Request to reduce hours

[tesremos]

I am just looking for advice really and a bit of a chance to vent as I am totally stressing out.

I went on maternity leave last October....and have been planning to return to work in October this year since the beginning as DS1 starts school in September and I wanted to spend a few weeks getting him settled in.

My work (who are a large national organisation) were aware of my plans, however to make everything official I met with my line manager and a rep from HR to discuss my return to work on 3rd August.

At the meeting I stated that if possible I wanted to slightly reduce my hours (by 4 hours per week) and change from 4 days per week to 3 to fit around the childcare we have available and so that DH and I could take and pick up DS1 from school. The hours I was requesting to do were all worked out so that we could manage the childcare for both DS1 and DS2.

My line manager at the time said that it shouldnt be a problem but that it would need to be signed off by the regional manager. Assuming this was all ok it was agreed that I would return to work on 1st Sept at my original hours and take four weeks holiday which I am owed...I would then start back in the office physically on the 1st Oct at which point my hours would reduce to the requested amount.

I have not heard anything back but when i was in the office last week my LM mentioned that he had not heard anything back from the regional manager other than her saying that she didnt think the changes were mutually beneficial. He said he would chase her up and came back to me earlier in the week to say that she has referred it onto HR despite him telling her that it is her decision to make.

I responded by saying that it was technically only a week till my return to work (although I am then on AL for 4 weeks) and that I would appreciate it if he could chase it up. He today came back saying that my return on 1st Sept was sorted and it was only the hours that need to be confirmed....kind of seemed a bit snippy (he leaves the company next week and so I think he is seeing this as a bit of a hinderance to him)

I have now responded again by saying that if my change in hours is for any reason not approved then I will need to have time to find alternative suitable childcare. This is something that concerns me as I can not assume that my normal and preferred childminder would have space to take DS2 for the extra hours. If she can't have him I would then need to find someone else that we are happy to leave DS2 with which really could be difficult at such short notice.

I would also then need to arrange for someone to take and collect DS1 from school as I already know my childminder is unable to do this.

Sorry for the mammoth post...I am really stressing about it all now though as I am not sure how we would afford the childcare if they deny the change in hours and am now just wondering what my rights are legally especially considering they have me returning on the 1st sept under the assumption that there shouldnt be any problem in changing my hours? Any advice is appreciated :)

Did you apply for the change in hours in writing as a proper flexible working request? If so they have 28 days to respond, so your request should really have been made sooner. They can't just say it wouldn't be mutually beneficial though, there has to be a valid business reason not to agree it (from a very short list of acceptable reasons).

If it wasn't made as a formal request in writing, I would suggest you put this in as soon as possible, however the 28 days to respond will start from the day you hand in the FWR.

What rock chick said but also they would bear some responsibility to have asked you to do a form, especially as you had a proper meeting to discuss it.

Agreed, but they are still within their 28 days so may still treat it as though it was a FWR so could potentially only come back to you this time next week with an official response. If a 'no' is going to cause so many problems, the request should have been made months ago.

Yes after the meeting my boss asked that the request be put in writing to him via email which I did straight away. I signed two forms at the meeting one which was for my return to work on the 1st Sept and one for the change of hours as of 1st Oct which my boss said he would keep and submit once the change in hours had been approved. Yes am now wishing that I had put the request in a while ago but I was thinking that allowing 2 months would be plenty of time Does anyone know where I can find 'the list of reasons' which they could use as valid reasons for not approving it? Thanks for advice so far!

Also what happens if they don't respond within the 28 days?

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 period the employee proposes to work
Planned structural changes

Just copied these from some of my old files, not sure where else online would have them - hope it helps though :)

If they don't respond in time, I think it would be a case of involving your union / ACAS. If they refuse you can appeal the decision, and try to offer a solution to the reasons for refusal.

These posts really worry me, my concern is that no one will want to employ women of childbearing age. All I read is childcare plans and then fitting part time hours around them. Would it not be an idea to get hours agreed and then sort out childcare to fit. I really fear for current women at university who will have to persuade employers to give them a job against a male candidate who will probably not want maternity leave and then reduced hours.
Current women wanting to change hours should consider the effect their behaviour will have for younger women

2048 it is parents who have the right to request flexible working, not just mothers.