Negotiating PT hours - HELP!

[LouLou78]

Hi, Sorry this might be a bit of a long one but could really do with some help.

I am currently negotiating my return to work with my employers. I requested part-time hours of three full days of week. I have now received a letter advising that they are happy to support flexible working but will require me to work 5 days 9-2pm. For info, I am an account manager so out and about meeting clients etc.

I am going to request a meeting with my manager but not really sure where I go from here. I don't think I am willing to work more than 3 days p/w. I feel 5 part days is a huge leap from this and while may work well for school age children I didn't want to have my 1 year old in effectively full time childcare. The cost is also an issue as would be 5 full days at nursery to pay for.

I am viewing this as a clear sign they don't want me back but wondering where I go from here..... Do you think I have any chance of negotiation or have they fulfilled their legal requirements by offering reduced hours? Any help at all would be really appreciated. Im currently a bit shocked by all this as I had no reason to believe they wouldn't accept my proposal. Im also a bit pissed off that we didn;t have a meeting to discuss before they made their decision.

HELP! many thanks.

They have effectively turned down your request so you should have the right to appeal it.

They have to show good business reasons for turning you down. Did they give reasons for not being able to accomodate your request?

How about seeing whether you could do one full day and then four half days - that would mean that you would be in every day, but you would probably manage to find a nursery that has the option for a mornings only charge. That way you could argue that you were in every day, so hopefully overcoming their issues, without pushing your nursery fees sky-high.

You need to make your negotiations less about your childcare arrangements and preferences and more about how you'll meet the needs of the business effectively in your proposed working hours.

Sorry for brief post; my DCs are climbing all over me.

That's why saying that you could come in every day (or, say make it two full time, two half days) so that you're in more often. I also said that I would always do my best to accommodate meetings that were outside my contracted hours - even when this meant booking ds into an extra session at nursery occasionally. I was really lucky though as I worked on the busiest days at nursery, so if I needed a place outside that time, it was normally on a less busy day and most of the time they had a space free.

How about looking for a childminder? With a childminder you usually pay for the hours you use, rather than all day. And then see if your employers will accept 9-3 4 days a week with 1 day off?

I must admit that I wouldn't take this as "a clear sign they don't want me back", but as a preference for having someone in every day for shorter hours rather than three days only, which is probably perfectly reasonable in a client-facing role.

Put aside your childcare arrange difficulties for a moment and ask yourself the following - If you are Account Manager could you be effective working 3 full days per week, do your clients need you on hand every day or if they knew you worked 3 days a week would it work. Would you be at least 60% as effective as you were when you worked full time. What benefits would this working pattern have over 5 short days, for your company.
Then if you honestly think that this is a workable solution request a meeting with your company and present your ideas/reasons and ask them to respond.
For background I have had Account Managers who only work 4 days per week (semi-retired not parents) and it worked fine as they looked after their clients well and they knew they were not available on a Friday and it never presented a problem.

Many thanks for all your advice.

I am going to have a think and request a meeting with my manager to discuss further.