Flexible working - being taken away

Enigma80

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is the right board for this topic or even if it's something that can be addressed on this site at all, but anyway...

I work in higher education as support staff. I've had flexible working in place for about two years. I employed full-time but I work longer hours over four days and spend one day at home with my child (pre-school), my wife also works the same pattern but on opposite days. Basically our child goes to the local nursery three days a week and we spend a day each at home with him.

The main reason behind this is that we cannot afford childcare for more than three days, and we are earning just above the threshold to get any support or benefits; we've just had our tax credits taken away from us recently too.

The current arrangement has worked fine and not been an issue. I had agreed to work on my day off with notice because I'd need to swap (day at home) with my wife; I have done this quite a bit.

Now I have a new line manager and (same job) and I have been told that they're looking to take away my flexible working. If this goes ahead I'd have to pay £200 more a month for the nursery and that's even if they have a place available for the extra day. I spoke with them last night just to get some facts about spaces and pay, and they're still looking into spaces but have told me that they're more or less fully booked until 2015 (two year waiting list etc).

When I initially applied for flexible working around two and half years ago I was told that financial stress was not a valid reason and that it had to be purely an emotional application. However on the guildelines it talks about a work-life balance and surely financial stress would be a major factor to take into account?

If they decide to go ahead and take my flexible working away I don't know what I will do. We're are struggling to keep our heads above the water as it is and having to fork out an extra £200 a month is just going to be impossible.

Does anyone have any suggetions? I was thinking about joining the union, but would need to know if they could actually help, because again, £17/month (Union fee) is still a lot of money for me.

katz03

You will then have the statutory right to ask if you:

• have or expect to have parental responsibility of a child aged under 17

I would suggest you put in the request on the grounds of having a dependant

Enigma80

katz03 wrote: »

You will then have the statutory right to ask if you:

• have or expect to have parental responsibility of a child aged under 17

I would suggest you put in the request on the grounds of having a dependant

Sorry, I don't understand (minds not working lately). My initial application was that I have a child and I want to spend more time with him and I wasn't allowed to bring the financial issues of childcare into my application. There is nothing that explicity states this in the guidelines but I was told by HR that this is the case.

Crossy

The law states that you have a right to request flexible working if you have responsbility for a child under 17 - but companies do not have to grant that request if they have valid business reasons.

However saying that, if you have been working that pattern for two years, then it has become custom and practice and you could argue that it has now become contractual.

In any case I would contact ACAS for more indept advice

Good luck!

Enigma80

Thanks!
I've been in touch with ACAS and they've told me to look in my contract for some details about changes etc.

gibson123

Have you or your wife considered reducing your hours so that you can go under the income threshold for some benefits, it is worthwhile doing a sliding scale using an on-line benefit calculator along side the reduction of work related expenses (travel, childcare etc) so that you balance the least amount of working time against income. it could be that you are better of or just as well off whilst working or earning less.

Enigma80

gibson123 wrote: »

Have you or your wife considered reducing your hours so that you can go under the income threshold for some benefits, it is worthwhile doing a sliding scale using an on-line benefit calculator along side the reduction of work related expenses (travel, childcare etc) so that you balance the least amount of working time against income. it could be that you are better of or just as well off whilst working or earning less.

I'm not sure that even if my wife quit work that we'd be entitled to benefits besides tax credits as I think I still earn enough to not be entitled to them.

The problem is that as well as all the usual stuff like mortgage etc, we have 600/month nursery fees to pay (3days a week) and adding another day onto that would bring it upto around 800/month. This is the average price for nusery in our area. Going any further will be difficult as we wouldn't get to work on time (we live near our place of work).

All this might be sorted out fairly simply and I may be able to keep my current working arrangments, but the fact that it's looming over me isn't exactly motivating.

I do feel awkward coming on here and complaining about this all this, because I know that I at least have a permanent job, unlike a lot of people out there out of work.

ohreally

When your employer agreed to the variation in working pattern, this became a contractual change.

Have a word with one of the union reps over a cup of coffee to put a toe in the water and ask what they may be able to offer to assist resolve the matter.

Enigma80

ohreally wrote: »

When your employer agreed to the variation in working pattern, this became a contractual change.

Have a word with one of the union reps over a cup of coffee to put a toe in the water and ask what they would be able to offer to assist in the matter.

This where it gets a little muddy. You see I was given the flexible working arrangement in a previous role, similar job and same company but different department. So I don't know how it affects the overall situation, although I have been doing this flexible working in my current role for 18 months.

KiKi

Enigma80 wrote: »

This where it gets a little muddy. You see I was given the flexible working arrangement in a previous role, similar job and same company but different department. So I don't know how it affects the overall situation, although I have been doing this flexible working in my current role for 18 months.

It doesn't matter. The flexible working arrangement is a contractual change. So your 4 day week is a contractual agreement between you and your employer. (I suspect the reason HR have told you that 'finances' are irrelevant is because they are not required to consider your personal circumstances, only whether or not your flex working arrangement meets business needs.)

They cannot just 'revoke' the change and tell you to come in 5 days a week. They can, however, give you formal notice that they want to change your contract and enter into consultation with you about that. They should follow the organisation's procedures for contractual change, which will most likely have a period of time attached to it (eg, three months notice that we want to change you back).

If they do this then you have two choices: refuse to sign and therefore resign, or sign and put in another flexible working arrangement.

Depending on how much you want to stay there, and how agreeable your dept / manager is, then I would:

a) sit it out - at the moment they're only 'looking into it'
b) if they inform you that they want to change your days, have a sensible conversation with them to understand why and talk about the benefits they get from your flex working pattern (keep your personal circumstances out of it - it's not their problem)
c) if they are not helpful, remind them that your arrangement is contractual and they will have to take appropriate action if they want to change it formally
d) wait for them to give formal notice on your contract change, then consult with them and look for some flexible options that suit you both - you may be able to come to an arrangement
e) ultimately you'd have to accept it if they want to change it, or you would be resigning.


A TU would be great, but they won't look at any pre-existing issues, so you may find they can't help.

HTH
KiKi