my job and with money saved by me going part time, they could step up on my days off. I would have supervisory meetings weekly with them to touch base
Etc.

MemorylikeDory · 29/08/2019 22:58

I've only skimmed through so apologies if it's already been posted. But this is the link to the flexible working request gov site.

www.gov.uk/flexible-working/applying-for-flexible-working

Sounds like they're just following official procedures.

PookieDo · 29/08/2019 23:04

I think naive and yes foolish to discuss your plans thinking it was a done deal, and discuss your colleague with your team. It’s really unprofessional. I am a manager and would never discuss a colleague in this way with my team. If I had my own concerns I would only discuss them with my manager. There is a difference between listening to people and colluding with them. If I was on long term leave and people came to me on a personal level to discuss a colleague when I was not in the capacity as team lead at that present time but intending to go back I would still never discuss it with them and direct them to another manager.

As for your request
Politely ask your manager who is dealing with this and why your colleague is involved
Outline why you think this would work for them, not why you want it and why it works for you
Be prepared to compromise about the annual leave and working days

Hello1231 · 29/08/2019 23:04

Do you think the reasons are fair? For some workplaces flexible working isnt suitable.

SpotlessMind · 29/08/2019 23:08

When you say they have requested an essay, what have they actually asked for? Asking how it will effect the team and how you suggest that can be mitigated is a bog standard section of the flexible working request form where i work - doesn't require more than a few lines though, no essays required!