No more flexible working.

[UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter]

Quite a long story so will try and keep it short.
have been in my role for over 5 years and am the only person in my role so I am different to everyone else, in that they all work a full day, whereas there are periods of my job where I work much longer hours and also expected to be able to work from my annual leave. Have been sending emails and chasing queries from the side of the pool before. And also often not get lunch breaks.
now I don’t mind this and was prepared for this because I’ve always been able to work half and hour later and leave half an hour earlier.
a new manager has taken umbrage to this and has questioned it multiple times. I have always referred him back to the big boss who has said it’s fine and I’ve carried on.
I usually come in the half hour later due to commitments at home and taking dd to school as no transport from home to school. So she’s getting there half an hour early so that I can still get to work on time. (She’s 6th form so has the common room to sit in) and rarely leave that half an hour early, usually leave about quarter to ten to so 15/10 minutes early but often there until 10pm at etc.
sorry also forgot another element in that I have a voluntary role outside of work where I have been allowed to leave an hour early one day a week.

my line manager started questioning it again so the big boss called a meeting. He started off the meeting by saying he didn’t have an issue with my hours and appreciate that I always go above and beyond and work hard.

somehow by the end of the meeting because of my line manager not giving in, I now have to work the full time hours and have been given a term notice to stop the voluntary work or drop an hours pay a week. And any overtime will be given as time of in lieu that I can’t use as I want as they would rather that I say worked an hour and half overtime a day for a 6 week period and then for the next 6 weeks leave an hour and half early!!!

im very unhappy with this arrangement and said that I would want to take time off in lieu when I wanted to eg if I had a weeks worth could tack it on to my holidays. What good is going home early? I won’t benefit from that as a short term thing.

do I have a case to answer in that for 5 years this has been my standard practice and any way I can object and have my hours to changed?

Malicious compliance.
Work your exact hours, not a minute less. Crucially, not a minute more. Take all breaks, leave on time, take all holiday time and set to ‘out of office’, don’t work late or by the pool.

Once the new boss discovers how jobs pile up and you can’t do as much, they may well agree to going back to your previous way of working.

This post is very confusing. But it sounds like you are working one hour less per day including one day when you volunteer for another organisation. Are you still paid full time wages? And then claiming overtime on top?

In that case? I’d be like your boss and want you to work full hours every day.

Apologies if I’ve misunderstood.

I agree with the malicious compliance - if they are taking away flex in your day to day, they lose the free '24 x 365' support they were getting when you worked on things out of hours and on holiday.

I think unfortunately the voluntary role will possibly have to end though if you cannot do it outside of normal working hours.

so the overall boss has yielded to the new manager instead of putting them in their place and supporting you.

I agree that if they want the rules to be followed exactly, then you need to do the same and that means no work outside of working hours, so no more late nights or working on holiday.

They really cannot have it both ways. They drew the line in the sand not you.

I would also ring ACAS for advice as well, so that you get professional advice, not just opinions on MN.

Like PP have said, it’s now time you work only your set hours e.g. 9-5pm start on time leave on time, take your full hour lunch, not contactable on annual leave or weekends. It’s a two way street, if they can’t be flexible then you don’t need to go above and beyond anymore, and after 5 years perhaps it’s time to start looking at other roles? 💖

The new person for some reason finds you threatening and maybe wants to put you on your place.

I would start looking for a new role. And until I left - ask the big boss whether they really want you to work to rule?? Ie - do less overall?

To answer your direct question @UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter , yes they can do this, and no, your previous way of working does not matter regardless of how long it was. Contract law in the UK states that your company can vary the terms with sufficient notice, and you can decide whether to accept or to leave. Theoretically, you could do the same, and they can accept it or not.

I would be cautious about complete lack of flexibility for all sorts of reasons unless you really don't mind if they terminated your employment. A better way might be flexibility when it suits you, but to make sure that the odd ball gets dropped to make a point.

I think they have nailed their colours to the mast and it is time to look elsewhere. There are generally no winners when rot of this sort creeps in.

HR here. I’m a fan of malicious compliance and have been forced to do it myself (before leaving for a much better more flexible employer).

I imagine they want it all on the books. Official, so they know when you are or aren't in.

However, I would have expected your line manager to discuss this with the boss not you?

I currently work for n average 30 minutes a day less than I get paid for technically. But my overtime is unpaid. So in theory my 30 minutes a day that I get paid but don’t work covers my overtime

unfortunately if I don’t work the extra hours it’s children’s futures at risk as I work in a school and I am the only person doing this role. They could obviously find someone new and train them up but ultimately if I left tomorrow no one would know how to cover my role.

I will call acas I think. Although I guess if I push for them doing something wrong I will need to find a new job.

Which is a shame as I actually love my job.

I don't see how you can regularly work 30 minutes less than you are paid, but have unpaid overtime? You are either not working your hours, or you are working longer than your hours? Please would you clarify?

It sounds like a very messy arrangement, and I'm not surprised they want to tighten it up.

To be honest I have never worked out exactly how many hours over I have worked as was happy with the agreement and flexibility of how I was working. In all honesty they are probably getting at least a weeks worth of overtime out of me plus any time that I work over during the holidays.

i think maybe it worked out about even if you add 30 minutes a day over 39 weeks worked. Then I might be owed about 10-20 hours at the most.

the thing is the flexibility works for me feeling like I have to be there at x time and can’t leave until x time and now feeling like if I start packing up before that time I’m being watched (and I will be as share an office with line manager) is just going to grate on me and make me resentful.

guess it’s time to finish that job application I have open on my laptop.

unfortunately if I don’t work the extra hours it’s children’s futures at risk as I work in a school and I am the only person doing this role

I understand where you’re coming from but that is not your problem it’s now the schools. It’s sad when employers don’t appreciate the hard work effort employees put in. Especially this new line manager. They will really feel it when you’re gone, but when you say you’re leaving for a new role that’s when they’ll realise and try to accommodate you to keep you, it happened to me years ago, they didn’t get how much I actually did and how hard it was to replace me.

Could I ask - what sort of role are you actually looking for? Its just that what you are doing sounds horribly confusing and I sort of am with the new manager. Are you looking for a role that starts at say 1000 every day or something different. I know you say you do some overtime but then couldnt you then shift your hours to take the late start AND the overtime as the agreed hours?

I can kind of see where they are coming from.

I don't quite understand why you can't request to change your working day so you start half an hour early and finish half an hour later, and indeed also bake in a couple of extra half hours to cover the voluntary position.

But as a manager I'd not be terribly happy with the starting half an hour late, also finishing once a week an hour early with no firm commitment on how the additional hours are getting made up.

I'd also not be wanting people logging into work emails and making calls when they are on holiday as that time is to not work and have a break. I'd expect things to be handed over to someone else during that period tbh.

It's probably time to dust off your cv, sounds like you and manager just aren't a great fit in terms of working practices.

Well I don’t know how senior you are but in most jobs you are required to work the hours needed to fulfill the job. This means working the normal hours in quiet times and then also working any extra hours required. Very few people are able to work short hours when not busy.

I'm finding your post confusing and can't quite work out what hours you are working versus being paid for. You also say yourself that you don't know what hours you are working over so it's understandable that your managers are struggling with it. I'm sure you are a trustworthy person but it's difficult for them to have you coming in late, sometimes staying late, but one day a week leaving early etc. I don't quite know why you are "expected" to sometimes work longer hours or answer emails from holiday - is this really something which is asked of you or are you someone who has fallen into a habit of doing this and thinking that it has to be done? Bitter experience for many people here will show that many things will wait and that no-one is indispensable to a business - if you left tomorrow there would be a short-term hiatus and then someone new would arrive and carry on where you left off. Work your correct hours and don't martyr yourself for work.

I would no longer be flexible. Just do my core hours and leave, no more overtime. You could use annual leave to cover the half an hour each morning, until you find another job. I'd have a chat with hr, just check everything with them.

I work flexibly, but I log my hours (apart from the quick emails on a day off/researching Excel hacks while watching TV etc.) so I’m certain that I have evidence that I am still at my desk and working over my contracted 37.5h. I have 55h “in credit” for 2023 that I will never take. (Goodness knows what I’m technically owed from 2020-2021!)

If the big boss (fabulous woman) was suddenly replaced by a short-sighted megalomaniac I would revert to exactly 37.5h and coast to my retirement. As it is the organisation gets quite a good deal more than they pay for in terms of time and expertise.

If you knew exactly who owed who what it may give you more clout.

I’m not sure what’s difficult to understand most people seem to get it?

my contract is x amount of hours a week. Which for most means 8-4 daily.
when I started (should point this was after I started the role) I was told the core hours are 8.30-3.30 and because I would be required to work from 7-5 for a minimum of a 6 week period plus two additional days in the school holidays and then checking emails and replying, chasing exam boards etc where required. We also have adhoc exams over the year and the November series.
there really is no one else to do it. I am the only person covering my role. So if I am not checking those emails then maybe a child doesn’t get a college place as I haven’t confirmed something or answered a query.

I just got off the phone with ACAS and they have confirmed that this can’t just happen that after a period of more than 5 years I have what is an implied contract and have the right to continue to work as is. They said rhe head should not have given into the line manager. That the line manager is heading towards a constructive dismissal case by targeting me by keep raising the question when the question has already been answered multiple times.
you can’t make something go your way by keep asking the same question until you grind the other person down.

they are sending me a pro forma to complete to send to the head and line manager. So will see what happens after this.

It is extremely difficult to win a constructive dismissal case. It hardly ever happens.

Working in schools is weird, it's widely acknowledged that nobody gets their actual lunch break and working I the evenings is so normal for the vast majority of staff that the rest just forget you don't have to.
The school need more resilience in place as an organisation in case you get ill/injured/leave and s that you can set your Out of Office s someone else can pick it up.

I left school work last year and moved to another far more flexible public service employer. As an exam officer you'll have plenty of transferable skills and be able to have the work-life balance you crave, try the civil service and their arms length bodies

Could it be someone else in the office is complained to new boss about you starting later/leaving early? Or if they’re new they just don’t appreciate the extra hours you do at certain times of the year.

You’ve got a bit of a complex working pattern but presumably if you drop your hours to keep your current routine (or started working 8-4) they’ll then need to start paying you for the overtime you do when required? Would that maybe be better for you in the long run?

I’ve never worked somewhere where flexible working wasn’t recorded officially (either by my line manager or using electronic log in/log out). Current job is very flexible as long as work is covered but with previous employer we were told when we could take our TOIL due to business need (although our boss was fairly accommodating if you gave him some notice).

I wonder if the new manager is simply cautious about such a flexible arrangement. If you are frequently arriving at work later than the start time and taking time off in lieu when something crops up perhaps he thinks you are actually being paid for more hours than you are working. He may be unconvinced about the unpaid over time that you do. Do you log all your hours- the work you do outside of the normal working day, by the pool, the late starts etc so there is evidence that it is all balancing out? Some managers do prefer formality with that kind of thing. If you don’t do this, could that be a suggestion you put forward? As others have suggested , work your hours- not one minute more , take all breaks you are entitled to and work to rule from now on.