Return to work 🥹

Hey, I’m a HR advisor 👋🏼 A company can only reject a flexible working request for one of 8 reasons (listed below). They cannot reject it because the time you are asking for is too long as such, however they may give an alternative reason (eg it will result in costs to the company, or difficulties recruiting). What I would say, is often a flexible working request results in a permanent change to contract, so they may be unable/ unwilling to offer it for a fixed term, so your extra days may not still be in the budget in a year- worth bearing in mind! Flexible working requests and reduced hours are fairly common, especially following mat leave so hopefully your HR department and manager are understanding and accommodating and will work with you to get the outcome that is best for everyone! X

The eight reasons are: • extra costs that will damage the business • the work cannot be reorganised among other staff • people cannot be recruited to do the work • flexible working will affect quality • flexible working will affect performance • the business will not be able to meet customer demand • there’s a lack of work to do during the proposed working times • the business is planning changes to the workforce You can check out acas and the government website for more info, or feel free to ask anything and I’ll see if I can help ☺️ https://www.acas.org.uk/flexible-working https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working/applying-for-flexible-working

@Bethan thank you so much! If you don’t mind me asking a few more questions 🥹So it will be a permanent change-from working full time to part time? will I still be able to do full time when the one year time comes to an end? Or would I be forced to find a new job? I assume my benefits such as holiday entitlement will change too? How will my new salary be calculated?

No worries! It’s hard to say, because every company is different, but yes there is a chance the only way they will approve your request is if it’s a permanent change from full time to part time, (as they may wish to recruit someone into the other 2 days and want to offer this as a permanent rather than fixed term). It may not be the case and they may be happy to do it for a set period, or on a rolling trial period, but it’s worth knowing that it’s a possibility. If they were to make it a permanent change, when the year was up you can ask if you can increase your hours, but they are under no objection to agree (eg if the budget isn’t there). However of they agree to it being for a fixed period, then they must allow you to increase again (as the terms of your original pre mat leave contract will still be in place)

Holiday and salary will both be pro rata. They will be able to confirm the exact amount for you before you agree to anything, but you can work it out roughly as follows (using £25k salary as example: £25,000 / 52weeks / 5day = £96.15 (this is the daily rate) then reverse the calculation to get the annual amount So £96.15 x 3days x 52 weeks = £15,000 Holiday will be worked out in a similar way, so for example 20 days / 12 months / 5 days = 0.33 days accrued each day, then do 0.33 x 3 days x 12 months = 12 days. Bank hols are a little complicated, but you will still be entitled to them (if you are in your current contract) you take them as normal if they fall on your working day, and get a pro rata amount for any that fall on non working day. If you make the change in hours part way through your holiday year, it will be a bit more complicated as half the year will be based on 5 days and half on 3 days, but that should give you a rough idea of what you are looking at!

I really hope that all helps! Requesting flexible working is a little bit daunting, but most employers expect it and hopefully your employer will work with you to come up with a solution that suits you both! Let me know how you get on ☺️ x

My manager rejected my request but didn’t give me a valid reason so I challenged it and she ignored me and just said that she’s made her decision. I then challenged it again and asked for the specific reasons and I didn’t hear anything until a few days later when HR approved my request for a trial period. I honestly believe that they wanted to fob me off until I gave up but I wasn’t prepared to do that so by law they can’t reject it just because they want to! So anyway my point is to be persistent if they do reject it and keep pushing because you have every right!

@Serena I’m sorry you experienced this, and good for you for not giving into them- often managers think they can do what they like, but there are laws and legislations that employers have to follow! X

Hi @Bethan I just wanted to say thank you for how detailed your replies on this post have been. It's really useful to go into these conversations with as much info as possible so thank you 🙏🏼 x

@Bethan thank you so so much!! You are so kind to share alll the details. It’s so helpful. I really appreciate it! I’m going to submit my request this week and see what they say. On the form it states they will Arrange a meeting to discuss the details with me. So I’m hoping they can be understanding of my situation. It’s a big corporation so I expect them to do things in a fair way I would think. But thank you so much for all this xxx

@Bethan hiya sorry I’m just filling out the application now. And one of the section is to provide the reason of making this request. I just put down “due to childcare needs” is this okay or is it too short? Not sure what else to put there. But if anything else I can put there to maximize the chances of being approved? Thank you xx

I would just say due to childcare following maternity leave- that should be sufficient, as they will be having a meeting with you following the submission of the request, so any further details can be discussed during the meeting. If you wish to put more then you can, but I wouldn’t think it will change the likelihood of approval, as their final decision will come from the discussion in the meeting ☺️ x

@Bethan hi lovely, me again 😅 on the application can I put down a different time of working for example I really want to do 8:15-4:45 to miss the traffic and get to nursery sooner to collect my daughter. But my partner thinks it’s weird and they may reject me, so just wondering what are your thoughts? xx

Hey! Yes you can do, but depending on the operating hours of your business/ role, they may find it easier to reject this (for example if you work with external clients who all work 9-5). I would suggest that you put your ideal working pattern, however if the hours are not suitable, you would still like to reduce your days- basically your first choice and your second choice. Don’t forget, the form is only so that they have a rough idea when going into the meeting- you can explain your options in more detail in the meeting. Plus they have to give your request due consideration, so they cannot come to the meeting with their outcome prepared (as that would mean they haven’t taken into consideration anything you may have said in the meeting that wasn’t explicitly covered on the form!) x

@Bethan hi darling, Do you by any chance know if i can apply for flexible working for more than one year? So basically wants to do 3 days from January 2025 to March 2026 when baby is 2 years old and the 30 hour funding comes in.. if that makes sense

Hey! You can do, but it will all depend on your company as to whether they approve it. You can always ask, but maybe have a think about what you will do if they say they can’t approve it for all fixed term, they may only approve it indefinitely as they may wish to permanently recruit into the other 2 days, or permanently redistribute your work, rather than doing either of those on a temp basis. So I would recommend you think about if that is what they come back with x

@Bethan hey! Thanks for your help ! I have sent in my request and have a meeting with them on Friday. They said to discuss my request. I don’t know why but I’m feeling nervous 🫣 is there anything I should be prepared for the meeting usually? sorry for asking so many questions 😌

Hey! Sorry for the delayed reply! It’s normal to feel nervous, but you honestly don’t need to be! Regarding preparation for the meeting, I would be prepared to answer any questions they may have about things like managing work load, ensuring you catch up following days off etc- so for example if there is a team meeting that always happens on a Monday, but Monday is a non working day, how are you going to ensure you are aware of what has happened? Depending on if they plan to recruit into your vacant days or not, they may also ask for your input on how you propose all your work gets completed in a timely manner. Or how you will ensure smooth handovers if they do recruit part time alongside you. Obviously without knowing more about your role and your business, I can’t say what they will ask, but I would be prepared for any questions around “how is it going to work”. On the flip side, they may not ask anything of the sort and just want to clarify what days hours you want etc!!

What they CAN’T do, is turn it into a conversation about childcare- for example they can’t say “what happens if your child is sick on one of your working days and your already on reduced hours” (I’ve heard it asked before!) this is solely about if the business can work with you doing your role less days, not about what happens on your normal working days! And questions like that are discriminatory! Hope that helps, let me know how you get on x

@Bethan got you! Just a side note, can they move me to a different role? Is this legal? x

Short answer is no they can’t, but it’s more complex than that… So if you are returning within 26 weeks (6months) you have the right to the EXACT same role. If you are returning after a longer period, they really should offer you the same role unless they have a genuine reason not to (defining genuine is hard on both sides here!), but it has to be a like for like role: https://www.acas.org.uk/managing-your-employees-maternity-leave-and-pay/returning-to-work However, this all only applies if you want to return to the same contract you were on before (ie the same hours etc). So if you want to return on less hours, they can say “we can’t accommodate those hours in your role, but we can offer you those hours in this role”. In this scenario, the other role doesn’t have to be exactly like for like (ie could be less money, less seniority etc). I hope that makes sense! X

@Bethan thank you, maybe it won’t be this complicated, it’s just all in my head 😂 I have my worries as I haven’t been with them for very long then went on for a 12 months maternity leave and now requesting flexible working , just worry I will lose a stable income x