Application for flexible working turned down

[Ieattoomuchcake]

At the outset I will admit I've been a bit naive and maybe haven't gone about things the best way. But I think the end result would have been the same either way.

I'm on maternity leave. Before I left to have baby I informally mentioned to my boss that I wanted to work a 3 day week when I came back. He didn't agree, but didn't argue either. Another person in my dept (though not my team) already works 3 days and others within the company in similar roles do too. Though I will admit that it's more common for women to return to work full time.

Instead of putting in a formal request for flexible working I just popped in for a chat with my boss just over a week ago. At that meeting he made it clear he would prefer ms to work a 4 day week but said he'd chat to the powers that be and get back to me.

Today I got an email saying no to 3 days but offering 4 as a compromise. He wants me to phone him to discuss, and I'm guessing at that point he might tell me the reasoning.

Because of the sector in which I work I really don't want to be labelled a trouble maker. So even if this had all been formal there's no way I'd be appealing it.

But I'm really upset. I've not made any contact w boss and don't know what to say to him when I do speak to him. I'm toying with just accepting it, going back 4 days a week and seeing how it goes. But I never loved my job before I had DD so I can't see me suddenly being delighted to be there rather than with her.

What a pickle. I just assumed I'd be allowed three days because others have...

Do you work for a large company with proper HR policies?

If I recall, your application should have been in writing and the response should also be in writing (within a certain time frame) and should give the business reason for declining your application.

If you work in a company where there are already people successfully working 3 days a week in a similar role, then IMO it makes it harder for the company to decline your application for business reasons as there is already a precedent.

Perhaps your manager isn't as clued up on the legal framework as you would hope.

I had a similar experience - requested 2 days a week, manager wanted me to do 3 days. HR got involved and put him right about it not being about his personal preference. In the end I compromised on doing 2.5days.

Is there anyone in HR you can talk to about the generalities of the process?

The embarrassing thing is that I do know all the procedures. I just didn't do them.

My boss was just so relaxed, said just come in for a chat so I did.

I think what I'll do is draft up the proper request and pop it in to him, just saying that I forgot to hand it in when we met and that notwithstanding that he's already told me it's been rejected, I thought we should keep my HR file in order.

There's no way that HR will overrule my boss and everybody in the company knows that I won't kick up a fuss. Nobody would if they wanted to work again

So what if your boss is unable to provide a reasonable business reason for declining your application? Everyone in the company will collude to allow him to flout the law?

That is incredibly sad.

To get a proper consideration you need
to pit in a proper request. You haven't actually out in a flexible working request under the framework of the legislation.

Doesn't sound like there's any reason to assume anyone's going to 'flout the law'.

You didn't make a proper request and he's already offered a compromise rather than a flat no, and there's no indication he doesn't have proper reasoning.

Put in a proper request and ask him to hold off confirming his decision until he's read it.

Make sure the application is brilliant, addressing all likely concerns, outlining how positive your request will be for the organisation and confirming that there will be no loss of productivity or negative impact on your colleagues as a result of your request.

He may then change his mind or agree to a trial period, you never know.

I think you need to put in a proper request as others have said. Our forms asked qusetions about how I thought my reduced hours would impact on my colleagues work - as I'd been on a long career break (5 years) I concentrated on mentioning that I would be an additional staff member on the team (rather than them losing someone).