When to ask my employer I would like to go back to work but with reduced hours?

[Chocoholism]

Mat leave will be up In October, when should I ask employer that I want to reduce my working hours? If they say no then I might have to leave as it is not financially worth it to go back full time as I was doing.
I only had statutory maternity pay so if they did say no and I resigned would I be able to just hand in my 4 week notice and that be it?

I would ask them as soon as possible.

If you plan to leave, you would be able to hand in your notice as normal. Just remember that if you have had enhanced mat pay from your employer then you may have to repay this

Agree that you should ask them sooner rather than later as it can take a few weeks to consider your request/ discuss options with you etc.

Yes, you just need to give them your normal notice if you choose to resign.

Good luck with the request.

I would ask asap because you can only make one request per year, so if you want to make another or different request in a years time (even if it gets accepted you may want to suggest another pattern) it will be less time to wait after your return

Don't forget that you accrue holiday while on maternity leave, so if you resign, they will need to pay you for the holiday that you have accrued. It also means that you might want to delay resigning to maximise the holiday pay you get.

I'm assuming you're in the uk & want to make a request for flexible working. this bbc link might help. As the manager of a business where both of our staff who have been on mat leave have come back part - time, the more notice you can give, the better.

If you ask a week before you are due back, your employer has no time to consider/ recruit alternative cover, so will be more likely to say no!

Be flexible, if say you'd like to work 2 days & would prefer to work Monday Tuesday be aware that this might not work but your employer might be able to accommodate Monday and Wednesday.

I also second remembering your accrued holidays, we assume the staff member accrues them at full time even if they intend to drop their hours, as they don't start their new hours until they return. This alone can give you enough days to effectively drop a day a week until your lo is a bit older.