Manager not managing - and i need to request flexible hours

[Spru]

Will try to keep this short. Basically my manager is really nice but tries to be everyones friend and does not manage the team. When i raised the issue that we need structure, i was told to sort it out amongst ourselves. I now need to request flexible working request but am afraid thatit will be rejected as i may have rocked the boat by raising issues with managemnet style. What can i do?

Is it a large or family run company, do you have a HR dept?

You have the right to apply for flexible working as long as you can prove there will be no negative impact on the company with your flexi hours.

You can work with this.

It is a large organisation. The flexible hours would mean that i finish just as it gets busy though ......the only way around that would be that once dh comes back from work then i could go back into work and finish off my work in the evenings. Is that allowed?

Sorry...yes we do have HR dept.

If you have a HR dept they will have a flexi working procedure for you to follow.

It's a form maybe with a letter first, you need to outline the pros for the company, I wouldn't mention returning after DH collects DC.

Give them what is possible with any positives to your working for a while at the new hours.

You would need to approach your manager with the first letter but feel free to follow up with HR if you think the manager isn't acting promptly.

You need KateMiddelton to advise you really but all is not lost, I'd speak to HR in the first instance to check your policy.

Thanks for your help. Will get hold of the hr dept tomorrow.

Sorry....meant to read in similar situation...will be taking your advice too.

Ps, sorry for the thread hijack.

Is it ok to go over the managers head to the head of dept because i feel manager will not give it a fair consideration? Im just feeling stuck and feel that flexible working could be ok IF only the manager would try to accommodate it. My gut feeling is that manager wont WANT to accommodate.

I think in my office, it's likely that the head of dept would consult the line manager for their opinion if someone went over the line managers head. Might be best to talk to your line manager first, and then the head of dept if line manager won't give you a fair hearing?

Bear in mind that they can only refuse flexible working for legitimate business reasons, i.e.

• burden of additional costs
• detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• inability to reorganise work among existing staff
• inability to recruit additional staff
• detrimental impact on quality
• detrimental impact on performance
• insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
• planned structural changes

If any of these reasons are likely to apply if your manager doesn't want to accomodate, you should try to think of good counter arguements and making sure those points are covered in your application.

Don't go over anyone's head, make sure you follow their procedure exactly. There will be provision in the procedure to appeal the decision anyway, and as your manager's view of you request will be a crucial factor in whether it's approved or not, going over heads first won't help that.

If you're planning to leave just as it gets busy I'd say that's your bigger problem tbh. That would probably be an easy reason for them to reject your request so it's vital you propose solutions in your application- outline how your workload will be managed so that there isn't extra burden on your colleagues/ a detrimental effect on the service/quality levels in the team.