I work part time but my maternity cover post has gone out full time.

[peachespear]

I posted this in chat but thought it may be better suited/more response here. Apologies for duplication. I work 30 hours and always have done in this role which I've been in for 2 years now (NHS) I am just finishing off for maternity leave and my temp cover post originally went out 30 hours the same as what my hours actually are, but there was no suitable applicants to appoint so it is in the process of going back out full time 37.5 hours, my manager has not officially told me this herself but my colleague has made me aware who deals with this side of things. I already feel like I pretty much do a full time job in part time hours but this knowledge that someone is going to be doing my job full time when I wil be returning to my same hours 30 hours (which I did confirm with my manager a few weeks ago and all was fine) is making me feel stressed thinking I'm now going to be expected to do even more when I come back and will be expected to pick up where the full time cover left off despite them doing more hours, they have already been pushing more on me lately and I actually have a bigger workload than another colleague who works full time and has the same job as me just supporting different people/teams. I only have 2 days left and won't be seeing my manager again to bring my concerns up (I am probably not meant to know that it has been changed to full time yet either). Does anyone have any advice/knowledge around this kind of thing? I just don't want to spend my maternity leave being concerned about my job and what kind of workload I will be coming back to and whether they can just make my post full time?!

Could it not just be that there weren't good enough applicants for a part time cover so they have made it full time so they actually get someone?

You are panicking and over thinking this. They couldn't get a suitable candidate so have upped the hours to get one, that's all. This should not have an impact on you upon your return. When you go back to work if you beleive you are being given an unreasonable amount of work then deal with it then.
For now your priority is having your baby and enjoying your maternity leave.

I imagine they'll fund the post for extra hours but less time (in months). I assume your post is only funded for 30 hours now anyway?

My colleague and I believe this could be the reason however my concern is that my cover will have more capacity for extra work due to increased hours and yet I'm going to be expected to continue this workload when I return on my contracted part time 30 hours, as they have already been pushing more onto me lately and gaining a bigger workload than my other colleague who I mentioned whose role is the same but who does more hours than me (its always been pretty equal before lately) but not sure where I would stand with this. Would they have to ensure they take some of the workload away?

If you're only employed for 30 hours, you can only work 30 hours regardless of how much work you're given.

They are putting the post out for a year (I will be off for 11 months), but recruitment in our trust is very slow anyway so will likely take a few months to get someone in, so there will also be an overlap I'm sure.

My concern lies more so with the workload, will they be required to ensure they reflect workload on my hours and not expect me to continue to do what the full timer has been doing in part time hours?

I understand where you're coming from and I also had this scenario but the opposite way around. I took on a maternity cover contract that was part-time and I just completely assumed the person I was covering usually did the same part-time hours. Found out the day I started that she was actually FT! But they'd wanted to save money by only getting PT cover...

Not surprisingly I was set up to fail and it was absolutely impossible for me to do her workload on 60% of the hours. And I also had people constantly forgetting I wouldn't be in the office everyday like the original lady.

I think your situation is a bit better though. Presumably you've been doing the job a few years so your cover will need time to get up to speed and won't be able to work as quickly or efficiently as you so what she can achieve in FT hours is not likely to be significantly more than what you can do PT. Therefore I don't think people will have unrealistic expectations of you when you come back. They may have gotten used to her working every day though so like me, you might need to just keep reminding them again that you don't.

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Do you want to work full time? If so I would be requesting that now, they clearly have some funds. If not I would be expressing my concerns now and just making sure they're documented for when you return. There isn't much else you can do.

Definitely not, 30 hours over 4 days is my maximum and this is what I signed up to. I will have to wait until the job is officially out which will probably be next week to mention it but my colleagues and I share the same opinion that they are going to use this full timer to push as much on them as possible and then expect me to come back part time and do the same job. I have been considering sending her an email next week when it does go out. It also doesn't make any sense why they are putting it out for a year when that will mean there will be a few months crossover.