Making a flexible working request after maternity leave

[motheroreily]

Hello. I would really appreciate some input around my flexible working request.

Before maternity leave I worked full time in an admin role. I would like to return part time (preferably either 0.6 or 0.7. If 0.7 I would prefer to do the half day from home to save on travel time but am open to other patterns).

I am the only administrator in the team so my workload cannot be reallocated to anyone else. So I think if the workload didn't fit into these hours I'd need a job share. I think it is unlikely that my manager would agree to this.

I work in a big organisation (over 2,000 employees) so I would be happy to move to a different role too if this were part time.

I would love to hear any ideas about how I can make my argument or any suggestions on other things I need to think about.

Be willing to work the days they want you to in the office.

The process has just changed so you don’t have to justify it for them, just you. Being as flexible as you can wins favour though.

normally such a large organisation would have scope to advertise for a job share etc

How is work given to you and how urgent is it?

is it viable to do your role in less time or will you have to have a job share to manage?

Thank you these are all really good points.
I am flexible on the days I work (as long as I can get a nursery place - that's another issue!)
I was also thinking I could suggest compressed hours over 3 or 3.5 days (eg working 0.75 or 0.8 FTE)
So there are a few options I can suggest:

• Part time 3 or 3.5 days a week
• Job share if needed to manage workload
• Just reducing to 0.8 but doing compressed hours over 3.5 days

I think going in with YOUR preferred pattern and then offering some alternatives that would also work would go in your favour

My job (also admin) turned down my flexible working request to drop down to 4 days as they'd struggle to recruit for just the one day, but hopefully they agree to 3 days for you with a job share.
What's the reason for wanting to work part time? If it's work life balance then they may turn down compressed hours :/

Assuming that they don't have any random, unreasonable biases against flexible working per se, their main concern is going to be about how they manage to cover the workload.

As an employer, I would want to be sure that a) we could still cover everything that needs to be done and b) that one person reducing their hours isn't going to unfairly increase the burden on other staff.

Are there processes that could be changed to eliminate some of the workload without compromising on quality/shifting the work to other people? Any duplication of work that could be streamlined? If the work can be covered effectively in reduced hours (and therefore at reduced cost), then that's actually a win for the organisation as well as the employee.

My preferred option is generally compressed hours on a full time contract as we don't actually lose any resource that way. However, it depends a bit on the nature of the role and whether cover is required during the working day.

I am generally quite happy to consider a job share and/or splitting the workload into two separate part time posts, as either of these options means that there would still be enough resource to get everything covered. Having two part timers (job share or separate roles) is obviously more expensive for the organisation overall (higher costs for same FTE) so there are some downsides, but there are also some benefits, e.g. more cover/continuity if someone is off sick/on holiday/resigns etc, so it is definitely worth thinking about for an employee that we want to retain. I would generally be asking you to look at 0.5FTE in that scenario though, as it isn't easy to recruit or manage a job share partner for less than half the week.

Honestly, a lot will boil down to how keen they are to retain you. For a really good employee, we will suck up a less than perfect arrangement in order to keep them in the team. For someone that doesn't contribute as much, we would try to accommodate your preferences but we would need to ensure that there wouldn't be a detrimental effect on the organisation/other staff.

A job share will be more expensive for them - they could refuse on that basis.

They have a business reason for the work to be done 5 days a week - they can refuse on that basis.

While you don’t need to justify the business’ position it is only going to help you to consider their ability to grant your request.

Thank you these are helpful points too and have given me more to think about.

My role is a bit weird. There's certain parts that have to be done for business to continue and other parts that are added on because I'm there. Plus being the only administrator work can't be reallocated to anyone else (alot only I know how to do).

Yes someone is employed to cover my maternity leave.

My manager previously said the role wouldn't work as part time (just an off the cut comment). However I know people in other teams that work flexibly eg term time only, School hours, part time, remotely, compressed hours. So the organisation definitely supports flexible working. Perhaps I'll need to find a job in another team.

Who's covering your maternity leave? Might they consider a job share?

What happened pre baby when you went on holiday? There must be some cover.

I'd 100% recommend delaying the application until you're back at work. You can use accrued holiday to work a 3 or 4 day week for a good few weeks to allow you to get back in the swing of things (whilst on full pay).

Presumably the cover person wants a full time post……

Yes I think the cover person would want full time.

There is no cover when I go on annual leave. The work just waits until I am back.