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

With the accrued leave, they are likely to say any flexible working arrangement will start after it’s been used up. So, say, 28 days FT leave on the end of mat leave, then the new contract terms start once the leave has been used up and the OP actually returns to work.

Totally
Missing the point but you have accrued 4 MONTHS holiday??? Wow!

My colleague has just come back from maternity and has pushed for similar and got it signed off by HR but here’s the thing - our bosses are FURIOUS with the way she’s been (entitled, inflexible, threatening ) and she’s been given a nothing role which she thinks is temporary. It isn’t. She has well and truly burnt her bridges with her line managers - i’ve Been involved in deciding how we can work around her new hours so know- and it’ll be a cold day in hell before she sees any real responsibilities again. Be careful with how you manage this.

Your manager is a dope. They should have checked with HR before agreeing anything.

perhaps the manager passed the load, ie your request,onto the new team leader,
are you sure she isnt your team leader now
you are no longer a team leader

I’d ignore her message and check with your actual manager if you need to complete the form or not. Its Not an essay, it’s explaining how you can do the role in a reduced amount of time and partly from home. So the business can check there won’t be a problem or if you identified a problem, how it will be fixed. Eg you won’t be around to line manage so X has agreed to take these responsibilities while you take on Y.
Although if you didn’t used to do the role, then not sure how you explain that.

Missing the point but you have accrued 4 MONTHS holiday??? Wow!

No. She wants to drop her hours to 2 days per week at the end of mat leave and then use all the accrued leave from when she was ft to take those 2 days per week off, taking her until March. I would say that employer is likely to say no, take off the 28 days or so accrued, and then part time contract starts.

You need to email your manager and explain that you are a little confused when you report to her/him as to why you have received an email from the other team leader.

Explain that as they are your line manager you would prefer to deal with HR issues only with them.

Completely inappropriate for you to have to explain yourself to a colleague on such matters.

So if you are not going back as a TL, it is possible that this TL will be your direct line manager.
If you have a 2 day week as a project manager already agreed, in writing, then what is your flexible working request for?
I'm really confused with what you are asking, are you returning on a two day week in November or March?

It’s standard in the organisations where I’ve worked that you need to put something in writing (not an essay just an outline). You need to word this very carefully as for a 2 day contract you could easily talk yourself out of the very thing you are asking for.
I work with someone who works 2 days, it very difficult and disruptive for the rest of the team. There’s a lot of slack to pick up on the other 3 days, and everyone else is doing their own day jobs.
Also you might have to use your accrued leave as per the terms of your previous contract I.e. a 5 day week, and if 2 days are agreed it could start after you’ve used all your leave.
I would send the email back to your line manager and HR, if you don’t want to involve the TL.
Is it possible though that the TL has responsibilities in your team now which you aren’t aware of?

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

No, mostly they are off playing golf.

Irrelevant though. A team leader can still lead a team and only be present two days a week. If there is something else additional to that role that needs done, that’s a different issue and comes under workload management, but to suggest that simply because she is leading a team she can’t only do two days is ridiculous. It’s this kind of nonsense that leads to the gender pay gap.

I work with someone who works 2 days, it very difficult and disruptive for the rest of the team. There’s a lot of slack to pick up on the other 3 days, and everyone else is doing their own day jobs.

That’s a management issue. Not the employee’s fault. If any company agrees to a reduction in hours they should be employing additional staff to cover the shortfall. This is no different to companies not having enough full time staff and expecting people to do the work anyway.

Good point about the annual leave. You might have to take the leave before you go to part time hours. You can't be on a p/t contract with a f/t leave allocation.

When you're a full timer working alongside a lot of part timers you can pick up proportionally more work. Often it's because service users and colleagues prefer to liaise with someone full time rather than remember someone's work pattern.

It takes very good management at the best of times I think.

Yabbers yes a management that exists because a previous manager agreed to a 2 day contract without fully exploring the implications - which is what the OP is being asked to outline in her email.
Employing an additional person is much more costly / less disruptive to the business than keeping 1 person on a contract doing more hours.
Let’s not kid ourselves, 2 days is very difficult to work around even if you are working in a sole role, the pace of the work / projects being completed is very slow.

Sorry, I meant 2 part timers is more costly and more disruptive - not less.

The form is a standard basic legal requirement and doesn't need an essay - just state how the business will be affected (if at all). All requests have to be considered but do not have to be granted.

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

This is fairly bitchy though isn’t it. She’s ambitious - leave her to it. You do you. If you have a serious problem with her performance and asking you to return too soon (whilst you are at home on mat leave ) then talk to your manager. You don’t need to be managing people you no longer team lead if you aren’t even coming back in the same role!

If you have an issue with her then talk to your manager

It is obvious she was asked to email you and your manager should not have asked her to do that, but they did all the same. Your issue is with them and their promise about your hours when they had no right to do that

I work in one job 3 days a week and another job 2 days a week

They are slightly interlinked/overlapping and there is flexibility (and permission from management) to deal with something urgent no matter what hat you are wearing that day but it is a real balancing act and I often come back from job 1 to a pile of work from job 2 that no one has picked up, or people become anxious you aren’t there when they need you.

I have to prove I can manage to work this way, otherwise other options will be considered

From experience, you need to show (on paper) that you can do your job on fewer hours, without compromising the quality of work and results of your company. Also, who is going to pick up the work on those days you don't work? Are you willing to be contactable during those days? Are you willing to be flexible in terms of which days you work and which days you are off? Lots to think about - it has to work for you and the company. I think you need to put your negative feelings towards your manager/colleagues aside and look what works best in the circumstances.

You're likely to be called in for a meeting discussing your proposal in person. With so many companies joining the Emotional Wellbeing campaign, perhaps this is something you could address too - it's all finding a balance at the end of the day.

Going back to work after ML is daunting at the best times, you go back with a different mindset, you've had a child, priorities have changed, you're probably less prepared to take flack, etc, but on the flipside, your workplace is business as usual, and fitting back in might take some adjusting. Don't feel attacked by your work, see it more of a way of trying to make things work.

Good luck! Trust me, been there, done that (way before flexible working was even remotely acceptable in City of London).

Sorry, I meant 2 part timers is more costly and more disruptive - not less.

Nope. A whole lot of jobs can be done on a job share basis. It’s commonplace in my industry, even at senior level. But keep peddling the myth and let’s keep women out of management if they choose to have families.

Ask for clarification from your manager but overall this is standard if requesting flexible working. The onus is on you to ensure the impact on the business is limited.

Nope. A whole lot of jobs can be done on a job share basis. It’s commonplace in my industry, even at senior level. But keep peddling the myth and let’s keep women out of management if they choose to have families.

Yes, I’m wholly responsible for that 🙄
Also yabbers you’re wrong, there are extra costs in employing 2 people to job share: employers pensions contributions, HR admin of an additional person, employers NI. Plus the operational stuff like workflow management and handovers between 2 members of staff.
In my industry at a senior level it’s not common place, it has drawbacks and you don’t seem to like these being pointed out.
It would be impossible to do my Directors role at 2 days a week.
Whether you agree or not businesses operate every day, issues happen everyday not just in the 2 days when someone chooses to be in work, and someone needs to be in to deal with them.
Sorry to derail OP, my first post is probably more helpful in terms of advice.

Why do pp keep suggesting OP talk to her manager for clarification? The manager has caused much of the confusion in the first place! It’s a HR procedure - they are best placed to confirm what’s required. And to have a quiet word with the manager and other team leader on how to deal with FW working requests and staff on maternity leave!