NHS refusing permanent part-time return after maternity leave and illness HELP

[SausageDogMum95]

I’m on maternity leave for the NHS in a mental health team but put a flexible working request in recently (developed auto immune condition while in post, it became very severe during and after pregnancy and I am now restricted with mobility and have childcare to consider).

initially my line manager suggested I do a phased return three days a week to meet the needs of the service and to allow me to ease back into the role. I have been granted this but when requested this could be permanent, was informed that they have refused my request because it would not benefit the service in the long term and the post is funded full time.

i have been told I can put an appeal in to the head of healthcare, this may then be escalated so they could look for alternate positions for me but will not do this unless I put an appeal in in writing.

I do feel as if I am being pushed out/pressured to resign as I cannot do full time. I do feel that I have been a good employee, unfortunately before the pregnancy when I became severely unwell I had to have three months off for surgery and recovery, and then during the pregnancy I had to have some time off (protected leave due to pregnancy) and was unable to work with the service group due to health and safety reasons. I feel for this reason they may be wanting an alternative candidate and pushing me to quit.

has anyone been in a similar position and could offer some guidance on what to do next? I would need to work three months on return because I have had occupational maternity pay. I am panicking a bit as all local roles close to me I am either unqualified for or are not suitable due to shift working etc, and a lot of the recent admin roles posted for NHS require Welsh which I don’t speak. Feel I have got myself into a real pickle here. I have been advised to apply for PIP but understand this can be a long process.

I would feel the same as you that I was being pushed out. I think your request for part-time is a very reasonable one. You're not asking for adjusted hours on the same salary. Are you in a union because if you are you should consult them. But I suppose they would need to hire somebody else to pick up your hours.

So a few questions:
Have you been to occupational health and got their recommendations/support for a RTW?
have you applied formally for the flexible working arrangement?
if so, have they formally replied?
What reason have they given to decline?
have you formally appealed the decline?
have you spoken to HR?

if all that has been explored, all you can do is RTW and either try the full time hours or go off sick with full pay for 6m whilst you search alternative roles, they will manage your sickness through formal policy during which they’ll support looking for alternative solutions/roles. The last thing the employer wants is to force you to pay you off to leave, so keep following this process. Do. Not. Resign. Until all else has been explored. They should be looking to redeploy you due to your health needs prior to retiring you on ill health.

Your required adjustments seem entirely reasonable. And during this time of significant cost cuttings this should be an opportunity to save money!!

If they need to provide full time hours then I cam see how it's hard for them if you only will work part time. They will then need to find someone to cover the remaining hours so they can provide the service hours. So could you volunteer to help with the recruitment? It's in your interest to get a job share here so maybe help them see it's possible

Try and take a step back and pause and work out what you’re asking for.

Are you asking for a phased return to your current role after Mat leave?

Are you asking for a permanent change to your role because your preference is not to work full time any more - and you’re applying under the right to request flexible working.

Are you currently not fit to work full time? If so, is that temporary or permanent? Is there professional involvement in the health issue? Is the issue a disability under the protected definitions?

It sounds like it might be a health issue/ disability adjustment type discussion Thats appropriate rather than ‘I’d rather not work full time’ generic type flexible working. The two are handled very differently from an employers perspective.

I came to type a response, but @Catsonskis has covered everything. You need to follow the flexible working policy and submit your request that way, and make sure you contact your union for support and advice. Job share is one way to ensure that the hours are filled, but you can consider different options in your formal request.

Your request may be a reasonable one - for you. They are saying they can’t make it work for the business, which they are allowed to do. I assume it’s a full time post and if they give you part time hours they will need to fill the additional hours, which they feel they will struggle to do. If they refuse your request they need to give you the reasons in writing. You can apply again, but not right away. Speak to your union.

I definitely wouldn’t resign yet. I’d appeal in writing and get your union or an employment solicitor involved before doing anything else.
Because your health condition may amount to a disability, this isn’t necessarily just a flexible-working issue — your employer should also consider whether 3 days a week could be a reasonable adjustment. Ask for an Occupational Health assessment specifically addressing whether a permanent 3-day pattern is medically appropriate.
My colleague was told she couldn’t retire as they needed full time post. She pushed, (politely)mentioned employment solicitors/HR.
Everything in writing
Manager changed their mind.
My opinion is that these managers need challenging on their decisions.
They make tough decisions with no thought or empathy for employees so make sure you are very tough back.

Mentioning childcare has absolutely muddied the waters.

If you need reduced hours due to your health this is a defined process which would need OH input and would absolutely need to be considered by your managers, but might mean that your position changes - reasonable adjustments are just that - can the business maintain their work whilst making those adjustments (eg you request a lift to work on 1st floor, business can't reasonably be expected to install lift, instead redeploy you to ground floor).

Your childcare challenges are not a reason for them to change their way of working.

A lot of trust have recruitment bans so if they red your hours then they lose them and can’t replace them
if you’ve asked for this as a flexible working request for childcare then they can refuse for needs if the business
if you’ve asked because you have a disability then there’s different rules they have to go by

which one have you done

How part time do you want to be? Enough so it can be job share?

How long were you in post before you got ill and went off in mat leave?

It may well be that they suspect you'll have another pregnancy and won't be bale.to work with your service users again, but if they follow the process there's not much you can do.

I was refused the ability to return part time after pregnancy years ago, they sumply wanted one full timer rather than two part timers, it hurt at the time, but I can see the logic of it really, the role wasn't really suitable to be split.

Where abouts in Wales are you? In South Wales all the adverts say you must speak Wlelsh, but very few successful applicants do....different in the North I appreciate.

Are the days or hours you are reducing by enough to make a reasonable job share position that people would actually want to apply for?

Yes i have been in the same position, i wanted to go part time in my band 6 post a fee years ago and couldn’t as it was a full time post, went through HR/ head of nursing etc and its entirely right they can refuse it. The service need is full time- if you reduce to part time they cannot fill the remaining hours as no one will only want 7.5 hours or 12 hours and theres no money to create more hours to make another part time role.

So yes its crap, it’s probably not personal and unfortunately it is legal.

I had similar but in local authority. I could have appealed and did seriously consider it, I made a flexible working request via email and got an email back saying they will not consider a part time post. Legally they had a duty to consider it and they're exact wording was that they won't, so I had good grounds for appeal.
Luckily I found another job in the same LA before maternity ended. There was a part time role as they had a staff member on maternity leave who wanted to return part time. It really pissed me off that my previous manager wouldn't even consider it and here in a another team they'd recruited someone else to enable it for their staff. I hadn't even had any time of or any illness and feedback was always that my work was outstanding, so I don't think they were trying to manage me out, they were just short sighted and thought I'd just suck it up and come back full time. That might be happening with you too with them saying you will have to appeal in writing, they may be betting on you not bothering. I'd go for it and appeal but also look for another job in the meantime.

I agreed with PPs saying you’ve muddied the waters by talking about flexible working, childcare and your health needs.
Flexible working requests for childcare/wishing to go part time and requests for Reasonable adjustments due to ill health and disability are different things.
You need to decide which one it is.

If it’s for reasons of managing a long term health condition or disability then you need to go through an Occ Health assessment and have a report detailing the Reasonable adjustments you need and why you need them