To think I should be allowed to flex my working hours for school hols?

[Lucy788]

To give context:
Ds started reception in September. There was no wraparound on and as I have been WFH my boss agreed I could start work half an hour later at 9am to drop him off. I do this 4 x days a week and make up the 2hrs 1 evening.
This has worked well throughout - he has said so himself and let me continue to do this 2 days a week when breakfast club opened in Nov.
As of start of August this year our company are due to move back to original working eg. Working from the office and regular working patterns.
This obviously coincides with Summer holidays. Today I discussed with my boss that for the first 3wks in Aug I'd like to continue exactly as I am as the holiday club he will attend opens at 8.30 and he will be going 2 x days a week. So I will need to make up an extra hour a week.
He basically told me that unfortunately flexi time will have ended by then and therefore I can't!
I am kind of in disbelief. I'm more than happy as of Sept when back to school to return to normal working pattern, but I've done this since September and it has caused absolutely no issues whatsoever.
I explained to him that my alternative is to take unpaid leave 2 x days a week for 3 weeks as I will have no childcare and he basically sent me away and said he will think about it and let me know next Thursday if im allowed.
Aibu to be pissed off about this!?

It's a computer based roll and I work alone, eg. Me not being there at 8.30am doesn't impact anybody and I've demonstrated that for months.

Are you in the UK? If so, by law a request for flexible working has to be considered if you're there for over six months so I would speak to HR. Just saying 'it will be gone by then' isn't reasonable of them because they haven't even considered the logistics of it by the sound of it.

They are being completely unreasonable, of course. I don’t get why so many people vote otherwise on this kind of thread - are we honesty still so wedded to this pointlessly inflexible, outdated way of working?! Totally depressing.

You/your partner have a legal right to unpaid parental leave, OP - is that an option for you financially?

I think you need to put in a formal flexible working request, discuss it with HR and your manager and emphasis it’s a temporary arrangement.

They’re entitled to decline it, which would leave you either getting some other form of childcare (eg childminder) or finding a new job.

Is it an option to move departments if such a big company?

Or.is there a more senior manager you can speak to about the inconsistent approach by managers? This has always been common where I work but I'm confident enough & have been there a long time so feel comfortable enough to challenge.

We work core hours too, I think 9.30 - 3.30 and as.long as there is someone in a team in between 8.30/5/5.30 (to.answer any phone calls in normal times) we are trusted to work our hours

I suspect if you put in a flexible working request, asking to start 30 min later in school holidays, then HR would go to your manager and ask him WTF he is being so ridiculous for.

I think a lot of people are going to have issues this summer. People are going to be asked to return to offices, often on a phased basis, with little notice. Parents are going to be scrambling at the last minute for childcare.

Glittertwins - of course everyone has the right to request flexible working but there is no obligation for company's to approve that request.

I'm torn on this. Totally understand your predicament and if you were my employee I'd let it fly under the radar and do it unofficially for those three weeks.

But people really need to understand that is just not possible to accommodate all requests - and the biggest problem is precedent. I manage a team of 45 mainly female employees, about half are parents. They would all love more flexible/changed working patterns in school holidays. It's not viable to do so.

For those saying Covid should have changed employer's views on flexibility - it has massively. Very few companies are going back into the office FT for example, that is a wonderful change. But it's a two way street and we can't take dozens of bespoke individual requests - it can cause problems with continuity, resentment, confusion to name a few, which ultimately leads to a less productive work place.

*companies

*employers'

(the sun has clearly made me illiterate)

Time to look for a new job? So many companies offer flexible working, genuine flexibility. There's no reason not to offer it. Find a new place to work where your employer will support your life needs. At my work we all do whatever hours we want so long as the work gets done and no-one's working pattern negatively impacts anyone else's.

It does sound like your boss is being quite short sighted about this and it seems like he's being obstructive by not allowing this, but, if he does this for you then it leaves it open for everyone to start making requests for flexi time. Which might not seem a big issue to you, but may cause no end of problems for the company.

There are options out there for you, how about a nanny for an hour a day, or a child minder in the morning