refusal of flex time - unfair or not?

[TakingTheStairs]

I am due to return from maternity leave later this year. Before I took maternity leave I worked from 8.30 to 5.30 Others in the office start work at 7am and finish around 6.30 (I work in the Finance industry)

I have requested that I change my hours to 7.30 - 4.30pm or 7 - 4 to enable me to pick up DS from nursery. In the request I also said that I would be willing to stay later as needed
Part of my role is to greet visitors and help with meetings. The flex time request was refused on the basis that most meetings are between 8.30 - 5.30, when actually the latest meetings are normally scheduled for is 4pm. Occasionally there are later meetings, but I had specified in my request that I would be willing to stay later when needed.
I am the first person in my very male dominated office to take maternity leave in the ten years the company has been operating so there is no precedence for flex time after maternity leave.

My gut is that they are being unfair as they don't actually need me to be there until 5.30 the majority of the time so the refusal is not based on a valid reason.

I am being sensitive or are they being unfair? And what can I do if they are?
It is a small company, no internal HR dept. No proper maternity policy either.

I'm not a solicitor, but from my experience (and what I was told by friend who works as HR manager)...it's your legal right to ask for flex time and it's their legal right to say no. In your case, I don't see how it's unfair if those are your contracted hours. As you point out, others work til 4 or 4.30pm so your role specifically covers a period theirs doesn't. Just because meetings are normally scheduled til 4pm, doesn't mean they don't need cover for the occasional time there is a late meeting. Probably why they made your hours different to those of your colleagues, no? It's what most companies do with reception - lots have shifts til 7pm but everyone else goes home at 5-5.30pm. Reason being is that occasional late meeting/someone phoning late and the company wanting the switchboard to stay open (esp. if clients are in different time zones).

Yeah I think you're right. I'm taking it too personally.
It's hard when you feel a sense of loyalty to a company/job and when you realise they don't view you in the same way.

Thanks

Difficult to say without knowing more about your role, and to what extent visitors are always expected/booked in or might turn up. Also, meetings being scheduled for 4pm presumably means they are likely to go on until 5/5.30, with visitors still perhaps needing looking after?

Visitors never turn up without being expected.
And once I have ushered them into their meetings I do not need to be there when they are done.

If a core part of your role is to greet visitors and help with meetings, it would be reasonable for the company to want the reception function covered during core business hours of 9 - 5/5.30. It is probably not very attractive to them to theoretically be able to book meetings in at 7.30 a.m. in the morning on the basis that you start early and would be there to usher visitors in. It is, however, very reasonable that they would expect that if they pop out of a meeting at 5 p.m. wanting some admin support that someone would be available to help.

I completely agree Unexpected, but in my office my boss hates anyone to book meetings after 4/4.30 as he doesn't like the office to be disturbed at the end of the day.
I greet meetings and make sure they're set up okay.
We have a separate receptionist and our meeting rooms aren't even on the floor that I work on, so once the meeting has started I don't see the people again. So the guests wouldn't even be aware if I was still at work or not.
I was hoping they would agree to let me work until 4/4.30 and if there is a meeting scheduled, of course I would stay but for the days that there isn't a meeting, I could leave.
And I would start at the same time as the rest of the office (7/7.30) to be able to get all my work done.

To be honest, it's not worth the fight with them. I may get what I want but I can see my discretionary bonus being affected if I push it too much.