Apologies for putting this here, I wasn't sure where to add the thread.
I'm due back to work on April 1st. Before maternity leave I had several meetings with HR, at least one of which it was mentioned that I would be returning part time, there was no issue with this and was told it is expected and they are fully flexible with my hours upon returning.
It is now February, I have had two meetings with HR recently, one 2 weeks ago. I was asked what hours I would like, how many etc. I asked for 4 mornings per week totalling 16 hours with revising this in September and possible upping the hours. I told HR that I need confirmation on my hours asap as I will lose the nursery place I have secured due to not being able to commit to hours, I simply cannot ask nursery to hold all hours all week for me, they need to know how many hours and which days. I was told that is fine, they understand and they will get back to me as soon as possible as they might prefer two full days instead of a mix of the two.
I asked again via email last week for an update. I was told basically, in a nice way, I have no chance of getting any update on my hours for the foreseeable, they need time to look at it properly etc etc. They understand that my nursery place is at risk and I will have no childcare but there is nothing they can do.
I have now lost the nursery place and I'm still no closer to knowing what hours I can return to and I'm supposed to go back in just over 7 weeks. Is this how it is? They've had since March last year to talk about my returning hours.
It's worth noting that I work for a large company that runs on skeleton staff. For the whole company including warehousing etc there are 40 staff, customer service, buying, transport, complaints, design etc etc is run by 9 staff. My role is one of the busiest however, I was always very clear I wouldn't be returning full time and said from the outset I would be returning to 16 hours or thereabouts until the baby is around 2.5 then I can up the hours to full time. I didn't demand anything though as it sounds that way when I write it down, I did ask if this was okay and have always been flexible and worked around every one else. Other members of staff have returned on less hours than this and less days so I was always told this is okay and again, expected.
I suspect my manager (who admittedly is very lazy and doesn't do a whole lot, she works from home several times a week and when you call her she is always out on a walk or at an appointment also.) is taking the stance of that she doesn't want more work to do and they can't sack me so if they hold out long enough I'll have to quit then they can employ someone full time. They are keeping on the lady who is covering my role however, another team member has retired so she is stepping into that role. They won't employ another person due to desk space and finances.
I'm guessing they can now turn down my request for part time and I don't know what to do as now I don't have nursery, there is nothing between here and work that is available until 2027 for dds age. It's so frustrating, if they had said in the meetings about returning full time I could have applied for a different job at least and kept the nursery. We have no family on either side and another DD that is school age. Urgh.