Angry my manager has taken away WFH perk?

[ZaHaK]

Am I unreasonable to be angry that my manager has taken away my wfh perk whilst I’m on maternity?

I have put in a proposed flexible work plan.

I used to do Tuesday - Thursday on site and Friday morning at home.

I requested to do less hours so I can drop the kids off to school and pick them up and keep my wfh Friday morning hours.

He’s rejected it and basically cornered me into just doing Tuesday- Thursday on site but I don’t want to reduce my hours too much so I’ve had to add an hour in the morning which means rushing my kids to breakfast club and nursery.

I am annoyed because on my last maternity 6 years ago, I applied for another job in another department which guaranteed wfh and my manager promised me more flexibility and wfh when I able to to keep me in his team.

But I feel like he’s used this maternity as an excuse to take it away from me. It’s not in my contract, it was an agreement between me and him.

What would you do? I feel like emailing him to say I am disappointed in him. Not many of our team like him but I used to rate him quite highly on the surveys etc because he always let me be. But I am really disappointed. I should have gone to the other team.

Appeal his decision if its an official flexible working request.

Were you planning on having baby at home on the Friday ?

I feel like I’m being punished for having a baby.
You're not, and that attitude makes you seem entitled.

You effectively wanted your WFH hours to be increased as a %age of your total hours.

Perhaps you should have submitted a more flexible suggestion originally.

Perhaps you still can.

I wondered this too.

Of course not. She would be with my parents or nursery. I don’t know why people are allowed to automatically assume that?
I did wonder if he assumed that but I’ve been working there for 15 years and wfh on Friday whilst before my youngest started school and doing this arrangement for about 4 years.

Exactly this. She’s got the reduction in hours she wanted and the manager has applied it appropriately in consideration of the operational needs of the business.

He’s told me I have to come in for the 2 hours on the Friday.

It still doesn’t make sense.

You currently work 26 hours. You want to reduce hours. They’ve said you can reduce by not working 2.5 hours Friday. Your new working hours are therefore 23.5 hours.

You wanted to work 22 hours.

So… you added extra hours Tuesday and Thursday? Which mean you’re just working your usual 26 hours so haven’t reduced your hours at all?

Then withdraw your request and go back to your original working pattern. If they refuse to allow you to do that, then you can try to claim maternity discrimination as they’re making a change to your working pattern after you went on maternity when they have no reason for it.

Have they refused to allow you to withdraw your request and return to your original working pattern?

But it's not the maternity that's caused the change, its the request to work fewer hours?

If you'd come back after maternity happy to work the same hours you'd still be allowed to wfh on Friday.

If you'd requested a change of working hours for any other reason he'd probably have suggested the same thing (dropping the half wfh day).

Therefore I don't think you can "blame" maternity or suggest he's "punishing" you because of it - even more so when none of the rest of your team are allowed to wfh.

You're not being treated less favourably than anyone else in your team so you aren't being discriminated against.

Tbh it would be really unfair if they had to be on site 5 days a week and you could wfh one day despite only working 3 days.

Suggest joining a union and seek advice.

If your manager persuaded you not to take a better job on the basis you could have flexible working in your current job, it seems a reasonable request to continue doing so

It wasn’t a ‘perk’. It was a long-standing change to your working arrangements as part of your contract. Plus, changing this custom and practice while you’re on mat leave seems risky. You have more rights while on mat leave.

If you’ll need to look for a more flexible job in any case, there’s nothing to lose in challenging it.

Know your worth 💐

But the perk would have still been there if it wasn’t for my maternity

Actually it was your request for fewer hours which triggered this rather than the maternity itself, but nice try at making it about a protected characteristic

Worse still you told him it was for childcare, which isn't an employer's responsibility and is often a huge red flag as to what they can expect from you in future

Incredible that you're moaning about this when you're the only one with such an arrangement, but good luck if you make it clear how "disappointed in him" you are

I don’t know why people are allowed to automatically assume that?

Because enough people take the piss for it to be a valid assumption. Plus people are 'allowed' to assume whatever they like, there's no thought police.

It does sound like their needs are fairly straightforward whereas you're wanting to shave x minutes off here and add y minutes to z and their solution is simpler, has you in work for the hours the business needs, and the wfh hours aren't needed. Just use the wraparound care and your parents, it's still a pretty nice set of hours that gives you more time at home and ability to do several school runs. To be regretting not taking a job six years ago is a bit of a stretch, given that you've enjoyed the perk for this long and it's you whose brought up changing the deal to be even more flexible than it already was.

OP herself describes it as a perk.
She knows she gets special treatment compared to all the others.

I hate it when people take a benefit that has been granted and try to enforce it as a right - it means that everyone else gets screwed because the message goes out "no variation to the shitty contract for anyone, ever"

Yes, WFH is nice, especially if otherwise you do all the travelling for only half a day in the office but the OP has been entirely honest about the situation.

That’s not what your OP said.

Withdraw your flexible working request and tell him you will return to work following the same working pattern before maternity leave as wfh has become an accepted part of your working pattern and this change constitutes maternity discrimination as they’re only removing are changing your role following your maternity leave, which they wouldn’t have done had you not taken leave.

He has got a very good reason to deny it. He’s not obliged to accommodate OP’s childcare needs, his remit is to consider her request for reduced hours within the context of the operational needs of the business. If OP is needed in the office Tuesday to Thursday, then it makes perfect business sense to accommodate her request in a way that has the least impact on the business, which is to cut the hours worked from home. OP has what she said she wanted. Nothing has changed except that she no longer works Fridays.

Sounds like you need to leave to find somewhere that is happy to have to wfh contractually.

They haven’t made any change to custom and practice while OP was on mat leave. She herself requested a reduction in hours. Her manager is entitled to structure this in whatever way has the least impact on the business.

I’d contact Pregnant then Screwed for advice.

I wish people wouldn’t call it a perk.

But it is a perk as the OP correctly describes it, as none of her colleagues enjoy the same privilege. It might have suited the business all those years ago, but times change, and that has nothing to do with maternity leave; rather the OP's own request to change her working pattern.

That's nonsense op.

You are not the only one who can do your job. You are not indispensable.

Everyone is replaceable.

Why is childcare not seen as a good reason to change the hours? Who do people expect to pick up and drop off children?? I don’t understand? I was being honest.
My hours have to change because I now have to factor in picking up and dropping off my baby which is in a different location to my eldest schools.
Otherwise I would have kept what I had.

Should I have not used that as a reason? As I had to give a reason based on the government website.

It is a perk. No-one else has it. If OP is requesting reduced hours then the employer is entitled to structure them in a way that least affects the business. It’s nothing to do with maternity leave.

No I mean at the company, not generally. Sorry if it came across that way. I am the sole person who does my job.

Did you ask to reduce your hours or did they just want to rescind it?