Difficult boss following my return to work after maternity leave

[Nams84]

To give you some background, in my job I am a head of department (albeit a small department) for a private-owned company. When I found out I was preganant, my boss immediately questioned what I planned to do about coming back to work - I said I wanted to go part-time. This was met with some resistance and he said there is no way I could do 3 days a week (which is what I wanted) and he would have to consider 4 days.

I took 7 months off. During this time, I did some keeping in touch time as we had a big project underway and I felt guilty about being off during this. I got asked to put forward a proposal about how my job could be done in 4 days, which I did, then after a discussion this got approved on a 'see how it goes' basis.

I went back after Christmas and since then I feel like I am being tested. I feel under more pressure than ever and have been putting in long hours to get my job done - plus I'm doing bits from home on my day off otherwise I get too behind. This week for example Mon-Thu I did 8.5 extra hours which I am not getting paid any extra to do, plus I've now got to go in on Sunday to manage a project launch. I just feel like they're pushing me to my limit to see how far I will go. I hardly got to see my little boy this week and have been arguing with my husband because I'm so stressed out. I feel like it's not worth it, but at the same time we need the money.

Sorry to go a bit!

Anyone got any advice for how to deal with this situation? Do I have any rights? The simple answer would be to find a new job but I've been looking and there are simply no jobs that I want to do on part-time hours :(

It's always a danger that part time can mean 'somehow fit the same job in to the fewer hours that we'll be paying you for'.

Is this workload necessary for the role you have? Because if so, one of the prospects you must consider is that this will never be a role suitable for part-time. You might be better seeking a different role which is manageable in the hours you want to work.

Edith - yes they are getting a bargain with me at the moment - same job but they get to pay 20% less for it!

I feel like they have increased the workload and their expectations since I have gone back. Going back into what I did before my maternity leave, I believe I would have been able to cope with some help and support from my colleagues.

I'm wondering if they're trying to make it difficult so I choose to leave myself, save them any potential legal issues if they asked me to go... Then they could bring someone in who can do full-time, which is really what they want.

Yes, four days does normally mean five days work for 20% less pay I'm afraid!

Might be worth doing the five days short term. Could you do that? At least then, you wouldn't feel so taken advantage of. In the meantime, keep looking for another job. Write a wishlist for your ideal job and just keep looking. It's amazing what pops up when you focus your mind. Focus on abundance rather than lack, and remember, you only need one job!

Best of luck. x

The management may not share your belief that there is slack elsewhere in the workforce to add tasks to others' portfolios permanently to remove elements from your role (especially if it means blurring managerial responsibility).

This is going to come down to whether there is a business need for this role to be full time. (And that's something that MNetters who do not know your workplace cannot help you with on the specifics).

Even a junior manager should have the authority to delegate within a team. As it seems from your experience to date that there are reasons why you've been unable to do this, then I am wondering if this might prove intractable. In which case, I think mrsflower speaks sense.

If your gut feeling is that management are taking the pi55 then they probably are.

I've worked alongside senior management as a PA and some of the conversations about staff that go on behind closed doors have frankly been shocking.

OP, you need to take care of your needs first. You are obviously very conscientious and care about your job. If your employer can't see this then you are probably better off finding one who will appreciate you.