I want to reduce my hours after maternity leave - how should I approach my employee?

[oneconfusedchick]

Basically the above...
I currently do 18.5 hours (2.5 days) I want to drop to 2 days after my mat leave - dropping 3.5 hours (the half day) making my contact 15 hours.

I am not sure what to say to my employer? The reasons are partly financial (I will be worse off with childcare costs if I did work that 1/2 day I want to drop) and also partly because I find the half day a bit pointless! Obviously I don't want to give 'it's pointless as a valid reason!'

I don't want to cause any hassle at work but I do think I could still do my role after dropping the half day.

Any advice? Has anyone had success applying to reduce their hours similarly?

How long have you worked there? You are well within your rights to request flexible working. I generally encourage the mums I work with to think about the request first from the employer's perspective. Think about any possible reasons they might have for turning the request down, and give them solutions before they've thought of the problem. So if for example it means you won't be able to do a particular task, what could you suggest as an alternative? Explain how you'll still be able to do your role in the hours - suggest a trial period and review how it's working out after three months. You're only allowed to make one formal request every 12 months however there's nothing to stop you sounding out your boss or your HR person first to find out what their reactions might be. I reduced my hours before. Hope that helps.