Help! My work can't find a suitable place for me.

[abigail12]

I'm due to return to work in a fortnight but my work have just got back to me and said that i can't return part time (20 hours) to my old position only full time. this is not an option for me- i didn't have a child to only see him at weekend, plus i'm three months pregnant so want to give my little one as much attention now as i can. they have told me only job available id for 12 hours a week at minimum wage- i can't get by on that, what can i do? help!

Did you put in a formal flexible working request asking to drop your hours to 20? You don't actually have a right to go part time, just a right to ask, so it all depends on whether their reasons for refusing your request were reasonable. If they didn't have good reasons, that's one thing, but if they did I'm afraid they're under no obligation to find you another role at all, whether minimum wage or otherwise. If you disagree with their decision that you can't go part time, you could also appeal and have it reviewed by someone more senior.

Yes i put in a formal flexible working request, they said they simply don't have a place in my old branch for a part time position so i suppose thats reasonable- they would have to get rid of the person doing my old full time job to let me come back part time, i know it doesn't make sense for them. the 12 hour position at nmw is nowhere near enough for me to get by- and if manage to get a job with another company i'd have to tell them i'd be off in 5 months on maternity again.

"i didn't have a child to only see him at weekend"

That's a bit harsh! Millions of parents work full time, many of them don't have the luxury of being able to dismiss full time work as not being an option, instead needing to work full time to support their family.

In terms of what you do, either a) you go back full time, b)you take the 12 hours job, or c)you look for something else. You could obviously do either (a) or (b) at the same time as (c).

I know i just mean i took into consideration how many hours i could afford to drop before starting a family- working for such a huge company i didn't think it would be a problem just to change to part-time. i'm just so stressed because i've only just heard from them and i've less than two weeks to find something.

sorry to hear this - but from your employers point of view you have just had maternity leave from a full time job and want to come back to 20 hours - to accomodate you they would have to finish the person doing your full time job and can only offer you 12 hours a week and you are also not planning on being there very long as you are pregnant again and will require more maternity leave - you do seem to be expecting a lot and it's very one sided.
However, would the person doing your job now be willing to split the job as a job share (if the company will allow this) unitl you go off on maternity leave ?

would it not make sense just to work full-time for the short period you are planning to actually be at work, then see what happens ?

Its a shocker, but you really do have to be organised if you're planning to work at all, and from your employer's point of view you've had lots of time to organise your childcare - the mistake was assuming that it would be ok to be part-time.

People do generally seem to think it's their "right" to work part-time, but the reality is just not the case.

Yes i naively did just assume it wouldn't be a problem to cut down my hours or to find me a new position since its such a huge company, i stupidly didn't give it too much thought at all to be honest. as for working full time and then going on maternity leave early- i am considering it but only if i can't find any other reasonable option. i know millions of mums have to work full time but unless its absolutely vital i feel i would be almost missing some of the most important months of his life. also ideally i'd like to spend as much time with him as possible before no.2 arrives.

Ps- sorry for moaning, i know no-one can magically fix this for me but i'm just worried about it.