is my employer fair to decline this? Would yours be the same?

[amazonsl]

I’m not asking strictly speaking, obviously I know legally they can decline it. I’m a single mum (no relevance to the company obviously) with one dc and due to go back to work when they are one. I wanted to use my holiday to work three days a week for 6 months. This would have massively reduced nursery fees and would have helped me adjust. We work from home a lot but condensed working (4 days squeezed into 3) was also declined. Just wondered if other places would have declined this too? It’s a progressional place and I do have quite a bit of responsibility but I’m not at the top, either. I’m going to struggle so much as they’ve said I could go back four days but that doesn’t save much on nursery and im
not sure I will cope!

Apologies if someone has already said this, but if you are on £60k, sign up for a tax free childcare account. You pay 80% of the fees and the government too up 20%. @amazonsl

It’s something to consider on a case by case basis and would also depend on the needs and demands on your role. Personally I would be happy to work with you as an employer to support with flexible working but there are a lot of crap managers out there.

@Comefromaway OP hasn't come back.... however this is what she's wrote

I wanted to use my holiday to work three days a week for 6 months. This would have massively reduced nursery fees and would have helped me adjust. SIX MONTHS AT TWO DAYS A WEEK IS 50 DAYS HOLIDAY. NO ONE GETS THAT MUCH.

We work from home a lot but condensed working (4 days squeezed into 3) was declined. DID OP SUGGEST SHE WORKS FOUR DAYS ALREADY AND CONDENSE IT INTO THREE? FIVE INTO THREE IS DEFO PART TIME.

I’m going to struggle so much as they’ve said I could go back four days but that doesn’t save much on nursery....AND THIS IS CONFUSING, AS SHES SUGGESTING THEY ALREADY REDUCED ONE DAY? I DONT KNOW

SIX MONTHS AT TWO DAYS A WEEK IS 50 DAYS HOLIDAY. NO ONE GETS THAT MUCH.

She's been on maternity leave. You accrue your holiday while on statutory leave.

@Comefromaway

@QforCucumber @TheTempest they said one day holiday a week was enough and two would mean I couldn’t be as involved in projects as I would need to be. I’m on 60k so don’t think I get any help? AM I NOT UNDERSTANDING. HOW CAN SOMEONE HAVE 25 DAYS OF HOLIDAY, ONE DAY A WEEK OF FOR SIX WEEKS AND THAN EXPECT A FLEX WORKING REQUEST BASED ON FOUR DAYS WORK....

I'VE ANSWERED MY OWN QUESTION.

I'm not sure what you're asking...or maybe why. You've asked for them to consider your request (which is your right) and they've said no, it doesn't work for the business, which is reasonable.
You might as well ask if we have to work BHs or wear a uniform. It has no baring on your situation....well that I can see

Ah right!

I dont get why the hokidays wouldnt work - they are going to have to cover tge days youre on holiday anyway. That seems a bit mean, but more likely to confirm they dont want you to work part time.

I was turned down for part-time working and then got it on appeal at one employer, so push it, but be reasonable - you're on a mid senior level salary, so you've got an important role.

Would they accept it if you agreed to check your emails on your days off? I had two colleagues (senior managers) who just worked term time but agreed to check emails. It worked well for everyone.

At £60k she often wont have people that can do her job

It depends on the needs of the service whether it’s reasonable. Over a medium/long period of time, the service has to be prioritised. As a Manager (now retired), I may have said regrettably said no. They couldn’t even backfill those days with a temp (if they could find one that could do your work) because you are not seeking to drop to part time, but to use annual leave.

@aibuaibuaibu I think the op worked full time and wanted to use 2 days leave for the first 6 months to only work 3 days. Then reduce from 37.5 hours to 4 days of hours (30 hours) but but compress them so she works 3 x 10 hour days. That is the basis on which I gave advice but you said I had misunderstood.

Where I worked after 5 years we got 331/2 days + BH ( normally 8 but 10 in 2022) + Queen’s Birthday = 421/2days (441/2 days 2022). We could also carry over up to 10 days from the year before = 50+ days. So it is feasible for the op to take 2 days leave for 6 months particularly if you include BH.

I did exactly that when I returned and it was approved no problem. I’ve since approved people in my team to do that. And others on other teams have done that. Across 3 different companies. Insurance and healthcare. Marketing roles. I would do my utmost to make it work for someone. It’s such a short period of time and you’ve already made a situation work for 6-12 months so another 6 making another situation work to enable someone to return on a staggered basis I think is a great thing to do and makes for a happier worker.

I can understand others points as to why it might not work though. But if it could work, managers should make it work.

I used my annual leave to effectively be part time when returning to work, but only for a short time. 2 days a week off for the 1st month, and then 1 day a week off for the next 2 months. So I don't think the request per se is unreasonable, but I do think YABU to ask to do it for 6 months.

When I returned to work from maternity leave in December 2022 I had accrued 44 days holiday over the year I was off. I also have my full entitlement of 36 days for this year. So a total of 80 days to take (although I can pass 5 days over to 2024).

I decided to take my 44 days in one block to get a longer period of maternity leave with my maternity cover continuing for that time. However, I don’t think the op is unreasonable for wanting to use her accrued time off for a phased return. That is very usual in my work and all of the holiday has to be used by the end of the year!

@OOlivePenderghast

But in your case the post can continue to be covered. In OP's proposition it can't. It's also leaving her with no leave after 6 months which is impractical

I would support someone doing this for a short period eg 4 - 6 weeks but no longer. It will also impact their adjustment back to work.

Some companies are willing and able to be flexible with hours, others are not. It is only "unfair" if they are allowing most of the employees to do this, but not you. If this is an across-the-board decision, then it is fair, just not to your liking.

Hi, just wanted to share my experience.
I went back to work 2 months ago and i’m doing 3 days per week with my annual leave until we hit the busy period in the summer.
honestly, you accrue so much leave over maternity leave it would be hard to use it up otherwise.
with few details on your role - i think they are being unreasonable especially when you offered condensed hours. Sometimes i get more work than can be done in 3 days but i pick up the laptop for about an hour after baby bedtime to keep on top of it.
would it be worth offering to do more days for a fixed period when you foresee a particularly busy period coming up? I’m using a childcare app that isn't much more expensive than nursery for unexpected things like that.

Yes they do. I accumulated all my annual leave whilst on maternity leave plus I had my new allowance and all bank holidays I missed.

I used my accrued annual leave to work 3 days a week after baby 1, and 4 days a week after baby 2. My workplace was fine with it. It’s great to work part time but get full time pay for a while, see my kids more and save on nursery fees.

Sorry to hear they are being inflexible. I took a year off work and when I returned, the first month I worked 80% for 100% pay. That was just a scheme they do for returning parents.

I then used one days annual leave for the remainder of the year (7 months) to take a day off each week so I only worked 4 days.

Then in the new year, I requested to officially work part time (4 days) and it was approved.

I know it's not easy returning to work but it does get easier with time.

Whenever you put in a request for flexible working you need to consider how the business is likely to respond ie is if in the business's interests. In this case whilst it sounds perfectly acceptable to you a request like this would likely be declined. Your annual leave would be used up meaning when your child is ill you would need to take time off for childcare unless you have family that could help you out. You could use dependents leave but depending on how much they pick up you might have needed to use annual leave. In your set up you wouldn't have any left. That also affects them from an employer perspective because they will be without you, need cover (depending on your job) and isn't great in terms of an employer looking out for your wellbeing as you'd be going a long period without any rest and could suffer burn out.

Could you not appeal or put in another request for compressed hours showing how you will work a longer day(a childminder or nanny would be your best bet) and compromise by going into the office (so seen to be present) at least two of the three days you work.

Mine would refuse and tell me to find a new job if it didn't suit me.

If your employer won’t work with you then you need to look at this differently. If you take all your accrued leave as a block before you return then you will save the same amount on nursery fees. Mums only got a total of 18 weeks maternity leave back in the day and we had to make it work.

On your salary and presumably with the child’s father contributing I am sure it will all work out.

One of the aspects of making a flexible working request is that it's incumbent on the employee to consider and propose how the proposed change will work from the employer's perspective. When you make the request you need to set out:

• the reasons you want the change
• how any problems with making the change might be dealt with
• any other options you might consider if the change is not possible

It's neither fair or reasonable to state your requirements without consideration for how it would work for the business. Don't bring the problem, suggest the solution!

Ask your payroll/hr Dept about tax free childcare - basically £228 of your salary tax free can be put for registered childcare costs - a bit of help…