Flex work request denied- appeal

[Namechange1234589]

Hi I am after some advice regarding my appeal letter for the rejection of my recent flexible working request. I asked to return from my 2nd maternity leave on 0.7 hours which has been rejected with no counter offer made or any discussion at all with employer offered to explore other options.
After my first mat leave I returned to this same.role 0.8. Once my eldest began receiving her 30 free hours I returned to full time work for a few months before commencing my second maternity leave.
During the time I worked this role 0.8 there were never any complaints from employer or line manager nor any other colleagues or stakeholders (that I am aware of) and I believed I was doing a great job and still do.
Since submitting my flex work request I was informed by a colleague (also currently on mat leave) that she had been told by her line manager that someone at senior level told her line manager the top dog no longer wants anyone working the role my colleague and I work part time. Both she and I have previously worked the role 0.8 as well as full time.
There are only 7 of us who work this role within the business. 6 of us are female. Having looked at Unison guidance it seems that if the boss is unofficial taking a blanket approach to the working pattern our role can do the this could be indirect sex discrimination? The issue of course is that in rejection letter the boss has listed detriment to quality of provision for 3 separate things as reason for rejection.

The appeal will go straight to the CEO of business. Should I include in my letter that I am concerned my request wasn't fairly considered because it seems anecdotally the boss has told the senior team that he doesn't wish anyone in this role to be part time anymore? Or because I only have anecdotal evidence of this being said ( although it has come from a trusted source) should I leave it out entirely and not mention at all in the appeal meeting either?
My DH says don't put it in writing as it will look like I am a sour grapes person spreading gossip.
I genuinely feel this is discrimination though and how else do I prove it without notifying the CEO of this comment?

Thanks if you've made it to end of this post!

OP I think people have been unfair in suggesting that you shouldn’t request part time now because you went back full time for a few months.

You had a 3 year old so after a few years of part time it worked for you and your family to go full time again. Now you have 2 children, the youngest I assume will be around 1 or younger when you start back, of course or it’s not unreasonable at all for you to request part time work again.

Whatever you were paid on maternity leave is irrelevant, this shouldn’t be used as something to bash women with. You were entitled to it.

I agree with PP that going through union will be the best way to get this sorted. If the appeal is a meeting could you even have a union rep in with you?

I’d also recommended calling pregnant then screwed, they’re a charity who are fab at this kind of thing. Mention to them that you have a union involved to.

Hope you get somewhere with it all.

I don't think posters are suggesting it is an unfair request, anyone is entitled to do so. More that having negotiated it once to meet her needs she should not be surprised that a request to revert to pt has not succeeded a second time as the requirements of the post have changed.

Thank you @pink for your kind words and support. I am going to chase union today at national level for a case worker. My school rep has been lovely and said they will accompany me to all or any meetings I wish.

@LIZs but the requirements of the role haven't changed because the nature of my duties haven't changed....? I have asked the school to clarify what precisely about the duties in this role have changed since I last worked part time/since I went on maternity leave. To my mind they would have to change pretty blooming drastically to mean a jobshare was totally unworkable. I am waiting for the school to get back to me on this point. I also believe there is some kind of legislation that states a woman's role when she returns from maternity must be the same one she left. So if they have fiddled around with job specs hugely I'm not sure how that fits with me returning to a role that has been drastically altered compared to one I left?

It does not necessarily have to be identical, just same pay, terms and responsibility. How long will you have been off as this affects what is required to be available to you. However the ft role is available for you to return to. Had you remained pt before ml pt role at .8 would be available.

I would yes but in those circumstances I don't think a 4 day/1 day would be suitable. A 50/50 share then yes.

Thank you @lizs that is helpful to know. So I've done a mix of mat leave and shared parental so will have been off 41 weeks in total.

@mummyh2016 interesting. Perhaps I should look at financial implications of that for me and see if it's something that could work for me and whether school would consider that instead.

Part time working in schools, particularly leadership is a big issue at the moment. The government have commissioned research into it as quite rightly they identified they were losing lots of highly skilled, experienced staff due to lack of flexibility. Do some research and you may find example and evidence to support your claim. I am part time in leadership, it can be done, and I know of many other examples, including head teachers.

Exactly.

Honestly OP I think you are being really difficult.

I get why you think it can work, and I'm not saying you are wrong.

But your management feels differently.

Yes, the risk is they might lose you. That's their risk to take.

They are honestly not doing anything wrong - they want the post to be filled full-time by 1 person. That would be my ideal as a manager too.

"In my mind" is not an argument. In my mind I am a skilled horse rider; in real life not so much. I would also counsel you to think about how it will be (real life remember) to be working somewhere where you have forced management to do what you wanted them to do. You well win this battle but you will have to work on the scorched earth battlefield.

the requirements of the role haven't changed because the nature of my duties haven't changed

The requirements of the role don't have to have changed.

It of course depends on your T&C in your organisation, but in ours, we can make the decision based on our assessment of business needs at the time. The duties and responsibilities don't have to change.

This is managed by agreeing changes in work patterns for certain periods of time, and a review is then carried out. There is never a guarantee that it can be continued, regardless of the employee believing it works.

OP.
So this was an interesting panel discussion on work-life balance in teaching (scroll the page to find the right one): https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/future-terms
Speakers included people from the Shared Headship network and Flexible Teacher Talent, and they discuss the barriers and the ways schools can overcome them, so you might get some suggestions for your appeal.

Also, this article is interesting: https://teaching.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/22/how-school-leaders-can-build-a-flexible-working-culture/ as it's written by a Head Teacher involved in the flexible teaching pilot.

And if you haven't before, check out the MTPT project resources (again, one of their people was on that panel discussion).

There are loads of barriers schools put up to flex working but there are ways around it. Given the time of year though, you'll need to act fast before Sept. timetables are fixed.

@earrings this has made me chuckle. If wanting to retain a hard earned leadership role whilst working in a way that is also compatible with my family makes me 'difficult' then so be it. Darn these pesky, difficult women eh? Wanting families and a career. The brass neck of them. Would be better if we just knew our place and shredded our career ambitions as soon as we entered the delivery suite.... Maybe some managers should be less lazy and stop wanting everything nice and simple on a plate for them where staffing is concerned 😉 (ducks for cover)

Nothing worth fighting for ever comes easy and I am prepared to choose this as my hill to die on. I am aware pursuing this further than appeal stage would likely make things awkward at work. It shouldn't do though. As the head has said to me: it isn't personal- so assume that stance will work both ways?

@fizzgigg thank you for the links. I didn't realise either of these organisations existed. Will have a read and further look into it once baby is down for next nap.

I think PP are referring to the number of changes, full time to mat leave to 0.8, then back to full time and mat leave then requesting 0.7 now.

Have they had someone full time in your post while you were on mat leave? They could have realised the part time arrangement wasn't actually working that well after having someone do it full time. One or more deputies could have complained or now be unable to act up on your day off because of their own commitments or circumstances now.

There are legitimate reasons they could have decided they can't provide part time work currently. I know our school is actually struggling to get cover and non face to face teaching time more now then during other stages of the pandemic, it is possible this is about nothing more then what the school needs. Saying something worked in the past isn't prima-facie evidence that it will work now. It's one piece of the puzzle, but it's not the only important point.

@luna yes I fully accept that there are reasons why a school couldn't accommodate a flexible work request. I guess my issue is that the reasons the school have given me for refusing mine seem weak and spurious. I can counter argue each one pretty easily. If they had had the decency to at least speak to me.informally in person before formally refusing the request then they could perhaps have better explained in detail precisely what is happening for school currently that means they can't agree my request. I then perhaps would be left under no illusion that it genuinely isn't possible.

Yes during this mat leave the person covering me has been full time because I went back up to full time from September. If this has meant they now realise that works better for them then why didn't they say this in their refusal letter? Either they haven't explained very well their reasons for refusal in writing or their reasons are as spurious as I currently perceive them to be.

This OP you have shot yourself in the foot here. I hope the increased Mat pay was worth it. Honestly I'd offer 0.8 and take monday as my non working day.

@Namechange1234589

Don't be positing yourself as the vanguard of advancing employment rights for women, how ridiculous.

I work in third level education, there are lots of flexible working opportunities - which is why I have so many on my team, even tho it really makes delivering an even service challenging. But I accept it & manage appropriately.

In my own role, I could argue for flexibility & I think make a case for it. It is the organisation's position that it must be a full-time role, as it's a management position.

In your case, I understand why you wish for a flexible working arrangement that gives you the seniority but also the family / work balance. Equally I can see why it's a massive headache for the school and why they haven't agreed to it.

You're not prepared to see their position at all, and I think the approach that it's discriminatory does women a disservice actually (your patter about 'pesky women' set my teeth on edge). I expect however you will probably be successful as they will not want that allegation progressed. So you are probably correct, on a personal basis, to pursue it.

If they had had the decency to at least speak to me.informally in person before formally refusing the request then they could perhaps have better explained in detail precisely what is happening for school currently that means they can't agree my request. I then perhaps would be left under no illusion that it genuinely isn't possible.

I agree they should have done this.

I never understand why employers don't talk informally and openly with staff, it often heads off so much more challenging situations.

Is it possible you’ve annoyed them by going from 0.8 to full time just before hour maternity leave? Ofcourse you’re entitled to but I find that quite cheeky!

@goodskin I have tried to say I would accept .8 as a compromise! If the school had entertained an informal chat pre formal refusal I could have told them this and also told them I don't really mind which day I have off.

@earrings Hope your teeth have recovered now.

I absolutely would be open to see their position if a) they stated it clearly and in detail (they could have done this through informal convo)
b) their position seemed founded on insurmountable obstacles (which it isn't)

@Angelic so using what I am entitled to is cheeky? If I hadn't had a successful pregnancy and needed mat leave between my request for full time then my request for 0.7 would that still be cheeky? Or is it that my pregnancy went to term and subsequently I needed a mat leave the bit you are finding hard to swallow? Catch yourself on.

Have you done any KIT days? Did you try to sound out options beforehand or just submit the request?

@lizs I booked a meeting in April to discuss it informally with head and also to discuss some KIT days. All KIT requests were accepted in the meeting. In the meeting the head asked if I was wanting to keep my leadership role when going 0.7 and I said yes. He said he couldn't give a response on spot- I hadn't expected him to of course- and to submit my letter formally and he would go away and look into it. Which he did. Looking at the policy I expected a meeting to be called again if they couldn't accommodate my request to see if there were any other alternatives to explore. When I queried why this hadn't happened I was told it was because there were no alternatives to discuss and offer and this role could not be worked part time for foreseeable future.

Schools should be doing everything they can to hold on to good and experienced teachers. Schools that go completely hard line risk losing good teachers that will be impossible to replace in the current climate.

Is it any wonder people are leaving teaching? I've read some crap on this thread about how if someone had to wait one extra day to talk to the HOY how unacceptable this would be. Do you hear yourself? Parents honestly believe teachers should be at their beck and call - no other service provider expects this from their 'client'. You will still be dealt with by the deputy head, you aren't being ignored.

If I have to call my child's Health Visitor and she is on annual leave I may have to wait up to a week until I get a call back - I just have to suck that up and get on with it. If I feel it is an emergency, guess what I will go to whoever is her back up.

Teacher life is already becoming unworkable with family life with very little flexibility, School Concerts, Sports Day are all the things you miss out on your own child's life as a teacher. Senior Management in a school choosing to be difficult over this because want to be could well be shooting themselves in the foot.

Brava @BellaBellaCiao1 !