Hi Girls
Copied this from the ACAS website:
Do employees have the right to work flexibly?
Parents of children under the age of six or disabled children under the age of eighteen have the right to apply to their employer to work more flexibly. The request can cover hours of work, times of work and place of work and may include requests for different patterns of work.
The request must be made in writing and the employer has a statutory duty to consider the request seriously and to refuse it only if there are clear business grounds for doing so. Employees making applications for flexible working have the right to be accompanied at meeting by a fellow employee.
If you look at the first line of the second paragraph of the answer, it states that the employer can refuse the request for flexible working IF there are clear business grounds for doing so.
HeyBaby, it doesn't sound to me like your employer has clear business grounds for refusing your request t work from home.
I suggest that the best thing to do is to get your request to work flexibly whether that's part time hours and from home in writing to your company.
If they turn you down and you find that the grounds for turning you down are not on business grounds, then I suggest you speak to someone in ACAS (or a union if you are a member) and see how you can appeal.
Sometimes the threat of litigation or tribunal especially if a company has very clearly not followed procedure is enough to make them stop and re-consider your request.
Also, perhaps instead of looking for part time jobs, perhaps you should look for job sharing positions. Part-time jobs, the higher up the corporate ladder you are, are rare and most part time positions are negotiated in house (where if you get one, you're unlikely to leave for a good long while!).
Job shares - you may find like minded women in other companies looking to reduce hours like yourselves.
Hope this helps.