Flexible working request rejected- please help.

cannyscot_2

As an employer with a similar request recently - that is just it-if you have a number of people already working p/t -it becomes impossible to cover everything. I try very hard to meet all the flexible requests I can but recently it is as if we are running a mothers club-I am a mother and I appreciate fully the need for flexibility but at the end of the day it is a a business that pays not just your wages but other peoples so the business needs must take priority. Can you work longer ? till 3/4 -can you get childcare /family member for 2 days and work shorter the other days? My guess is by doing this you avoid paying for childcare ? You need to come up with 3 or 4 other alternatives and think through what hours others do and what you can offer. Key to flexible working is to think as the employer -meet needs of business and if possible come up with a benefit for the business for you working flexibley. Good Luck -You could post your reasons and hopefully people would be less judgemental and bit more helpful.

Star999

I work in an office where there's about 15 people all doing the same job. The workload is shared out as equally as possible between everyone. So if I were to reduce my workload in line with my hours, the additional work from my workload will be split between these 15 people which equates to about 4% increase in each persons workload over a month, so negligible really.

When I went on maternity leave, my employer didn't replace me, which shows they were able to manage with the existing staff, so I can't see why me returning part time would cause an issue when the office was managing with the workload without me even there.
So if anything, me returning on any hours would do nothing but help the company as it would relieve some of the workload from the existing staff.

I have thought about it from my employers perspective and honestly don't see how my hours will cause an issue to the business.

Takeaway_Addict

Star999 wrote: »

I work in an office where there's about 15 people all doing the same job. The workload is shared out as equally as possible between everyone. So if I were to reduce my workload in line with my hours, the additional work from my workload will be split between these 15 people which equates to about 4% increase in each persons workload over a month, so negligible really.

When I went on maternity leave, my employer didn't replace me, which shows they were able to manage with the existing staff, so I can't see why me returning part time would cause an issue when the office was managing with the workload without me even there.
So if anything, me returning on any hours would do nothing but help the company as it would relieve some of the workload from the existing staff.

I have thought about it from my employers perspective and honestly don't see how my hours will cause an issue to the business.

4 % is negliable?...I wouldn't push this point because if they realise they could and have managed without you, whats to stop them looking at redundancy.

The company may have decided that thye could manage for 9 months without a replacement but they may need someone else back.

Also, 15 hours may not be enough for the company to hire someone else to do the extra hours.

Also, why should others pick the slack up?

If you wish to carry on look at making a formal request but you need to find the benefit for the company in you doing this without putting yourself on the firing line. Ultimately if they keep saying no you either have to accept this, accept this and move on or look to a tribunal (but this now costs money) to back you which may not happen if they can show a business reason.

Takeaway_Addict

a link to read https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working/after-the-application

bluenoseam

There's also the fact that while they didn't replace you the truth there is the fact that it was presumed you would return, thus any "slack" being picked up would only be for a limited time. From the perspective of a colleague I've already covered you for X amount of months because of your decision to have a kid - now you want me to cover it all the time?

From my perspective that's mightily selfish!

dktreesea

cannyscot wrote: »

As an employer with a similar request recently - that is just it-if you have a number of people already working p/t -it becomes impossible to cover everything. I try very hard to meet all the flexible requests I can but recently it is as if we are running a mothers club-I am a mother and I appreciate fully the need for flexibility but at the end of the day it is a a business that pays not just your wages but other peoples so the business needs must take priority. Can you work longer ? till 3/4 -can you get childcare /family member for 2 days and work shorter the other days? My guess is by doing this you avoid paying for childcare ? You need to come up with 3 or 4 other alternatives and think through what hours others do and what you can offer. Key to flexible working is to think as the employer -meet needs of business and if possible come up with a benefit for the business for you working flexibley. Good Luck -You could post your reasons and hopefully people would be less judgemental and bit more helpful.

That's not really good enough. Employers who don't want to offer all the flexible working hours their employees require are free to hire people who are unlikely to require such arrangements, i.e. older women/people without children and not planning to have any (e.g. if they are in their 40s it's a good indicator). The mechanic down the road from us employs plenty of staff, and makes it clear during the interview that flexible working hours are not able to be offered in his business. But he also chooses people who are unlikely to require them.

Savvy_Sue

dktreesea wrote: »

That's not really good enough. Employers who don't want to offer all the flexible working hours their employees require are free to hire people who are unlikely to require such arrangements, i.e. older women/people without children and not planning to have any (e.g. if they are in their 40s it's a good indicator). The mechanic down the road from us employs plenty of staff, and makes it clear during the interview that flexible working hours are not able to be offered in his business. But he also chooses people who are unlikely to require them.

I'm not sure how that's going to work for him long term (apart from the fact that he can refuse all requests for flexible working) because anyone can now ask for this, and it's not just children who need caring for. I for one am at an age when caring for older relatives becomes a more likely scenario than having further children, although both are technically possible!!!

Takeaway_Addict

dktreesea wrote: »

That's not really good enough. Employers who don't want to offer all the flexible working hours their employees require are free to hire people who are unlikely to require such arrangements, i.e. older women/people without children and not planning to have any (e.g. if they are in their 40s it's a good indicator). The mechanic down the road from us employs plenty of staff, and makes it clear during the interview that flexible working hours are not able to be offered in his business. But he also chooses people who are unlikely to require them.

Are you kidding me?

Takeaway_Addict

dktreesea wrote: »

That's not really good enough. Employers who don't want to offer all the flexible working hours their employees require are free to hire people who are unlikely to require such arrangements, i.e. older women/people without children and not planning to have any (e.g. if they are in their 40s it's a good indicator). The mechanic down the road from us employs plenty of staff, and makes it clear during the interview that flexible working hours are not able to be offered in his business. But he also chooses people who are unlikely to require them.

I'm struggling to see why you are having a go at the poster, she employed the person on a set contract, she has allowed other people to go flexible because the company could still operate efficiantly. Unfortunately for the person she turned down she could not keep doing it. To me this is a very fair employer who had to put the company first on this occasion.

colino

I'm sorry OP that you missed the boat, but you can't keep everyone happy while running a business and by the fact they didn't get in any temps during your absence does point to overstaffing. Maybe there is a restructuring in the offing as the available manhours doesn't appear to match the workload.