reduced hrs request - is my mgr right to discuss with colleagues?

[gingerwench]

I'm in the process of trying to agree reduced hrs (from 35 to 30) and days (from 5 to 4) with my new line mgr for when I return from mat leave in the summer. We agreed to try and work out something informally prior to me completing the formal paperwork so I told him of the request verbally and then followed up with an email. In our scheduled call today he confirmed that he thought my email request was very reasonable and that he didn't see any issues with it when he received it. However his line manager has reminded him that he will be losing a % of an employee but will not be able to get any additional headcount to cover the workload. So my line manager said he still supports my request and asked I give him a couple of weeks to decide if it is ok or not while he raises it with my colleagues in their various one to one meetings.

I assume that he thinks that my colleagues will say that the impact on their workload is manageable and therefore my request will be granted. However, thinking about it I feel a bit uncomfortable that my colleagues (many of whom I barely know due to reorg while I've been off) will have some say in something so important to me. I know they are all under much work pressure at the moment (my mat cover is doing the basics of my role only alongside his day job!). What do you think? I'm considering emailing my manager to say that I'm uncomfortable with it but I don't want to jeopardise a relationship with someone who assures me he is supportive.

In your request did you include a proposal as to how the reduction in your hours could be achieved? Did you propose adjustments in your tasks and responsibilities or similar to take into account your reduced hours? What did you propose would happen to the other 15% (or whatever it is) of your workload? I would always suggest including details of how this would be achieved, without negative impact on colleagues or the business in your application.

If the reality is that your colleagues will end up taking on the rest of your workload, or some of it, then yes he is absolutely right to discuss it with them to work out whether it is viable, and what sort of support they might need. Otherwise if they are suddenly dumped with a load of extra work and haven't been consulted they would be right to kick up a fuss. If you have been able to demonstrate that your request will not have any impact on your colleagues, then you should say that you are not comfortable him discussing it with them.

Successful flexible working arrangements are more likely when the whole team is on board and working well together supporting the arrangement. If there is a negative impact on your colleagues and they haven't been involved, the whole arrangement is less likely to succeed.

That's really helpful thank you so it sounds as though it is reasonable for him to do this.

Yes I would envisage putting all that detail about mitigating impacts in the formal request but we are not at that stage yet. The initial discussion and email was just setting out my preferences and sounding out my manager as to what would be considered reasonable. When I come to do the formal request it will be difficult since the organisation and hence my role have changed whilst I've been on mat leave. In fact it could be argued my role doesn't actually exist at the moment since they didn't think they needed to recruit proper cover for me! The adjustment in responsibilities would be a question of giving me the less demanding/labour-intensive internal customers to look after (these are the ones being picked up by my cover). Originally they were looked after by someone on reduced hours anyway.