Can I be made redundant

[butterrfly]

Hello,

I am currently working a 3 day week with one day from home. I use to work full time but took leave after having a baby and have been working 3 days for the last year and half.

My manager is really pressuring me to work a 4/5 day week again. In all honesty the job is a 5 week job, and I am currently struggling a lot!! I can't meet the deadlines and am constantly being scrutinised about small things.

Can I be made redundant if I say I do not want to work full time?

Please help so I know my legal position.

Many thanks xxx

Hopefully some HR people will be along soon but my understanding is that if your role isn’t redundant then no you can’t be.
If the job requires 5 days a week and you won’t do that then they can probably dismiss you
As I said, wait for the experts who should I be along soon though

Your role isn't redunant - exactly the opposite. It's a 5 day a week job which isn't getting done in 3. I have no idea where you stand legally - not my field of expertise - but I would expect the employer to look at things like taking on someone else part time, splitting responsibilities or moving you into another role and taking on someone else full time to do your existing job.

What do you want to happen? If you're missing deadlines then there is every possbility that they take you down the performance improvement route and you end up dismissed anyway.

Thanks so much for your replies. Hopefully some HR people can assist me legally. It's a small company so we don't have a HR department as such but my manager deals with all these kind of things. xxx

No, it's the role that has to be redundant not the person - so the fact that you've already said that the role is a 5 day a week one means that you can't claim redundancy!

On what basis did you drop down to your current arrangement of a 2 day week in the office and 1 day at home?

I went on maternity leave and I came back on one day in the office and one day from
Home. I then changed it 2 days in the office and one day from home.

Where do I stand legally if I cannot fulfil those days? Should I just resign :(

No, you won't be made redundant. Though they can 'restructure' and change your role and offer you 'alternative suitable employment', i.e. the job you are doing now but for five days a week. You can turn that down but you wouldn't be made redundant.

Can you preempt this and say you are interested in a job share i.e. you are happy for them to advertise your role, two days a week?

What was the agreement when you came back part-time? Did you have a discussion and agreement with your employer about what elements of your work you would drop in order to do three days only, or did you agree only the timing and everyone somehow hoped that the work which was previously taking five days was going to magically condense to three days?

We just discussed timing and hoped for the best. I'm on a losing streak it seems. :(

Who did you think was going to do the work?!

Have you asked your employer to consider a job share?

Not all jobs are suitable for part-time working and certainly not by just hoping that 2 or 3 days worth of work is going to vanish.

I am a former HR worker and I can't see where you thought it would be possible to do the job in 2 days (which is what you went back on) or 3. You just wanted to work part-time. I think it's been poorly handled on both sides tbh.

Is there any job at your company that you could do in the days that you want to work? The day you are working from home currently, are you minding your toddler during that time?