Advise Please- I've been given an alternative to my FWR

[bisbis]

I made a flexible working request to work 6hrs a day with no break. 10am-4pm. a colleague in my team works 7am-1pm without a break.

we had a meating and they insisted i take a break as my core hours are in the afternoon. I said i'll be happy to come in from 10am-4:15pm and take a 15minute break.

i just got the following reply.

Further to your flexible working request submitted on 31 August 2010, in which you request the hours of 10:00 to 16:00 (6 hours) with no lunch break, we met on 20 September 2010 to discuss this. * was also present.

As explained in the meeting, the company was uncomfortable in agreeing to a work pattern without a lunch break as we do not believe that this is productive and we proposed that you work from either 09:30 to 16:00 or 09:00 to 16:30 with a 30 minute lunch break instead. During the meeting you explained that you could not accommodate this proposal as your train times did not suit the hours proposed and that you were willing to make the sacrifice of no lunch so that you could be with your children more. ((i said i wouldnt be able to make it on time to pick my child from nursery))

As you could not accept our first proposal of flexible working we have taken this away to review the situation further. Following further consideration we still feel that a lunch break is crucial as we have a moral obligation to protect the best interest of our employees and that not taking a break between the core hours of 12:00 to 14:00 will be detrimental to your performance and overall well-being over the course of time. Any agreed request is a permanent change to terms and conditions and by definition therefore it is anticipated that this change is likely to last for the foreseeable future. Whilst we accept that on occasions people work through lunch we do not condone this as a matter of course and do not wish to encourage employees down this path.

Therefore our final proposal is 10:00 to 16:00 with a 30 minute lunch break (i.e. working a 5½ hour day). If you are not able to accept this offer we will not be able to accommodate your flexible working request on the grounds that we find that it will have a detrimental impact on quality or performance of your work.

I really need as many hours as i can work as i have a full time nanny and toddler in nursery 3 days a week.

i feel that 15mins break for 6hours of work is sufficient considering someone in my team does not take a break at all. they have not even mentioned the fact that i offered to take 15mins break.

what should i do now. i have so far sent an email to the HR lady pointing out that the 15mins break was not mentioned.

sorry about the long post.

I think that their proposal is fair enough - we have to allow a 30 minute break, whether it is taken or not (up to the employee).

Your colleague is working mornings only, so not the same.

Working time regs advise that employees are entitled to a 20 min break per 6 hours worked.

TBH I think your employer is being fair and flexible in allowing you to reduce your hours. I can see why they don't want someone working without a decent size break in the middle of the day. Just remember you have the right to request flexible working, it's not a right to have. I'd take their offer if I was you.

I don't think they're being that unreasonable tbh. They have offered you a 6 hour working option or a 5.5 hour option. In reality it is pretty hard to actually have lunch etc within 15 minutes whereas 30 minutes is more doable.

If you have a full time nanny then do you need to be able to pick up toddler from nursery? I can understand you may prefer it but you'd probably need to weigh up extra hours versus the pick up.

Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.

I wish i read your replies, i just sent another email stating that i'm not asking to reduce my hours because i want to spend more time with my child. its so i can pick up my child from nursery.

The nursery is too far for the nanny to get to. i need to drop and pick him up by car.

oh, and i have a 10month old taht the nanny looks after at home.

If i reduce my hours below 6hours then it'll mean i'm working to pay for childcare. I know this is still a better option than not working at all. if they dont agree to the 15minute break, then i'll take up their offer.

Thanks for your replies.

Depending on what work you perform, I believe that a break is statutory and mandatory after five hours work. If you operate certain machines breaks are mandatory after two hours work.

Isn't there a way of rationalising your childcare a bit to make this easier? For example, can't the nanny look after both children and dispense with nursery - wouldn't that be cheaper?

Slightly OT, but why do you have a nanny and a nursery for the same time period?

I'd echo what others have said. It sounds pretty reasonable to me to require people working almost a full day to have a material lunch break. Sorry.

Agree with Patricia. Have the nanny look after both children and get your eldest into a nursery near your house when s/he gets his free place age 3 so Nanny can pick him up.

May we ask what sort of work is it and does it involve driving or operating any sort of machinery?

Thanks for you replies.

I work in the IT industry, so in front of a PC.
My Son has gone to the same nursery since he was 1, its small and he really really enjoys it there, he gets to learn a lot and do a lot activities that i know he would not do with the nanny.

the nursery used to be a few doors away from me until we moved. I think i'm attached to my sons nursery and cant imagine him being happy anywhere else.

arrrghhh, i will see how i cope financially in the next couple of months and consider changing his nursery to one a walking distance from home.

Can you suggest a trial period of 15 mins for lunch, say for 3 months, then see how it goes? I do 30 mins lunch working 830 - 1630, so I can see why 15 mins would be sufficent working 1000 to 1600. I said if it didn't work out I'd be willing to increase it but it was (of course!) fine. You could always say 20 mins instead, sounds longer!

A lunch break is compulsory, mandatory and statutory.

Ask your company to consider setting up a work place creche.

Update,

Thanks for you replies. They have agreed to a 15 minute break for a 3 month trial period.

Good, now you have to always be cheery, never tired in the afternoon and have stuffed your sandwich down super quick!!! My place actually started to appreciate that I took my short break at 12 so could cover the phones when most other folk went off!