Part time after mat leave - benefits for the company?

[Cafeaulait27]

Hi everyone, I’ve had a baby and looking to go back to my previously full time office job in the summer. I’d like to go back part time due to childcare, but I’m unsure how to broach this with my company. I’ve read up on how to submit a request and what to include but as I’ve been away for so long I’m quite out of the loop, so unsure how I could put forward a case of how the company would benefit from me being part time as I’m not sure how the workload is at the moment in my department or their plans for the future. Does anyone know what people do in this situation? Should I have an informal chat withy manager first on how they think it might be useful for them? Or speak to a colleague to get more info on what’s going on in the department?

Thank you in advance ☺️

Your best angle is probably to paint a picture that it's part time or nothing. (Essentially that you can no longer work full time.) Then the pros for the company are you as opposed to hiring and training someone else. Remind them of all the experience you've got and how wonderful you are and what a pain it would be to replace you. Good luck!

Thank you, yeah, I’m not sure thatd work though. I should’ve mentioned that they brought in someone else from another department (on a permanent basis) as an additional person and also to cover for me. So I wonder if they’ll just keep them and not care whether I come back or not? So hard to know how to handle it!

I think you should talk to your LM. I don’t know how much you need to concern yourself about selling it to them as an option. They probably already have an idea you will prefer to return part time and I guess it’s for them to work out whether they can accommodate that. I hope they can. All the best.

I think it’s about being keen to find a way that works well for them too. You can’t persuade them to do something they don’t want to do but you can give the vibe that you care about it working for them as well as for you. So it’s more about how you would make it work for them too really rather than “wow having me part time is even better than having me permanently”.

Sorry that should say full time instead of permanently.

Thank you these are good ideas and have really helped me. Will keep you updated!