Flexible working application - 28 days has passed?

[alabasterangel]

hi

Am very worried about saying something identifiable on here if I'm honest.

I am going back to work in 2 months after mat leave and have put in a flexible working application. I handed this over during a meeting with my manager and we discussed at length.

He promised me as he left that he would get back to me within 1-2 weeks. I explained how anxious I was about the arrangements and he said he understood and would not keep me hanging on. It's day 27 since the application and I've not heard anything.

I've not been asked to attend a meeting to discuss, nor have I been told it's accepted.

What should I do/what's rights do i have if he simply fails to respond at all?

I don't really want to chase him directly as there are some other things going on which he is being pretty underhand about as well and I'd rather not have the contact with him unless there is no other choice. HR are reliably useless.

Obviously i will have to chase it but I want to do so knowing exactly where i stand. he should have responded by now, shouldn't he?

Yes he should have, but just because your employer doesn't follow the procedure doesn't mean your request needs to be granted or anything like that.

So all you can do is chase it. If chasing it becomes fruitless and they refuse to get back to you, you can raise a grievance and then in theory a tribunal claim but all a tribunal can do is force them to consider it following the procedure.

If you really don't want to contact him (not even via email/writing copying HR?) then contact HR, ensure they've received a copy of your request and ask them to investigate the delay. I'd suggest doing it by phone and then confirming the conversation in an email so there is a paper trail of your efforts to chase.

Thank you. I'll wait until the post has been tomorrow and then do that.

I think the problem is exacerbated because maternity leave does make you feel somewhat disconnected. I'm also pretty upset that he has discussed this application with other employees (not part of my team either!) and I have bumped into these people, only to be told they have heard all about how I've asked to go part time. I thought these requests were supposed to be confidential?

I understand that I don't have any automatic rights to be granted the request, but just need to know one way or another due to obvious childcare arrangements.....and on a personal level he seemed to understand how concerned I was about it and promised not to leave me hanging. He actually referred to the allowable 28 days and said it would be nowhere near that long. I find it a bit disappointing that he has therefore not even kept me updated.

I'll email tomorrow. Thank you.

Sorry - another question.

Lets say they do agree, but want to implement a trial period.... reading the legislation about this, it seems to state that a trial period would (should?) be discussed at the aforemention meeting held within the 28 day window (which hasn't happened)? Is that right?

I have a feeling that when they do eventually come back to me, it'll be with some conditions attached, the trial period being one and location of work being another. Can they do that? If they have theoretically agreed to the application with a trial attached and you refuse the trial and just want a permanent change, how does this work? I'm concerned they would then refuse it altogether!

Yes trial period should be discussed at the meeting or offered after/as a result of the meeting.

If they offer to agree your request on the basis of an initial trial period, and you refuse the trial period, they are entirely likely to refuse the request altogether, yes. A refusal from the employee to do a trial wouldn't be seen as particularly reasonable.

Trial periods are great because it gives you a chance to prove how marvellously it would work, and makes it very difficult for them to justify a refusal.

okay.... but here is the tricky part.

I believe that the only reason he wants me to do a trial would be that during that trial he wants to try and relocate me to another office.

There is no reason for the relocation, no operational need. My office remains open, my job there unchanged (he wants me to do the same job, but from another office) and my desk available. He wants me relocated because (his words) he likes to have "more control". As I say, zero operational need.

The commute would be 40 miles each way. It's currently 3 miles from home to office. I'd be expected to commute in my own time, of course.

It was insinuated that if, during that trial period, "all went well with regards to the move" then it would be altered permanently. I interpret that as "dont complain and do it, and you can go part time". Obviously just my interpretation.

Needless to say I do not want to relocate. Fuel alone would mean I couldn't fund the travel costs.

Very hard to know what to do.... even harder when they've not even made or declined the application yet but as I say the above is based on a meeting we had when I put the application in so we did discuss at length.

28 days or 28 working days?

My company policy states "28 days/4 weeks".....

Not sure I'm following. Do you have any reason to believe that if they either agreed your request permanently or refused it altogether the relocation would not happen?

The relocation sounds like a separate issue tbh. If there's no operational need for it they may struggle to insist on it even if there's a relevant clause in your contract allowing it.

Yes, sorry, that is what I am saying and yes, it might be confusing because it's very underhand/sneaky.

This 'manager' is not nice. He does underhand/manipulative things to get what he perceives to be the way he wants things.

Ok - here it is.... might have to get the thread deleted after this as v worried!

• new manager takes over during my leave, I am informed of this by colleague who is acting manager, as he thinks I ought to know. No formal communication despite email and phone channels being open

• am also told, informally (by other team members who know I still answer my phone to those I know), that I am expected to move office as this was announced to the rest of the team in a meeting before I was aware of it even being an option.

• I challenge new manager, first contact with him, and ask if this is true and that I am very upset to find this out by third parties. I also document my concerns with HR. Both tell me, 8 weeks ago, that this is not the case and I should not worry - "mix up" "misunderstanding" etc were all words used.

• time moves on, 4 weeks ago new manager asks for an informal meeting to introduce himself which I agree too. I know him anyway from his history in the company (big, big corporate company) and I have been hearing bad things from other colleages. He has a grievance against him in the first 4 weeks. I have already decided to apply for flexible working so I complete forms and take them with me, and have a full, calm, discussion about his work ethic and me coming back before I hand them over. Already slightly tainted by the previous episode though.

During the meeting he says he is suprised by my application for p/t working, but understand after my long service (20 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) that it must have been a hard decision. I agree, but he also says during that meeting that if he agrees, that there would probably be a trial period of 12 weeks. He admits he wants to move me to the other office, where he is based, so he can have "more control". He also tells me I can no longer home work (something I have been doing occasionally for 4+ years) because again, lack of control. Nothing operational whatsoever. He says, basically, that if all goes well moving me to the other office in the first 12 weeks I am back, that the trial will have been worthwhile. He fully admitted that the 12 week trial was nothing to do with seeing if the position/hours worked, but was to do with the relocation.

I do agree that the two issues are totally different and should be treated as such, but I am worried he is basically tying them together to bribe (strong word) me. He knows I am desperate to be p/t. I don't want to upset anything before the p/t is agreed, but as such now at 28 days nothing has even happened and no response to me despite his previous promises.

Thats what leads me to being unsure about how to take the lack of response forward.

Sorry for the length..... hopefully it makes sense.