Please please can someone give me some return to work advise??

[Helpmeout16]

Ok I’ll try and keep this brief but hoping someone might be able to give me some advice/experience before I go pushing back so to speak.

I returned to work full time flexy working over 12 months ago, they now want me back in the office part time.

I advised them I can accommodate 1 day in a May time based on chosen nursery availability and this has been the status for some time, eventually building up to 3 days which we originally agreed and discussed.

They have now said they want 3 days from Jan, yes Jan and ultimately if I can’t find other childcare asap then my contract will be reduced.

Can they do this?
I’ve stressed I’m not just going to dump my child anywhere (surely they wouldn’t!) to please their working requirement for it to be changed again in May but the stance remains.

i just don’t know if I’m in a position to kick of or anything?

Any feedback would be appreciated, I’m unsure where to turn. I can’t really afford to resign either.

thank you so much.

As pps have said, it's entirely unreasonable to continue as you are.
However, your question was about whether they can summon you back as soon as January.

I think this depends largely on your communications when you returned to work. This was more than 12m ago, which bodes well for you. Did you request your current setup via a flexible working request, through the employer's process? Did they say anything about trial period, being subject to change etc?

Has anyone else been asked to start working from the office - is it a policy shift, or just you? The latter would again work in your favour.

Finally have you had any reviews or other comms with your line manager about your work quality or quantity? Any feedback?

Help her submit a statutory flexible working request.

But how is that going to help her? She wants to be paid full time hours for part time work. No business is going to agree to a flexible working request which asks for this!

Yeah so there is clearly a reason why they are summoning you back to the office. You aren’t working your full hours and they know it. Your work might be up to date but from their perspective, this means that your job doesn’t need to be full-time, or you have capacity to take on more work.

As for the talk of flexible working requests - no employer is going to agree to a request that provides for you to work full-time, around full-time care of a baby. It just can’t be done. Even people who do work fully remotely still use some form of childcare for children that young.

Your best bet is probably to just try to negotiate on the return date, assuming that you do want to keep the job. Agree to return to the office but say you need more notice, and tell them what would suit.

This

I have a friend who worked from home during covid. Said it was so easy. Had all household jobs up to date.
I also know of people who work from home and can fit in coffee with friends, the gym and pick the kids up from school at 3pm. It’s a joke. There is no way they can be fulfilling their hours. So does this mean the work force do not do the same amount of work they used to do. Maybe time for everyone to get back to the office.

Maybe time for everyone to get back to the office

Don't tar us all with the same brush. I've worked from home for 13 years and there's no skiving going on. I logged at 8 this morning and apart from 30 mins for lunch I worked non stop until 5.

@truffleruffle I WFH most of the time. I work very hard and over my contracted hours. I probably work harder than when I'm in the office because I don't get distracted by the office chatter, coffee breaks etc.

Just because the OP is taking the piss doesn't mean we all are

No I honestly don’t believe everyone is. I also know people who work extremely hard from home and I should have said that.
The ones who are not working their full time hours are different.
I couldn’t have looked after a child and worked from home full time.

If your job has expected hours and you are working less then you are already working part time and they should pay you accordingly. I think it’s shocking that you expect to faff around all day working or not, having no one able to rely on your hours and your baby doing… what exactly? When do you take your baby outside or play with her or go to baby sing or anything?

Totally fine to choose not to use childcare but you therefore cannot work. Someone needs to look after the baby properly and someone else needs to do a proper job. The same person can’t do both things at the same time.

this is only going to get harder as your baby gets bigger and more mobile so best to figure it out. Can you take an u paid leave of absence?

I think the OP has been caught out. Why do women spoil it for others by doing this sort of thing.

Just find a great nursery and ask your employer to be flexible until they have all of the availability that you need, they should understand that good childcare isn't usually available on two weeks notice, but show them that you are actively working on this. Or risk your job, your call.

Absolutely. She had a cushy number, coasting, working part time and being paid full time and no childcare costs and is now mad they've spotted they were being taken for a ride and the gravy train is ending. They want her in the office so they can give her work to do that will fill her day, presumably, as she's currently filling most of it looking after her baby and only doing the bare minimum requirements of the job.

Women like OP make it harder for the rest of us who just want reasonable work life balance without taking the piss.