am i being paranoid (sorry long)

[shellybelly]

Hi
have posted previous threads about my work situation (so i'm sorry if you find i'm repeating myself abit), currently on aml however applied for flexi working and was refused so have appealed, sent my letter in last week and got one back from hr today, I have worked for this company for a good number of years, its all IIP and how they value their employees, they knew i wanted to go back part time I have never hidden the fact as soon as i announced my pregnancy, anyway they said that because of my job they could only offer full time (to do with contracts btw), anyway no one has bothered calling and its all being done "by the book" so to speak, everyone else who has comeback from mat leave has been offered part time or other jobs but not me, they hope to come to an "amicable arrangement" dh said they may offer me something else but i told him they would have already done this from the onset if the wanted to keep me, soooooo am i being paranoid in thinking they want rid of me, some of the bosses i actually thought i got on well with and infact i rang one last week for an informal chat and they didn't have the courtesy to call me back, i'm so stressed about the whole thing tho trying to hide it from dh and I'm starting to have nightmares now

Get some professional support / advice
My understanding of the governments flexible working policy, is that you apply for flexible working and your employer has to grant it unless they can demonstrate that it wouldn't work / be practicable
So, have they given a fuller explanation than its because of your job?
And if not parttime, could you ask for jobshare? Very few jobs can't be jobshared

CAB could probably help more if you are not in a union

Hi. I was in this situation last year. 5 women went on maternity leave, 4 of us asked to go part time after, 2 were allowed no problem (one junior to me one senior). With one they tried to negotiate but she decided she didn't want to return to work (even when they offered her one day a week or occassional work). With me it was rejected out of hand without a moment's thought. It was "not appropriate because of my job".

A couple of outsiders advised me there was no point in staying and so I found another job to return to, which is flexible. Basically these people made me realise that I just didn't want to work for people who treated me like that.

Obviously every situation is different, I hope you get yours resolved. I know how rubbish it can be!

I think that you need to go in and meet with whoever you have the most appropriate relationship with - your line manager, or their manager if necessary.

Can your job be done part-time? Or do you wnat to do something else anyway. To a certain extent you need to take the iniitiatve and put forward a strong case for why you should do something different. From your mails you seem to be expecting your company to do all the work - they ither have to come up with a job-sahre or think of something else that might work for you. Have you specifically asked for a differetn role, and if so were you specific in the sort of work that you wanted to do. I have found that it helps if you discuss this sort of thing face to face with someone you have a relationship with. Otherwise it sounds as if you just want a job, but you don't care what, and that attitude doesbn't alwasy endear itself to management (who would prefer to have someone who say desperately wanted to work in contracts, rather than someone who desparately wanted to work part-time).

IME once you're handed over to the HR department then you don't necessarily get very far - you become a name, not a person. If you're dealing with the person you were working for, then they have to at least look you in the eye when they're saying "No". This can often be a stimulus for them to find something that does work for you both.

They asked me to put down in writing what hours I wanted to do and how it could be accommodated etc etc, tbh I did not know about flexible working, anyway i put my ideas forward they refused on business grounds, in my appeal letter i have suggested job sharing and altering hours i originally suggested so I'm trying to be "flexible" and not leaving it all to them, i know with others it wasn't done quite as formal, its the fact no one is contacting me when previous my line manager was ringing me asking how things were, did we want to meet for coffee, this is why alarm bells are ringing

Well I would really recommend that you go for a face to face meeting rather than going through a series of letters.

Good luck