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Original poster

Can anyone advise on requests for flexible working?

15 replies

IdreamofClooney · 19/10/2007 12:37

Hello

I work full time and would like to make a request for reduced/condensed hours.

My job is a full time job and I supervise one member of staff.

What I am hoping to ask for is to do 30 hours instead of 35 and to do them over four days so I would work slightly longer hours over the four days. I would offer to be flexible about which days.

Obviously this would mean that someoneelse would need to do five hours a week of my job, and realistically that would be the person I supervise.

There have been a few issues in my office which are being dealt with my recriuting a replacement to the current job holder so we will be recruiting for this post soon.

My question is, should I make my request now, before the new person is recruited?

I have wanted to make this request for months now as I became a single parent in March and am just finding it all a bit too much so have figured that working 30 hours, with one less day of nursery fees would actually be financially feasible and would (hopefully) make life a bit more bearable.

Does anyone have any advice about this as I am unsure of how to proceed.

Thanks a lot

OP posts:

flowerybeanbag · 19/10/2007 12:57

Idreamofclooney if the current job holder is being replaced soon I would make the request to coincide with when/if the job description etc is being updated in preparation for a recruitment campaign.

However, one observation. I would not base your flexible working application on offloading a chunk of your job on to someone else unless you are going to be able to explain realistically why that person has spare time to do it. If possible, I would identify how your job and this other job can be rejigged/organised more efficiently/time saving measures put in place/unnecessary tasks eliminated etc. to make a reduction of 5 hours possible.
I would anticipate that to involve adjustments being made to your job and to the other job making it possible for less hours to be done by you. Don't just say 'there will be 5 hours of work I can't do because I won't be here so this person can do it'.

I'm sure you are thinking of all those things, how it will work and not just handing over 5 hours of work to the other person, but just thought I'd say that in case. Anticipate all the potential problems that might be associated with reducing your hours and propose realistic solutions to them in your request. Focus on what the benefits for the organisation will be if this request is implemented.

Have a look at this guide which was written aimed at managers - it has some of the benefits to the business of flexible working, you can identify which apply to your request and highlight them.

blueshoes · 19/10/2007 13:15

Can you ask for a shorter lunch break? I believe health & safety regulations mandate 20 min for every 6 hours of work. I asked for my lunch hour to be reduced from 1 hour to 30 mins (and I pack a lunch every day). That would put 2 hours into your working time.

flowerybeanbag · 19/10/2007 13:21

lunch break a good idea provided an hour is your usual lunch break and everyone takes their full hour. If it's the kind of place where loads of people work through all or part of their lunch anyway and don't get paid for it, reducing your lunch break formally won't be popular.

Original poster

IdreamofClooney · 19/10/2007 14:20

Thanks for the replies. I am a bit concerned about the five hours that I will be missing.

At the moment the person who is in the role is working well below capacity and as such has been moved to another role so that we can get someone in to actually do the job as per the job description. I am restructuring a lot of the work that we do and we have a lot of new systems coming in that should make our work more streamlined anyway.

Would there be a problem with the fact that I am the head of the office and I won;t be there 20% of the time?

OP posts:

Original poster

IdreamofClooney · 19/10/2007 14:22

Most people do take an hour for lunch so that is worth a thought, there are a lot of wird issues round lunch breaks among the longstanding staff though sigh

OP posts:

blueshoes · 19/10/2007 14:28

Sounds promising, clooney. First off, can you job be fitted into 4 days with better systems and more responsibilities for your junior?

If you may still need to be contacted on your off day, is your job the sort which can only be done with you being present in the office? Does your office have remote working systems? If not, can you do the job with phone calls, emails.

Can you structure your job so that all the tasks that require your presence be done within 4 days? You could offer to be contactable on phone/email for emergencies on your day off - although I would want to hold that in reserve as ideally, the job should not overflow into your off day.

bossybritches · 19/10/2007 14:52

TBH if you want to request your reduced hours then your boss has to consider it & produce damn good reasons why it's NOT possible. How the extra hours are covered is not your responsibility!

blueshoes · 19/10/2007 14:59

sadly bossy britches, the flexible working regulations is largely a box ticking exercise with no teeth. All clooney's company needs to say is that it has followed the procedure (which is largely paper pushing and meetings) and at the end of say it has "business reasons" for refusing. In law, it is very difficult to challenge those business reasons, however woolly.

To put the fear of god into employers, employees need to frame an action for discrimination or constructive dismissal or something along those lines, in an employment tribunal. But that is a long way down the road for clooney and not worth thinking about it at this point.

I would just advise to keep on the side of your employers for now and come up with a realistic business case, which takes your requirements and your employers' needs into account.

flowerybeanbag · 19/10/2007 15:01

that's a bit naive I think bossy. If dreamof can anticipate what the business difficulties might be and provide solutions to them her request is much more likely to be accepted without argument and proves she has thought about the business implications and benefits.
And explaining why and how it is possible to reduce her hours makes it a lot harder to say no to.

bossybritches · 19/10/2007 18:51

You may think it naive but Clooney shouldn't HAVE to is my point. Yes of course it may smooth the way but that's an HR probem not hers.

Blueshoes if it has no teeth then why is it pushed by the unions as being gospel? I've had to consider it & I did willingly for a member of staff but then we operate family friendly policies anyway. Small companies can get out of it as it has more impact on their business. Large business generally (not always I grant you!)have more staff to move around to cover the hours, & really have no excuse.

If we don't value & support our part-time workers, parents or not, we are losing a valuable resource which is not cost effective in the long run. Unfortunately many business' don't look at the long term benefits but the short-term losses.

bossybritches · 19/10/2007 18:52

You may think it naive but Clooney shouldn't HAVE to is my point. Yes of course it may smooth the way but that's an HR probem not hers.

bossybritches · 19/10/2007 19:23

oops sorry double-posted!

blueshoes · 19/10/2007 20:22

bossy, you are a great boss and employer. Not all are like that. Lots of companies get away with murder on this front - look at the posts on mn on this subject.

"Blueshoes if it has no teeth then why is it pushed by the unions as being gospel?". Unions would LIKE employers to think it is gospel. But I am 100% sure about this- it is not. It is so easy for employers to cite 'business reasons' why it would not work and get out of it just like that.

I am a lawyer, and I consulted an employment lawyer when my flex working application got turned down. Just to show you what I was dealing with.

bossybritches · 19/10/2007 20:26

Gawd blueshoes- it's a minefield isn't it?

As a small business I try & stick to the legislation as much as possible for fear of litigation mainly but also because I think it's the right thing to do!

Big business' have shareholders/big bosses to answer to so the pound is king & sod the humans involved I guess!

TheDuchess · 19/10/2007 20:34

FFB's suggestion about outlining how the 5 hours would be covered is damn good advice. If you present the business case then there is a much better chance that it would be approved.

You'll also need to be very clear about your objectives/targets and how these will be achieved given the resources available. Is there anything your team does that is a waste of time? Could you do anything quicker? Could you offer to increase productivity in some way?

Life is often give and take.

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