Has my Flexible Working Request been handled correctly/fairly?

[MotherhoodLife]

I’ve been having quite a stressful time with my Flexible Working Request. I’m on maternity leave and I’m due to return to work in 6 weeks. I put in for a flexible working request on 5th May and I am still yet to receive a formal written decision on my request (8 weeks today). I’m not entirely sure what to do from here if I don’t receive a reply by the end of the day today. Please see below for the timeframe of my flexible working request:

5th May: Put in for a flexible working request. I was told that I was putting in for a flexible working request too early and that they would like to book in for a meeting to discuss on 1st June.

6th May: I responded stating that in line with both guidance of ACAS, GOVUK as well as the internal company policy, there isn’t a requirement for a request to be submitted a set number of weeks in advance. The statutory process should be that a decision is made within 8 weeks of my initial request.

8th May: They emailed stating that whilst ACAS and GOVUK don’t stipulate a time frame, the company only requires 8 weeks notice before your return to work for a flexible working request. That same day I went back to them stating there was no written company policy stating unless they can provide me with one (which they couldn’t) therefore my request will start from 5th May.

11th May: I received an email asking if I was free for a teams call to discuss in details on 18th May.

18th May: Had a teams call with HR and my manager to discuss the request in detail. He stated that he was more worried about the work phone situation and briefly mentioned that there’s not really an established temp desk there anymore. I was flexible and said that I can do a trial period should it be necessary and I can change the working from arrangements too. I sent over a follow up email to thank them for their time but I didn’t receive a response.

1st June: 2 weeks went by without hearing anything from them. They emailed me on Monday 1st June asking if I can be free on Wednesday at 3pm for a teams meeting which I accepted

2nd June: I recieved an email for a meeting cancellation as my manager was out in London and asked if they could move it to a Thursday, I accepted.

4th June: Had the meeting, they told me that they can accept my 32 hours but they want me to have Thursday as my day off (which wasn’t what I requested and didn’t help my childcare situation) my manager explained that it was difficult for me to have the days off that I wanted on a temp desk, and then told me they can offer another alternative of moving me over to a perm desk.

After the meeting I followed up with a email asking about what my salary change would be, my holiday entitlement and if there was any flexibility on the day off.

9th June: I recieved an email from HR stating that they asked if I could work on the following days at 32 hours a week, they stated that this was proposed to me on the basis that running a temp desk has a high demand on payroll, as well as clients and candidates requiring there shifts being filled. We have also proposed to you that when you come back off maternity leave, that you can move to run a perm desk, they stated that this would alleviate the demand for payroll on Monday and Tuesday and alleviate the high demand from clients and candidates on Fridays. They declined a movement on the non working day for temp but advised me that if I’m considering running a perm desk when I come back, there could be more flexibility on the non working days due to not having to meet a high customer demand.

10th June: I emailed back stating that I am keen to move over to a perm desk however my flexible working request still remains my preferred arrangement as it’s based around my childcare responsibilities and the practical arrangements that I’ve tried to put in to support my return to work. I stated that as my understanding is that those operational constraints would be reduced or removed on a perm desk, I would like my flexible working request to be considered on a perm desk. They replied that same day saying thank you for my response and she’ll let my manager know.

15th June: I didn’t have an update so I emailed asking for an update.

16th June: HR responded saying that she’s waiting on written confirmation from my managers which will be by the end of the day, if not before. And they will get the final agreement over to me asap and thanked me for my time.

17th June: I responded saying thank you etc. no response or update from them.

19th June: I emailed for an update, no response.

22nd June: I emailed again for an update, no response.

23rd June: I got an email back saying sorry for the delay, she’s been speaking with my manager and they are working out the final logistics of the request to ensure all parties are happy. She also said that she made all parties aware that the 8 week deadline is approaching and that she has to respond to me in that timeframe and said as soon as she has an update she’ll let me know.

29th June: Still hadn’t heard anything, so I emailed again and I received no response.

30th June: Today is the 8 week deadline and I’m still waiting on a response.

I haven’t had any chance to make any appeals yet either, which are stated in their company policy that any appeals will have to be made and dealt with within the 2 months of sending my request. I really don’t know where to go from here?

Because you’re after a long weekend. What difference does it make if you have a Monday or a Wednesday, other than wanting a 3 day weekend? Believe me, I chanced it when studying and requested a Monday or Friday. They saw right through me and gave me a Wednesday, which is fair enough.

It’s like you think that sorting out your flexible working request is the only thing they have to do. They have other work too…ffs

Op they have 2 months to conclude the process, but they were very incorrect to say you put it in too early and I wonder if there are planned changes meaning it would have suited them to drag it out to end July?

Anyway, they do have a little longer so just sit tight although I know its stressful when you need to confirm childcare.

And to the poster above - it doesnt matter if op wants a long weekend off to sit around scratching her arse all day.

But what's wrong with that? If a Wednesday or a Friday work equally well for the business why would the employee getting the working pattern they want be a bad thing?

I used to work a four-day week and had the Friday as my non-working day. Of course I liked the long weekend but I wasn't being paid for the Friday so why shouldn't I enjoy it?!

To me, it sounds like your inflexibility is because you are having to accommodate the working demands of your co-parent. Admittedly I don't work for anyone, but I'd assume that your childcare should be governed around your working demands. So on the days that nobody in the family can have your child(ren), you arrange paid childcare.

I think you sound very entitled and I’m glad you don’t work for me

No, I actually would have wanted a Wednesday to break up the week but that didn’t work for my employer as there was a whole team meeting that day. I chose Monday for two reasons (1) there are less deadlines on a Monday - it meant that although I started the week behind I could catch up by the end of the week when more deadlines tended to fall (2) there is a holiday advantage - since most bank holidays tend to fall on a Monday - you tend to get a couple of extra days holiday to spend when you want to.

At my workplace there were about half dozen of us who chose different days for different reasons. And even if someone’s reason is that they want Friday or Monday because they like having a longer weekend, I don’t see what the problem with that is. It seems as valid as any other reason.

Because why should your colleagues have to have a very stressful Monday/Friday to cover you, just because you don’t want to work?

Just to clarify, what I mean is that it sounds like you're trying to minimise the times your child is away from her co-parents or perhaps wider family, to cut down on paid childcare. I think that isn't something employers have to accommodate. Am I right in saying it would be cheapest for you to do it your way and your child would need to be in nursery or with a childminder less often?

I don’t quite understand why working part-time, and not working on Mondays or Fridays, would be more inconvenient for colleagues that not working on a different day.

Because most things tend to happen on a Friday, or over the weekend and then need to be dealt with on a Monday.

There may already be fewer staff in on those days.

I think they are handling this poorly. Not responding to your emails. You having to chase them up over and over again…
you have childcare arrangements to put in place I presume so a bit of a heads up would be helpful

I would start looking for alternative childcare in case you do end up with Thurs off. If they can do the reduced hours but has to ba a Thurs off to meet business needs that is not unreasonable.

Mondays and Fridays are more popular for AL so would impact team cover more. They arent unreasonable to say it has to be a day that suits work even if not the day that works for childcare.

Surely that depends on where you work? We generally try to keep Fridays clear of important meetings, for example, so people can catch up a bit and we all tend to finish a bit early on a Friday. All our important stuff happens Tues - Thurs as that also when people (including our clients) are most likely to be in the office.

In my work Friday is the quietest day of the week. My flexible working arrangment didn't rely on other people picking up my work except in really extreme circumstances (and then it would be my boss), but if it had why would it have been better for them to have a stressful Tuesday than a stressful Friday?

Why is it ‘hassling’ them? The OP is returning from mat leave and needs to make arrangements for childcare asap. Hence the early request. By not responding in a timely manner the employer is showing that they don’t really care about their employee. Perhaps they hope she’ll just resign if they string her along much more,

Timescales and deadlines aside, the long and short of this is that your employer does not have to accommodate your preferred non-working day if falls within one of the 8 allowable business reasons to decline a flexible working request.

Your planned childcare arrangements are not sonething that your employer has to give any consideration to when reaching their decision.

They are allowed to offer you an alternative - which they have done because they offered Thursday as your non-working day.

When I went through this they agreed but I was not allowed Friday off as it was the most popular day for annual leave and if I was never there it meant one less person could take AL in our team of 6 which wasn't fair. I got Tuesdays off, no choice.

I appreciate that might be the case in your workplace, but not in mine.

We have a policy that deadlines are set for Wednesdays (with Thursdays as the back-up), because for years we had Friday deadlines and it ended up with people staying late, extra stress to get things out before the weekend, and all with the feeling that it couldn't slip to Monday as then the work was technically delivered a week late.

It's so much better now. When I came back from mat leave I asked to go down to 4 days a week (compressed) and said I'd be flexible on which day, and the business actively asked if it could be Fridays.

Workplaces are all so different. What works in some doesn't work in others.

They responded on 4th June. Then the OP requested a different arrangement because the one offered didn't suit. So they've had to go back to the drawing board with the perm desk thing, which is a bigger change I guess and have so far only taken three weeks. It's not like they haven't responded at all.

As someone who had no choice but to pay a fortune for full time childcare (no family help at all), it annoys me when people try and bully workplaces into certain arrangements to suit their childcare needs.

No Sarah, it’s not that you ‘can’t’ work on Fridays, it’s that you don’t want to pay for childcare. Fine if no effect on anyone but you don’t have a divine right to a certain day off.

In my job (public sector) time off doesn’t impact on anyone else directly in that way but trying to arrange a team meeting is a nightmare as everyone has different days off and expects to always be included.

It’s 100% down to the type of organisation and the work the team does.

That’s exactly the point - they are busy and they don’t need to think about wha’s happening in November until after the summer. They have other priorities at the moment.

They absolutely do need to think about whats happening in November if a flexible working request has been put in.

Handling FWR requests within the statutory timescale is part of the job, "being busy" doesnt cut it unfortunately.

I think the point is I gave them more than a years notice. They agreed verbally just not in writing. I am in a role which I could easily walk into another the same day as it is highly skilled but no one wants to do it. If I don’t get the hours I want (still 42 over 7 days) as it’s a 24/7 service I will go somewhere else. It’s just poor planning on their part. You don’t know what priorities my company have, but the point should be sending 2 minutes sending something in writing to keep me in that company. It would cost thousands in recruitment to replace me and would be bad for the company in the long term.