Help needed understanding my rights please

[HavingAnOffDAy]

Hi

I'm due to return to work after 12 months maternity leave with DC2.

I have applied for reduced hours but have been refused. I understand & appreciate the reasons for this but the letter I received back from my employers highlighted a more serious issue for me.

When returning to work with DC1 I reduced my hours to 4 days a week & negotiated a flexible start time due to my DH working shifts & me needing to drop DC off at nursery one week & collect from nursery the other. This was dealt with by a variation to my contract.

After 12 months I agreed with my employers that I would return to work on a full time basis. I received a letter stating that my contract variation had come to an end and I would now work 5 days a week but that all other T&C's would remain unchanged.

I queried this IRO the flexible start time at the time as I still needed this, and was told that this arrangement would remain in place - the end to my variation in contract applied only to the numbers of days a week I working.

It now appears to me that my employers are removing this arrangement & require me to work fixed hours 9-5, which is not possible for me.

I've asked them to clarify but am still awaiting a response more than 2 weeks later.

Things are further complicated by me returning to work to a different role as a result of restructuring & me having been 'at risk' for most of my Mat Leave.

My worry is that contract is not explicit enough & that they can revoke the flexibility that I have. Does anyone know how long an arrangement has to be in place before it becomes precedent?

Sorry for the long post!

Thanks

There is no legal timeframe that covers when something becomes a contractual term. And to be honest, even if your start / finish time was contractual, in reality employers can consult & change aspects of your contract anyway.

Are they now saying that your hours were ok in your old role, but because you're in a new role they don't suit?

It is difficult because you've got the double whammy of returning from mat leave after 12 months (therefore no entitlement to your specific role back, just a similar / comparable one) PLUS it sounds like there's been a redundancy situation and therefore you are returning to an alternative role as a result of that. In neither case are they obliged to offer you exactly what you were on before, although TBH in a redundancy situation it has to be a SUITABLE alternative for them to insist you take it, which means it can't deviate too much from your old terms. If it does, they should be offering you redundancy as an option. Of course, you might not want that.

I think if I were you I'd keep pushing for an update from them. If there has been a redundancy situation you should be fully consulted on it anyway and have the opportunity to talk through all of your options. Has this happened? If there isn't the chance to do this before your return, I'd push to return on your old hours initially and then talk to them once you're back. All you can do is be very clear about your needs and commitments and get them to be very clear as to why they may now think your hours don't work in the new role.

Hi kdiddy, and thanks for your response.

My employers came back to me today & said I can work 9-5 or 9:30-5:30 on fixed basis, but not on alternating weeks. TBH neither is of any use to me on a fixed basis so I think we've reached an impass (sp?)

I am returning to a new role, after the usual too-ing & fro-ing about suitable alternative roles etc. My new contract states 35 hours per week but not start & finish times, so I took it for granted that my existing flexibile working agreement would stand.

I have a trial period attached to my new role during which I can still take redundancy...maybe they are pushing me down this route.

They have said I can appeal their decision & are going to come back to me with a meeting date...although they've asked me to be mindful that the Director has just returned from Paternity Leave so it won't be within the required 14 days. Hmmm, nice of them to extend the same courtesy to me during Maternity Leave

I can't really take the job on the hours they've given me & wonder if there is now room for negotiation on their original redundancy offer given their inflexibility?