To only work very part time?

[OneJadeSheep]

I only work 2 days a week and even then only during school hours. I feel that’s the most I can cope with whilst also being a single kinship foster carer to 4 children. Colleagues are complaining though saying they think I should work more days because me being so part time is causing problems for them because they are having to do work that I don’t have time to do in my 2 days. Some colleagues have also described it as “ridiculous” that I only work very part time and they feel I should be working a minimum of at least 3 days a week or more. AIBU to work very part time like this? I feel like all my colleagues are gossiping and talking behind my back about how part time I am! One of my colleagues has also said they don’t think I’m a “proper part” of the team because I’m so part time.

So is your issue you just don't like the gossiping? As really as others have suggested you need to ignore it, or as I have said be pro active and do something about it!
As a head of the team why not take in cake one day and hold a meeting to address the concerns. Take any useful suggestions back to someone more senior and explain how you are trying to address the negativity.

Yes you have done something admiral, but seems to think this excuses you from now being pro active at work and supporting your colleagues who you have later added you line manage! As a line manager surely part of your own performance management is how you manage your team, so if your colleagues do go above you and say that they feel the workload isn't being managed well by you, then your line manager will be following that up and your role will be up for discussion and whether your part time hours work. So it is for everyone's benefit if you do something rather than just say everyone is being mean to you.

I mean, that is spectacularly shit for your colleagues, but it's a failure of management.

Apart from the fact that in a global organisation the headcount is very often fixed, and from a very high level. And by headcount I mean number of people not FTEs. So her being there is blocking her manager from employing anyone else.

How is it pointless me working there?!

I get what you're saying, but are you not quite senior, based on what you described? I guess I figured I am in a similarly senior position and I view it as part of my role to make sure my team (including me) has the capacity to deliver what I have agreed with my organisation. And that might mean pushing for a job share for me, if I wanted to go part time, or advocating for an additional member of staff if some chunks of my role could be delegated downwards, or rejigging my role and what my team does so a small amount extra ends up spread across lots of people. In fact, this is something I'm looking at at the moment - going to 50% hours, and this is something I'm working through in collaboration with my boss before we actually make it happen.

They're not going to. If I were your colleagues, I'd look for different jobs. It sounds very difficult for them. You're doing a good thing fostering, but management has failed them trying to accommodate you.

What staff are employed on what hours are up to the employer, and they certainly shouldn't be talking about it openly. The only thing I would caution is that there is an overhead in employing anyone and if the hours are very small then the sums don't add up. While three days a week is pretty normal I can't recall anyone on less, especially term time only. That doesn't mean it doesn't work in your case.

Yes my problem is with all the gossiping and bitching from colleagues and management and everyone else in the company.

I got my part time hours through a flexible working request though.

It’s none of their business. You’ve enough going on at home.

Why are you ignoring all comments about what you could do to help manage the situation?
All you keep doing is repeating the same point about how it was approved.

As I have said above, if your colleagues all go above your head and say it's not working, then there is a good possibility you will be pulled in and told that you cannot continue with the reduced hours/the job will be made redundant and you will then lose out.

For someone who is in a senior role you sound pretty useless in being pro active. Maybe this is the real issue that you are out of depth in this role and were fine when everything was going well, but now lack the skills in managing people.

As you are senior then you need to address this.

I don’t think you should be a line manager though - you can’t deal with issues if you aren’t available for the majority of the time.

I assume that Kinship fostering means you have taken on a relatives children? Which is such a kind and selfless thing to do. I have utmost respect for you doing all you can to keep these children together and to give them stability, safety and security.

I cannot believe your colleagues, whom I presume have some knowledge about your change in circumstances, are being so vile about it all.

I think you need to start keeping a log of all comments and issues and go back up to the chain of command to senior management and report this.

You need to dig deep and keep your head down, you have done nothing wrong here.

OP this is a genuine question - are you being deliberately obtuse in your responses?

As others have said, you appear to be in a senior role, where you would very reasonably be expected to be proactive and take accountability for delivery of your service - pushing for additional resource etc. That doesn't make your colleagues' bitching etc ok, but you seem to think that the fact that your working arrangements have been ok'd as a FWR means you have a right to be passive in all this. You don't.

They are being unfair.

I have advised my colleagues and management (and everyone else in the company who is gossiping and bitching) who to contact in the company if they want to raise any concerns about their workload or ask for more resources/more staff but they’ve all chosen just to gossip and bitch about me and my part time working instead.

But what have you actually done other than advise them to speak to someone? Again as I keep saying, you have given the impression you are in a senior role as 'head of' so you should be more pro active.

They aren't suddenly going to stop moaning because the workload still exists! Until something is put in place by some one more senior like yourself of how to address it, then I think they are valid in their annoyance of the increased workload and nothing to compensate for it (extra staff, increased pay).

My colleagues and management all chose full time roles. They could do a flexible working request for part time too if they wanted.

Collegues are right to be annoyed that your hours have been reduced substantially without anyone else being recruited. They should not be annoyed with you personally though.

Sounds like company saving over 3 days a week of your salary and everyone else picking up the slack. They should recruit another part time member of staff.

Then there will be even more work with no one to do it, and following this it's unlikely anyone else would be granted it.

Personally I wouldn't want to work with you as you sound very obstructive and unwilling to do anything to help the situation and I see it as poor management. I assume you were promoted before you were ready and now don't know how to manage the conflict as didn't have the experience.

If this is your general attitude, I'd be pissed off with you as well.

We have fixed headcount’s per department so recruiting someone else won’t happen.

This. My colleagues and management all chose full time roles, if they want part time hours too then they could also make a flexible working request for it.

So what other solutions do you have to offer if a new member of staff isn't going to happen?
You are management! Act like it. Can you reallocate workload, can someone from another department take on some of the tasks?