Part time to full time after maternity leave

[laesosalt]

I was part time before going off on maternity leave (3 days per week) and my boss has advised I need to return full time due to the way the business is going. I am due back pretty soon and sadly cannot get childcare for 5 days and would like to stick at the 3 days.

What rights do I have? I have taken a full year off so not sure if that means I get no say.

Thanks for any guidance and advice ☺️

Haven't come across this scenario before.

Tell them you can't and ask if they might want to look at finding a job share partner for you? Seems the most obvious, practical solution to me.

Is your contract for the 3 days ? Are you a member of the union ?

If your contract is for three days then they cannot make you work five days.

He can ask you but cannot compel FT working esp as it was not your established work pattern
You return to the contract you are on The hours you had pre-Mat leave
Are you in a union? If so get advice

Yeah my contract is for 3 days only!

This.

Him asking doesn't mean you have to work 5 days, if you r contract is for PT.

Speak to your union, or to ACAS if you aren't in one, and he doesn't seem ready to accept that you only wish to work your contracted days.

Women usually do it the other way around for obvious reasons. Unless your wage covers the cost of full time childcare then it’s actually not possible to do anyway. Leave the job and find a new one it’s appealing that they expect that of you.

https://pregnantthenscrewed.com

id speak to the above

They can't just change your hours. If you go part-time by making a flexible working request, it is made very clear that this is a permanent change, and you can't just expect to return to full-time when it suits you. Similarly, the employer can't just change you back to full-time either.

If you are a union, speak to them; if not, ACAS, and tell him you've done so. "I've spoken to ACAS and they say I'm entitled to continue in my existing part-time contract" may be enough to make him back down.

Of course, if you can suggest another solution, that may help. "I've got a friend with some experience in this sort of work, and she's looking for some part-time work" might go down very well.

The bit about it being different if you take more than 6 months is that you then don't have to be given your exact old job back - you could be moved sideways to another one with similar status and the same pay/conditions.