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!

You may as well have tagged me in this post.
Nowhere have I stated I expect teachers to be at my beck and call. But if I had an issue so serious it warranted me getting in touch with my child's HOY I would not find it acceptable to wait how many days for a response. I'm not going to be contacting a HOY about something an ordinary teacher or a form tutor can sort out am I. A HOY is an important position, a position that I cannot see can be carried out buy someone that is not FT.
Your health visitor analogy makes no sense at all and is nothing like contacting a HOY.
I have already covered most of this on previous posts, and judging by your selective reading I pray to god you're not a teacher.

Would you really use a HV in an emergency? That should be a whole new thread in itself.

The fact you aren't happy that a deputy can't deal with it and can't wait an extra day for the HOY to deal with it shows you expect them to be answerable to you when it suits you. People have lives outside of work, you said you would understand if they were off sick or on a course do for how frequently you would have to contact a HOY one day a week wouldn't matter that much.

What sort of thing would warrant the HOY being available everyday for you to talk to anyway? I would doubt it to be life or death.

Obviously if I had an emergency I would go to A&E but if I had a minor concern I didn't want to wait a week on I would contact whoever the stand in was.

The school may now lose the staff member due to their unwillingness to be flexible - no guarantee there will be anyone jumping to take on the HOY role if she leaves. Many responsibility points are not worth the extra stress. Also, not sure if you have noticed but mumsnet is full of threads about people whose children do not have a teacher in place for September due to the national shortage so schools should be doing all they can to retain teachers.

@mummyh2016 the way a HOY and the AHOY handle such a serious incident would be exactly the same. You may feel better because you've spoken to the HOY rather than the AHOY but where I work you would get the exact same level of service, the same procedures would be used and followed etc because we work as a team and all know how to deliver at a high standard. As nice as it is to feel so in demand please trust me when I say if you were a parent at my school you would not be getting anything better or different by speaking to me rather than the AHOY. Of course I appreciate in other schools or your DC's school that may not be the case eg where an AHOY may be very new or inexperienced, but any school worth its salt will ensure all staff are trained well to deliver consistent quality in their job area/role.

Sorry this isn't overly helpful. But I just wanted to say I hope you mange to come to a mutual agreement my DS has part time teachers since reception he's now Y2 and at first I thought it was unusual. It works fine though and teachers are entitled to be part time too! Especially if they have their own young families to look after too.

Hi OP I was in exactly the same position as you until I left my school recently. A Year Head who went back on 0.8…they recruited a permanent deputy who took my role on the Friday and then during the week helped out in form time slots to deal with pastoral issues. It really helped me that the YH and deputy stayed together each year so he knew my year team inside out. At times it was tricky but as you say I think the school get a v good deal out of effectively two people working for one TLR shared. However my school had a blanket ban on any HOY working less than 0.8 so perhaps it’s the 0.7 that has triggered it?

Look, you’ve asked for opinions and that’s mine! You thought to yourself ‘I’m going to up my hours because I’m going off soon’ which you’re entitled to do but don’t be surprised that chopping and changing as now you want less hours again, hasn’t been agreed with. I find it interesting that you think the deputy(s) should see it as a great opportunity but maybe it doesn’t fit with them, just like full time doesn’t fit with you.

Im a teacher, have 2 children, have had to bend over backwards at times to accommodate what school wants as well as my own needs. It’s frustrating! But changing my hours to what suits me would have got me thinking how it might affect my employer long term or how accommodating it might make them to a request.

Thank you @ifihearmum for your kind words. I agree for parents it can seem odd because education sector just hasn't moved with the times unlike most other sectors when it comes to flex working. I'm pleased your son's teachers are making their job share work so well and he is getting a great experience.

@myusername sounds like you did a great job making your job share work too. I totally agree that having the deputy move with the YH makes job share so much easier. It was decided by powers that be a few years ago we were going to ditch that model and now have deputy YHs fixed in a year group and only YHs/Hoys move with their group. I don't like it nearly as much, don't think kids get chance to develop as impactful a relationship with the deputy YH cos they're always getting to know a new one and from cpd for deputy YH it's crap cos they only ever get to work with one age group over and over so think it puts them at disadvantage when applying out for HOY roles.

Actually @1angelic I didn't ask for opinions (or I would have posted on Aibu) I was after advice from knowledgeable HR bods and the like. Which you are clearly not.

If you had RTT you would have seen I would have gone back up to full time irrespective of pregnancy or not. My dc1 was getting their 30 free hours from September so why did I need flex working anymore?

I do think you have a fair point though @angelic about deputy wants and needs. However this is not what the school has communicated to me so I have to assume that it isn't the case.

Thank you for acknowledging this.

As you say ‘I’m not a knowledgeable HR bod’ (‘which you are clearly not’ as you liked to add, hope that made you feel better!) Good luck with it all.

What are the school saying to the other part timer? Are they trying to change her hours as well? It seems strange that they are saying not possible to do it part time but she is still there doing that?

I've got no experience of schools as employers but it does seem like the head is taking exception to the times you have changed your hours. Would a conversation with the Head help to flush out the issues or don't you think that would be helpful?

In a previous post you said “I increased my hours in September because my DDs 30 free hours began then and also because it meant I would get full maternity pay. I have also utilised shared parental leave effectively. I'm sure both these things could be irritants to the Head although hard to know.”

what do you mean when you said you utilised maternity leave effectively? Was it something that cost the school money like “returning” to work during holiday periods only?

if so, I can understand why the head was pissed with you deliberately costing the school extra money by both upping your hours to claim higher mat pay and pissing around with shared parental leave. You can’t then expect him to be flexible in return

Teachers aren't paid 'holiday pay' so the money earned during the Summer is what they earn over 195 days then divided by 12. Ironically if your maternity leave falls during the Summer holidays, you actually get paid less as the pro rata entitlement drops to mat pay.

Teachers don't get annual leave either.

I'm not in HR but I have experience of workplace grievance and discrimination/victimisation.

I think you took a big risk going up to 1.00 that they wouldn't let you drop back down. Whilst you say it worked for 2.5 years, maybe it was a PITA to them? Equally, a lot has happened in 2.5 years, businesses change, needs change, the pandemic has shown that. You changing your hours and going on mat leave has shown just how much your circumstances have changed.

For whatever reason I think they don't want to bens over backwards for you, and it's very hard to make that happen and have a successful working relationship afterwards. I don't think it's because you're a woman or because you had children either. Your hours have varied and they are stating 1.00 suits the business better.

I think your best bet is to focus your energy on finding a job elsewhere if you can't do 1.00. FWIW I'm 0.9 over four days and whilst I would welcome additional mat pay there is no way in hell I would risk my current contract by changing it at any point. I don't ever want to work 1.00 again. Surely when your second gets to 30 hours free you'll want to do 1.00 again anyway if it was for financial reasons? So it is only a short term problem to deal with.

Could you try for a 9 day fortnight and your DP do the same so only 4 days in nursery ?

Almost all my staff (not a school) are part-time, so it's the norm for us. But 0.7 in a leadership role is a massive PITA, because it's so difficult to get someone to cover the half day, if you decide to cover it. If you decide not to cover it, or are unable to do so, you notice someone being off for a day and a half much more than you do someone being off for one day.

I think you have shot yourself in the foot by going back up to 1.0 during the period before mat leave. You can't argue that pt worked well when you must have convinced them you needed to be ft in the role. You are trying to use the while system to your personal advantage at all points.

No.
It no longer meets the needs of the school.
It was manageable before and isn't now.
You increased your hours to effectively get more maternity pay. Sadly, that's now bitten you on the bum as they don't wish to reduce those hours.
The past prior to your maternity leave is now irrelevant. Even if everyone else was on those hours, it doesn't mean that you should get what you wish.
Also, it is more expensive paying for tow lattines staff members to get a 1.0 equivalent. Sadly teaching is great for the holidays etc but notoriously crap for day to day flexibility. I taught for over twenty off years and am glad to be out.