Pissed at my employer - flexible working

[Sharon1983]

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

So if I were you I would do everything by the book and stop assuming that your employer has to jump through hoops to keep you happy, they don’t. Hopefully you’re valued enough there for them to want to keep you.

You don't have to write an essay you just have to show you've considered and mitigated for the impact of dropping your hours.

Two days a week in a management role doesn't sound feasible to me.

Also you're leave would be pro-rata so are you sure you'd be able to stay off until March?

OP will have accrued leave on her current full time contract. I had something like 22 days so I have converted some to pay as would never use 8 weeks ish by March.

As GreenFieldsofFrance says, the TL could only have got involved if your manager asked her to.

Don't blame the TL as she must have been tasked with this

Also going from FT to 2 days is a big ask. Very many companies would refuse so I don't think you are in the position of power you believe you are. Same with holidays.
I suspect your manager hasn't felt able to stand up to you or enforce a more formal procedure so asked the TL to deal with it.

A change will require your contracts to be amended so a formal process needs to be followed. An email isn't usual, which is what most people are saying here.

I hope you get the 2 days but it is very supportive of the company so you need to show appreciation not entitlement.

Sorry I've seen you're planning up use accrued leave. How long have you been off for and is there mat cover for your job?

Taking an additional six months off will have an impact on the business.

Also out of sight out of mind... make sure they don't realise they can do without you!

Speaking as someone who has dealt with a few bad apples at work over the past year, the most hellish problems of all on an HR level - the ones that can land you at tribunal - are when people fail to follow policy for the sake of being 'nice' to their staff.

The shit hits the fan when someone badly breaks policy, and try to wriggle out of it, because the company didn't follow policy on other occasions.

So it's your manager who is in the wrong in not asking you to complete a proper request in the first place. She/He could be really screwing over the company in the future.

On another note, it's a request, not a right. Throwing your toys out of the pram like this about your company having the sheer audacity to implement the policy correctly is not a good look.

Complete the form (if it's anything like ours, it's not an essay, and it's a pretty good way to demonstrate your value to the company actually).

I think it’s fairly standard to have to fill out a similar form. I have when I have made flexible working requests. If she copied in your manager, and your manager doesn’t agree, your manager will deal with it, surely?

pushing me to come back earlier from maternity leave.

She can talk about procedure if she wishes, but worth pointing out to her that doing this is against the rules. Procedure should be very clear that pressuring women to return to work is not acceptable. You should also know you are under absolutely no obligation to respond to her whilst on ML.

Just fill in the form and send it your manager, it's a process that needs to be followed and protects the employer and you.

They are absolutely able to refuse it if working 2 days a week would have a detrimental impact on the business. I wouldn't assume anything at this stage regardless of how things have been done in the past.

Are you saying you will end may leave in November, presumably your cover will end then too and then you will take two days a week annual leave until March? Who picks up your role in that period?

A leadership role 2 days a week sounds like a complete non-starter

In most of my jobs, I’m surprised if I see my director twice a week. Leadership doesn’t have to be face to face every day.

I would deal directly with your manager and cut the team leader out completely.

Have a phone call with your manager, agree exactly what needs to be done, follow up with an email outlining what was discussed (so as you have everything in writing) and then follow whatever process is agreed.

I would be careful when dealing with your team leader and would communicate with her via email only as she seems very unprofessional. She has no right to ask you to come back to work earlier than planned. You are entitled to your leave. Pregnancy/Maternity discrimination of any sort is a huge no no, your team leader needs to be careful. They can refuse your holiday requests and ask you to use the accrued holidays in a different way but no one can ask you to come back sooner just because it's convenient to them

In most of my jobs, I’m surprised if I see my director twice a week. Leadership doesn’t have to be face to face every day.

So they just sit at home doing nothing between meetings with you?

Employers are advised to follow the formal procedure as this restricts applications to no more than annually. Informal approaches can lead to employees wanting variations more frequently which can make planning ahead more difficult . It isn't an essay OP but a request for you to set out any potential impacts and how these could be ameliorated. Good luck.

A process is in place for a reason, if your manager has gone outside the process in the agreement of your hours, that should be not adhered to.

You should for your own protection follow the process and have everything done by the book.

If I found one of my management team was discussing other colleagues in this way I would not be happy.

If you are using up accrued annual leave to shorten your working week, then you do not put in a flexible working request.
Flexible working requests have a different application process. And your colleague is being a presumptuous arse for sending you the FWA policy.
Your employer should find a way to honour your leave request as that is your legal entitlement.

I read the op as dropping to 2 days per week on her return from mat leave, and then using annual leave to take those two days off each week until March.

To be honest - and you’re not going to like this - if I were your manager, I’d be seriously questioning how much someone benefitted the business if they took a year’s maternity leave and came back for two days a week. This seems to be stretching flexibility to unfeasible levels, particularly since your maternity cover will still be there. Why do they need you?

K1ran. When and how you take leave isn’t actually a legal entitlement, it has to be agreed with your employer. If work priorities dictate then your employer can refuse a leave request and ask for it to be taken at another time (within reason obviously).

Taking a set number of days leave every week over a period of several months to reduce working hours could well be detrimental to the business (especially in terms of how they backfill those days) and the employer is well within their rights to say no to this request.

imnottooconfused that's exactly how I read it too, so not returning to do an actual day at work until March 2020

I think you firstly need to ascertain exactly what you're required to do. They're entitled to have a procedure for flexible working requests, and one could well have been implemented while you were on leave, but I'd expect to hear about this from my own manager or supervisor, not someone with a more senior rank who doesn't have anything to do with me.

Also, her badgering you to return early is utterly inappropriate. If you have a HR I'd be speaking to them about it.

Thank you all
So to clarify i am not going back to my job as a team leader..as my maternity cover is taking my role. I am going back as a project manager 2 days a week in the office plus extra hours working from home.
I did go back for 6 weeks under shared parental leave whilst my manager was on a cruise she had booked some time ago and i agreed to cover for her.
So i am not sat home gossiping with my colleagues about busy body team leader i have seen the dynamic change of how she now comes across and takes it upon herself to butt in and around everyones business.
As for my return to work my manager informed the team in a team meeting and thereafter got this email!!

Sharon. If it’s already agreed that you’re returning 2 days as a PM, what is your flexible request for?

I agree with alsohuman. My organisation is incredibly flexible but your request does seem to be asking an awful lot. 2 day a week contracts only work well if you have a good job share procedure in place and it's even more difficult if you manage people.

As for taking leave until march ....I wouldn't be particularly impressed with that request!

They shouldn't be pressuring you come back though. That's not on.