Am I being unreasonable to ask?

[Babynumberone369]

Hello, after some points of view please!
With school starting in a week, do you think it's unreasonable to ask your employer if you can shift your hours by 30 mins to accommodate school drop off?
I dont work in a role that requires me to there at certain times.
Thank you

Absolutely not you have the right to request flexible working and many people do. Google it.

Of course you can ask.

I asked. The head of department did block out time in his diary for school drop off and pick up a few times a week, so seeing that emboldened me to ask the same and it was fine.

ETA - I don’t have a formal flexible working arrangement. I just block out my diary as necessary. But I’m conscious that it’s very much workplace culture dependent.

Being unreasonable to ask with a week to go, should have submitted your flexible work request a couple of months ago if you wanted it in place for September but if you haven’t put it in yet then the sooner the better

@PotatoFan I know, my manager isn't very approachable and I've repeatedly chickened out. Appreciate I'll have breakfast club for the first few weeks/months, just long term the extra money each month seems nuts for less than 30 mins

Will It prevent you attending meetings?

@LadyLapsang No it wouldn't. I barely have any meetings and work almost completely independently.

When you make sure requesr, be sure to explain why your change of hours won't have any negative impact on the business and your immediate colleagues (and up and down your management line), and if there are any potential business benefits, be sure to highlight them. Also, show that you have considered any specific safety issues such as lone working. Good luck.

Like a pp said, it seems very late to be asking, so that part is unreasonable. It can hardly be a surprise your child is going to school.

But, if you work in a role independently of others, then it seems very reasonable to make that adjustment to your hours to suit your life better, and I can't see of a reason why it shouldn't be agreed if you don't need to liaise with others.

Are you asking to start 30min later and finish 30min later? One thing I have done which has really helped us to reduce my 1hr lunch break to 30min (legally I think you need 20min every 6 hrs or so)... So you might be able to amend start time without affecting finish time. If they are not approachable, I would just put in a formal request.

Re making the case of it not impacting your role, I would go through your calendar and say example, over the last 6 months or 1 year I have had 0 meetings before x am, or only 2 meetings before x am and I can be flexible on those instances (or similar).

You're not unreasonable to ask. You might have to wait for an answer.

Assuming that you just want to shift your set hours a half hour one way or the other, I can't see an issue.

I used to do 8.30-1 and asked if I could shift the whole thing by an hour to 9.30-2, and they were absolutely fine about it.

Thank you for all your messages, it was a no unless I give up my Friday wfh. Trouble with all the flexible working laws, nothing in place to account for how miserable they can make your life if you push for what you know is legally right

Yes a decent employer will accomodate you.

Damn read your reply.
Pathetic isnt it.
Is another parent available to help.

Damn read your reply.
Pathetic isnt it.
Is another parent available to help.

@Maisymouse2
It is pathetic!
I don't really know any of the mums yet, its her first year at the school. It's so annoying, it really would make no difference and means an extra £180 a month for a breakfast club she won't be at long enough to eat the breakfast 😆

It is your right to ask but their right to say no. You also left it pretty late to negotiate,

@LIZS according to flex laws they can only say no if it meets one of the 8 business reasons, which it doesnt... but obviously that means a tribunal which no one wants to do and still work there.
I wasn't asking to start the change straight away

Those business reasons are very wide/ broad, I'm sure they will be able to fit the reason to one.

Of course you can ask.

How are the two things related? Why does your work location on a Friday impact the need for a 9am start every day?

I suspect there is no good reasons and if you keep following through they’ll agree

Sorry to hear it was refused. Did you make a formal request? If so, sadly I think you are barred from making another formal request for a certain time (possibly 6 months? Not sure, please check, don't take my word for it).

Did they give a reason, and in writing? And is it justified? If not, write to ask them (very politely!) for a reason and a justification. If they've not given a justification, go back and ask them to clarify. Would they agree to a change of hours only on Mon-Thu?

There really should be a way for them to see that they can agree to your request, unless the business will grind to a halt just because you start earlier, LOL.

I know it's not great, but what if you gave up the Friday WFH in exchange for the later start?