Ok this is urgent. Please please can I have feedback on this. Constructive feedback.
I will begin by stating: I KNOW my employer doesn't have to agree to flexible working. But this all seems terribly unfair and I have decided to appeal.
I'm currently on maternity leave, due to return in April 2016. I applied for flexible working to reduce to 4 days rather than 5. I offered to be flexible in this, advising that I was flexible as to what day wasn't worked, offering to commit to working the late evening that no one wants to do etc etc.
I had my meeting and pretty much was shot down in flames before I spoke. The meeting was all about questioning my childcare, questioning my husband's working pattern etc, rather than my application. My manager also outright stated that 'these are full time roles only - we can't have them done part time'
As expected I got my outcome letter on 6th giving me 5 calendar days to appeal - meaning I couldn't contact the union over the weekend and leaving me with only 3 real days to get any advice. Then I went to Greggs on Sunday and got food poisoning so I've been knocked for six. Still not well now but I need to get this done as I have to submit the letter today. My union haven't been much help. I told them my concerns and they said 'put that in a letter then'. ACAS made me cry - the woman I spoke to had a bee in her bonnet that she hadn't been allowed to go part time and wasn't very nice at all. Maternity Actionwere great when I spoke to them prior to getting the decision letter but they are only open wed-fri and today is my last day to appeal.
I was turned down 'based on the needs of the business and any other decision would have been detrimental to the quality of service provision and caused extra pressure to staff as it would prove extremely difficult to recruit a new staff member to fill the gap of one day per week, not to mention the impact on our service users'
Here is my appeal letter so far:
Thank you for your letter outlining the outcome of my formal request for flexible working.
After taking advice from the union, and Maternity Action I would like to take the opportunity to appeal this decision.
My grounds for appeal are as follows:
With regards to the quality of service provision and the risk of extra pressure to the rest of the staff team, I would point out, as discussed during the meeting on 23rd October, my workload was reallocated in June when I began maternity leave. As there has been no recruitment undertaken to fill my post in my absence, I do not consider that my return to work on reduced hours would place any additional strain on the rest of the team. I appreciate that it may be difficult to recruit to fill a temporary post, but as it was not advertised I would infer from this that a business decision was taken not to attempt to recruit for this and that the team was able to bear the increased workload caused by my maternity leave and therefore would dispute that my proposed return on albeit reduced hours would place any additional strain on other staff as there would be an increased capacity within the team from the current position.
In relation to the point that it would prove difficult to recruit a new staff member to cover the one day gap arising from my proposed reduction in hours, I would argue that there is already one other member of staff working the proposed pattern of 4 days per week without any additional staffing to cover her non-working day. If it is felt that business needs require this non-working day to be covered, perhaps my proposed non-working day and the other staff member's non-working day could be combined and advertised as a single role which is likely to be easier to fill than a single day a week. Unfortunately the possibility of a job-share was not discussed during our meeting but I would ask if the possibility of a job share has been considered and would like to propose a 50/50 job share between myself and another person with the role being split and therefore easier to fill as an advertised post.
Finally, I am somewhat concerned that the decision to reject my application was a foregone conclusion prior to our discussion as this was the impression I was left with. Particularly with regards to the issue discussed in our meeting but not noted in your letter of 6th November, where it was stated that Recovery Coordinator posts are 'all full time posts' and that other workers have been declined when requesting reduced hours, I would point out that, as discussed in our meeting, in my personal circumstances, I am the primary career for a very young child and am unable to find suitable, affordable childcare for her to cover the full week and am also unhappy given my daughter's age that she would suffer a detriment by being in childcare with strangers for long hours and family are unable to care for her 5 days per week. I am concerned that given what was stated during our meeting that my application was rejected as part of a blanket policy to reject all flexible working requests and would hope that my application is considered on its own merits and in the light of my specific personal circumstances and that my rights under the Equality Act 2010 are considered in this matter.
I look forward to your response.
Please can anyone help with this. I don't want to seem combative, although
I really hate my boss. I am going to look for a job elsewhere after Christmas because various other things happened at work when I was pregnant and I don't really want to work there any more. I'm going along the lines of thinking this is indirect sex discrimination because of a blanket 'no part time' policy. Please please help. I've only got a couple of hours to sort this. Thanks