Desperate Help Needed - Flexible Working Form - What to put??

[Gemmiedodger]

Hi Everyone.
Really hoping you can help me out with some ideas.
I'm a mother of a 2 yr old girl, and I currently work 5 days a week 8-4.
I'm struggling alot recently as she does not sleep and i'm exhausted. On top of this I also feel I am missing her alot.
Since being back at work I was put on Anti-depressants.
I want to work 8-2, 5 days a week. But I work in a team of 2. So i'm concerned about how I would fill out the "The effect on the business and my colleagues can be dealt with as follows" and also the "The change will affect the business and my colleagues as follows:"

If myself or my colleague (who is also my manager in the UK) is off the other has to cover. I know another member of staff is not optional - Unless I handed my notice in heh.

I am lost what to say due to these circumstances, and if this would even be permitted. I am hoping it will be. As these past 18 months have been hard for me.
Speaking to my manager today he advised that they were looking to put me back 9-5 which would have not been a good option for me.
Any advice would be appreciated.

When does you work fall. Are you busy in the morning or afternoon?

Just say you feel that your work can be dealt with during 8-2 and that the period 2-4 is not the busiest so you feel the impact would be negligible.

I personally wouldnt put the work between 2-4 is negligible otherwise they may query as to why its not been mentioned before that there is nothing to do.

You may be better off approaching it as a job share, that way the work can be covered and doesnt fall to an existing employee to make up the shortfall. Perhaps consider x number of days rather than shorter daily hours as it may make the job share request easier.

Have you actually discussed your request with your manager? If he is your colleague in a team of 2, then the impact will be on him to a large degree and his support will be crucial. If he's supportive he will be able to help you with the answers to those questions.

The trouble is none of us are as able to answer those questions as you are. We don't know anything about your job so can't say what the impact will be and how you can deal with it.

Presumably you think 8-2 will work, so have given some thought to how it will work? You should outline any proposed changes to systems used, task organisation or similar that will mean it works, and outline them. You will need to explain how you are going to get your job done in 2 less hours a day, so that will mean highlighting efficiences that can be made in how you work, for example.

Presume you have a lunch hour at present? If so your new hours (with no lunch?) would mean a reduction of just 1 hour per day. This should be fairly manageable but the concern is that you have to cover for your colleague if they're absent. How will you manage this?

It sounds like you are having a rough time all round - the old hamster in a wheel, not able to get off.

If the rest of your life is a bit less stressed, work will be easier too. Would you consider seeing a sleep consultant to get your DD sleeping through and look at the other areas of stress in your life - do you have a cleaner, help with drop off and pick up, on line shopping, time to yourself. Also, are you taking positive steps to cope with your depression? Getting outdoor exercise, Congnitive behaviour therapy etc.

On the work side. IMO, the impact on colleagues etc is the most crucial part of the request. You need to have thought through the impact of this and have some reasonable solutions:
Reorganising work, moving work to other people who are better placed to do it, radical changes in work methods that will reduce the time it takes to do the job, taking spare resource from somewhere else (eg share a PA with another area to move some tasks to?, phone manning / message taking etc) or use the money saved in reducing your hours to hire a part time resource to cover to work or to restructure the work so it can be done in less time.

Is five days the best option, would two long days and a short day be better? or three long days?

Also, you would need to check whether you can work 8-2 without a lunch break as per fighting as I think the working time directive states 5 hours is the maximum without a break.

Think also about the implications of your boss wanting you to go back to 9-5, why do you think this is, (they can't change contractual terms and conditions without your agreement BTW) you may need a killer argument be to win them round. Talk to your boss too rather than simply submitting the request and waiting for a response.

Thanks for your responses. I work in Procurement of IT. Ordering in equipment.
We do have very quiet times, but as HappyMumofOne stated I don't want to put this as they will question other things.
Just have sit down and have a huge think.

So, how to reduce work in procurement of IT. You could also possibly suggest that in addition to the costs saved by the reduction in your time, there could be other savings for example reduced inventory, standard repairs, negogiation with suppliers etc

Not sure what you have in place now but standard order forms (or system) that collates request and produces a standard order that can be sent directly to suppliers, reduce the number of options available, reduce the frequency of orders, increase the replacement cycle of PC's / laptops etc, give some responsibility for collating orders / placing orders for some less technical items to department heads / admins. If you already have quiet times, I'm sure a review of your systems and processes and grouping tasks together, making them more automatic / simpler could reduce your hours without a detrimental impact to your output. Be creative and remember the selling points to your boss - more effective processes, less waste, overall cost saving to the company!

I agree about going for a job share.

Think about what it is you're actually asking for. You want to cut down your hours. Therefore, that extra work has got to be done by someone else; it can't just fall to your colleagues. And I agree that if you start trying to argue that there are 'quieter' times, and maybe you can squeeze the entire job into fewer hours each week, you are raising the issue of why are they paying you for those hours at the moment!

It may be that if you go for a job share, you won't get the exact work pattern you'd like, because tbh I can't see many other people jumping at the thought of working the 2 - 4 shift every day - it is too few hours over the week and spread across every day. So, it may be more appropriate to do half the week each and have some full days off.

However, the important thing is to accept that you want to reduce your hours, that will mean taking a pay cut, and therefore there should be enough money in the budget to employ someone else.

Gemmiedodger, I have little practical advice to offer you but just wanted to give some virtual support.

I know how hard it is to be stretched to your limits and to then try to get yourself into a creative positive frame of mind where you effectively sell your flexible working request is a big ask.

I suggest you talk to your manager face to face, explain how hard you are finding things, try to work together to find a solution.

Hope it goes well.

Unfortunately the cost of employing a member of staff isn't purely salary, so the OP reducing her hours by two hours daily won't be enough to cover recruiting someone for the difference in hours. Even if they want no overlap at all and literally only need someone to cover the hours the OP is now not doing, there are the costs of recruiting someone which can be significant, lost management time both for recruitment and initial training/support for a new member of staff, reduced productivity for a time, all sorts of costs. Plus the major hassle factor, and as the OP says another member of staff isn't optional, I'm guessing there's probably a recruitment freeze or similar.

It's not to say a job share isn't one option to consider, although it would have to be on the basis of a different working pattern.

But I think if the OP thinks she can point out efficiencies/cost-free changes that can be made to the job and/or to the way the team works, that will allow her to reduce her hours and still get her job done, that's more likely to be attractive to her employers for obvious reasons. It would also be much easier to trial for a period of time, giving the OP a chance to demonstrate how well it would work. You couldn't really do that with a job share obviously.

Sorry to come back, was just out for a bike ride as DS at preschool and couldn't help thinking about your dilemma as it is close to my own.

Couple of further suggestions. Are there any other options that would work for you, I know from my recent negotiations to rejig my hours there were some elements I wasn't precious over and it helped my manager to say yes as he felt he was gaining something. If you go in with the mindset that it has to be 8-2 5 days a week or nothing, then you are more likely to be dissapointed, but if there were some other options you could offer, then a) you are less likely to get turned down and b) it won't be so painful for yourself as you will have a preferred option and a fallback one.

Have you thought about what happens if your request gets turned down ? I'm not saying it will, but sometimes it helps to crystallise your thinking process and also makes you less vulnerable. In my case I was prepared to give up work as our family could afford it as opposed to me continuing to be so stressed and unhappy and DS having so little time during the week with me.Although I never voiced this during discussions as it's a dangerous bargaining tool, it was helpful for me to know what I would and wouldn't compromise on.

Someone on an employment thread said that the whole flexible working request process is very adversarial by its very nature. As a line manager myself it is off putting to get a request through unless it has been discussed first, so you need to speak to your manager and let them know how you are feeling.

Agree with rookiemater. Have some compromises up your sleeve and think about what you'll do if none of them are possible.

And yes, important to discuss with your manager first, rather than just presenting a formal application out of the blue.

Make sure you've thought of all the concerns your employer might have with your proposal and have put forward solutions to them. Frame your request in terms of the benefits to your employer, not to yourself.