Asked to increase part time hours

[GGee123]

I currently work part time 3 days a week managing a team of 11. I have been in the role for 14 years, working part time for 8 of those years. I easily do the equivalent of a full time role, working long days on the days I work, occasionally working on my days off, continually monitoring emails & have never had, to my knowledge, a situation where my working part time has negatively impacted my team who are all performing well.

We have recently got a new Director who wants me to increase my hours, she has said ideally 5 days but would settle for 4. I really do not want to increase my hours, I would struggle with existing commitments & am fortunate I don't need the extra money. Her argument is there needs to be cover at all times & has said she'll initiate a consultation. I'm possibly prepared to work a 4th day til school pick up time but don't believe this will be acceptable.

I've spoken to Acas so I know the facts, but I'm a bit lost on exactly how I should approach this, what I should say or what arguments I should make to get the best outcome. Or whether I should just suck it up & be grateful I have a job!

Regardless of the “legalities” If the company want someone full time and OP is not prepared to go full time they could just re-org the department, make that particular role redundant and hire for a new role. Personally, I would wait it out. They can’t fire you without cause. So they either keep you on the 3 days you want to work or they make you redundant in which case having been there 14 years would be a reasonable payout! Win win!

Yes without further info I would agree with you. I did said could be and also to seek legal advice.

Just from the other side, I find it difficult when my managers are part time. I have a few because I'm in a secondary school. There are a couple who are part time and it's frustrating when something needs to be sorted out and they're at home. Tasks aren't always transferable to other managers. For example, one of the PT managers is in charge of IT infrastructure for teachers, so it's not a case of just asking someone else. In my opinion, management jobs don't fit well into part time hours.

@GGee123 ACAS sets out the process for making contractual changes. https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract/employer-responsibilities/proposing-employment-contract-changes

What strikes me is you are not being honest with yourself about what hours are actually needed to do your job. You are also confusing the number of hours you are contracted to work vs actual hours you are working.

From what you have said your Director/employer could make a fairly strong business case your job can’t be done in your contracted hours.

Your Director/work may believe in presenteeism, if that is a case you need to talk to your TU and other part timers as volume of numbers can make a difference if they are trying to get all part timers to work full time.

However, they may becoming at this from a duty of care and concern that legally they are not paying you fairly. Plus you are making a full time job look part time.

I can understand your concern about not wanting to be made ill again. In my experience managers and employees can be very limited when thinking about flexible working. Creative approaches can and do meet business needs as well as personal needs.

As pp have said the first thing for you to do is to record what you actually do for several weeks. Yes it’s a pain but you need evidence. Make sure you account for everything, every phone call, email, discussion no matter how small. In particular how much do you do on your 2 non-working days and evenings etc. This will be key evidence to support your business case to retain part time working. Additionally, as a pp has suggested if your Director wants you to take on extra work for increasing hours you can prove you are already at/over capacity.

At the same time work out your non-negotiables e.g. 2 nights with no evening working, one non-working day, flexibility to pick up children, etc.

Once you know the true hours you are working and when, you can then start to work out a flexible working pattern. If necessary come back on this thread and we can help.

As pp have said also look at the team structure and identify one or two posts/team members who could be deputies. This makes sense from a business continuity perspective e.g. illness, holidays etc. It also makes sense from a motivation perspective e.g. learning and development to get them ready for their next step. You could also suggest the deputies get slightly extra pay by taking the difference between your full time and part time salary - I would do this by creating a daily allowance they get on days they cover your NWD.

You could also suggest a 3 month trial period of increasing your hours and days. E.g. increase to 30 hours a week, guaranteed finish at 14:30 on 4th day and deputies cover on day 5.

Ultimately an employer has the nuclear option of consultation, dismissal and re-hire. Not good employment practice, but not many people can afford to go without wages for 2+ years waiting for a constructive dismissal ET.

All these people saying you can't be a manager unless you're there 5 days a week, I'm confused. What do teams do when their manager is on leave for 2 weeks? Surely a good team can manage without being managed every minute of every day?

Did you even read it?

Gosh, wish I could have one of these have a chill day on Friday jobs! Every day is pretty relentlessly busy in my office.

Being on leave is different from a daily role - presumably unimportant activities can be put aside.
I don't think that statement is necessarily true. It's very dependent on team structure but, off the top of my head:

• Managers are generally paid to take responsibility. Which means they have to 'sign-off' and make the decisions, accepting the ramifications. It isn't fair to make a junior member of staff do that.
• A large part of the job isn't about supervising your team, but clearing the obstacles in their way. This means facing off to senior leaders, other teams, the rest of the business. Sometimes you need people with more seniority to 'push things' through. Also escalations.

Ultimately deputies, job shares etc are good solutions but there needs to be a high degree of cohesiveness and clear career paths for each individual. E.g. if a deputy is doing the same thing as the LM after a certain point surely they shouldn't remain just a deputy? And in a job share where one person has a significantly different style/is better than the other.

I think PT working benefits an organisation long-term but the entire team and role has to be crafted around that. It reduces dependence on any single individual.

She needs you more than you need the job; you call the shots.
Just make a polite but formal written response

"Thanks for your views.

I have held this part time , 3 days a week post successfully for 14 years and for family reasons have absolutely no wish or intention to extend my working hours or days. In fact I would really prefer to cut down.

Perhaps you could consider employing an extra member of staff to job share? "

    Meanwhile,   you mention to some trusted colleague that if the Director tries to make you work more days you'll just  resign, not as if you need the money...

Where do you read the manager needs her more? Dangerous to have this arrogant approach.

I easily do the equivalent of a full time role, working long days on the days I work, occasionally working on my days off, continually monitoring emails & have never had, to my knowledge, a situation where my working part time has negatively impacted my team who are all performing well.

You've torpedoed your own argument by admitting that you are carrying out a full time role in part time hours. This is what your new manager is simply pointing out to you. Fund a way to make more hours work.

the company would need to demonstrate I can't do my role in those hours you can't. You're making it worse by working outside your hours.

Can you agree to 4 days, essentially getting paid for work you're already doing - but then work more to rule. Eg no more long days, evenings or checking emails. This way you have no extra work but more income and a better work - life balance.

If you're already working extra hours then I would accept the increase in pay to cover it, but be clear what level of flexibility you need so that you can still cover whatever you need to at home. I appreciate that you like the flexibility you currently have, but the reality is that you're still sacrificing your own time to cover the work. Be clear with your boss on the times that you're not prepared to work as you need them for family life.

They are still doing these things in the real world. Myself and a friend have had it happen. It's disgusting and often women doing it to other women.

I have literally just explained than no, a company cannot “restructure” in order to make a part time role a full time role. They would lose an unfair dismissal case if they did so.

I've worked in a place that wanted to do this, and represented several staff during it (as a fellow Union member). My advice? Join a Union. No, seriously, try and put it back on to the manager. But be prepared - who else could pick up some of the work. If the sticking point is that someone has to be 'available' on all days, then who in your team might be able (or willing) to step up? Have some examples ready of how you have successfully managed without this in place already. But also be prepared that the Company can effectively do what it wants - within reason, and that it is not there for you. And, seriously, think about joining a union!

Are you part of a work place union? Usually an email with advice from your union rep stops mangers like this before you need to take it further

This

I’m guessing if they want you to go full time and you don’t want to then they’ll need to pay you redundancy?!
maybe start looking for a less stressful job and take the redundancy

I think your employer has a point. Quite clearly you are not able to evidence that you can complete your job in the hours you are contracted to work because you are always working extra.

If it were me I’d want to be paid for the days I’m working…. I wouldn’t be working for free all for a bit of flexibility. As a manager I wouldn’t want my staff working over and above their paid hours consistently either. You state that it previously impacted your mental health negatively before but you’ve gone from working the hours and being paid to working the hours and not being paid and on paper it looks like you work part time when in fact you aren’t really.

To be honest, if I were in your position I’d take the 4th day and get paid fair money for the hours worked and any extra holiday this generates or look for another role that can actually be accomplished without my part time hours.

This sounds lovely, but I suspect it’s not that simple. If OP could funnel all the extra work she does into an extra paid day, without doing anymore on top, she would have thought of it herself and offered to do a fourth day!

I get it OP. Been there. 3 days is what, 40 hours, 4 days would be 50-52, 5 days 60. I don’t know what the answer is. PT roles in demanding jobs can be really hard.

This!!

You have my sympathies, I have been in your situation, I am no longer there but I do work 5 days a week now in a less stressful job and no one who was part time in the company I used to work for are there either they all left. That department of the company fell to shit and lost their license to practice because what they didnt realise is that we all worked bloody hard and way more hours than we wee paid for.

If you are sure that they are trying to manage out all part time workers then you can press on sex discrimination as most part time workers are women. However if it is just you, they can essentially make the "part time role" redundant, if they then offer you the full time role and you turn it down, if they dont think you have turned it down for a good reason, they can refuse to pay your redundancy. I was lucky, I was furloughed so the company could fleece government money and I asked for my redundancy which I got. Legal advice told me this was the best way to move forward.

Good luck OP, this sort of presenteeism thinking is so old fashioned, if you work flexibly with your people you get the best out of them. Some weeks I worked 60 hours as I was essentially doing 2 peoples jobs and I got paid for 32. The director who came in was a child free single lady in her 50s who did not believe that women (even men who took active parenting) with children should be in sales and that no one should be allowed. She had no understanding or want to understand.

I am glad I am gone, its not worth it. If you can get a flexible 5 day a week job with less stress I would recommend it.