Moving to part time hours after maternity - boss' email

[Gigi89x]

Hi

Im currently on maternity leave, returning in feb 2024.

Iv been trying to arrange my move full time to part time (4 days per week)

Before signing the change in hours i asked my new boss (who was appointed whilst i was on maternity) if i can in future move back to full time hours. Im not sure yet when this would be, iv never been part time or been back from maternity before.

His reply - "I was waiting for HR to respond, we have no policy in place on returning to full time hours after a period of reduced hours, returning to full time would be based on a review at the point you requested it"

Can anyone tell me if this sounds reasonable or not? I was expecting to be able to return back to my normal hours

Any advice would be appreciated :-)

No, they can't say that now, can they? What if they don't need you to go full time? You can't ask in advance; one you've given up the hours, that's it-they're not yours anymore.

Lots of possible solutions. Maybe they’ll hire a second manager on a part-time basis. Maybe your direct report who does the additional work will want to keep doing it. Maybe they’ll do a great job and will be given a salary increase for picking up your work, or even promoted to managerial level alongside you. The company will find some solution to cover the work you’ve given up, and they can’t just take it back off whoever they’ve given it to.

Yes, it's entirely reasonable. Any future request to increase hours would be based on the needs of the business at the time.

You could ask for a temporary change to your hours, but you'd be obliged to return to full time at the end if they wanted you to, just as much as they'd be obliged to allow it. Also they don't need to agree it temporarily (or at all) if it doesn't suit the business.