How can I get my employer to agree to 4 daya

[Mummyneedshelp86]

I’m due back to work next year and I don’t want to work full time as I have two children.
I have to fill out a flexible working request and one of the questions is ‘ describe how you see the change in the working pattern affecting the business and your colegues and how you suggest these can be managed’
I have no idea what to put but i want to make it difficult for them to say no.

Please help.

Impossible to help without knowing the specifics of your job. Customer facing? Own caseload or work shared between team? Queries come in daily that need to be answered daily? Etc

It's going to depend on what your company / employers do, and what your role is in that, but what you need to think about is what issues might arise if you are never in on a Monday / Wednesday / Friday, and how you can explain why it won't be an issue.

So, communication is one thing - how will you liaise with colleagues / do you need to work collaboratively with others, etc.
Then 'other people covering for you' if you are in a customer facing role.... 1 less person to answer the phone or answer the customer enquiry desk or whatever.
How do you see the other 1/5th of your work being covered ? Are you expecting them to employ someone 1 day a week, or are you going to work faster / harder on the other 4 days ? or are your colleagues going to be expected to pick up what you aren't doing on the day you aren't there? Or are you expecting the company to take on less work / fewer clients or fewer projects ?

Don't get me wrong - I've worked PT for years, and am a great promoter of PT working, but you have to think of what the issue might be, to be ready to explain how all the "bad" effects of you not being there, won't happen, or can be countered by working differently.

I work on a digital team getting a retail website ready. I have a few people who report into me.
Would you say it’s a good idea to say during busy periods I know that there are days which will be busier than others, so if I’m given notice I can be flexible with the day I have off.

Personally, I don't think that's a good way to start - they will assume they can call you in whenever they want. Most of us need to have our childcare arranged for fixed days.

I do work PT, and my dc are fully grown now so I can (and do) work on my NWDs now and then, but it is on the clear understanding I am doing them a favour to help out, and I can say 'no, I can't that day' without any reason needing to be given. I think that is a very different scenario from saying from the off 'I'll come in when you need me'.

We don't know really what your job entails, but it is thinking about the things you do now, and how they will be managed on the days you won't be there. As the saying goes, 'Don't come to me with a problem, come to me with a solution'.
Now, I'm sure someone will be along in a minute and say that isn't your responsibility, I'm just suggesting that we all get a more favourable / positive response if we can show we've already anticipated any issues and thought of a way of resolving them.

Different line of work but I’ve had staff requests 4 days and it’s not usually something we agree. 4 days is tricky because an employer is unlikely to be able to recruit a good worker for just one day a week. We’ve tended to go for 3/2 day split Job shares.

I certainly wouldn’t try to claim you’ll just work more efficiently over 4 days to make up the difference, because the immediate question that raises is were you working in efficiently over 5 days?

Basically if the job needs doing 5 days a week (and as that’s been your employment up to now I assume it does) then your employer needs a way of making that continue.

Can you appoint a colleague as deputy to be in charge when you're on a day off? What are they doing now?

Has anyone else in your company dropped a day? That would give you a krecedetntpkus someone to talk to about how they pitched it.

My company isnt a fan. And our few part timers all work Mondays and Fridays as they are busier. But that's a bonus as nurseries often have more space on Monday and Friday as some people like long weekends.

Look at the reasons an employer can decline a flexible working request and ensure all those points are covered in your application.

Consider any problems that may arise such as communication etc and ensure that you state how these can be overcome by you

Remember you can only submit this once per year so it's important you are thorough.

Also consider what you will do if this is declined