Denied Flexible Working

scmp

My 52 weeks of maternity are coming to an end and i have made the decision not to return to my work.

I requested flexible working hours (reduced hours over shifts and days) but it was denied.
The reason i feel i can not go back is because it was a 45 hour week and 5 hours of travel and i do not want to put my son in nursery for 50 hours a week.

I would see my son for 30mins in the morning and 1 hour at night Mon - Fri and that isnt enough for me!
I have no family near me for child care and nursery was to expensive. It would have been £13,000pa leaving my salary at £4,000pa.
My husband works away Mon - Fri so it would be down to me to cover my sons illness days and such.

2014/2015 tax summary
My husband earns 21,000 before tax
I earned 17,000 before tax (15,997 due to maternity)


I have made an appointment at the job centre as i believe i have to talk to them about my NI contributions as i am not working.
I am looking for a part time job of about 20hrs a week as i do want my son to gain experience in nursery that me and toddler groups wont fullfil! Also i have always worked so some money would be nice!

I know i wont qualify for JSA as i left my job willingly when they denied me flexible working (i will take my letter from my employer with me).

We can survive on my husbands wage in terms of bills and such but it will be hard.

I am just wondering if there is anything i should be doing?

I have never claimed any benefits before in my life. I phoned the tax credits line last year ro tell them i was on maternity leave and they gave me working tax credits which was a suprise and very much appreciated as with my husband working i never assumed i was allowed anything.

I have never been out of work before, well i moved 200 miles away a few years ago and got a job within 2 weeks so i class that as a 2 week moving break lol so i am hoping that i will find a job fairly soon.

Caz3121

you will receive NI credits as long as the child benefit is in your name.

Andypandyboy

Are there any others working for the company who work flexibly? What grounds were you refused on?

scmp

I worked in a small office for a construction company.
I worked the reception and secretary for the owner and the managers. None of the other 10 staff have flexible working.
They stated detremental effects on the business as the desk has to be covered all day and the lack of consistancy if it was a job share.
They did say in person (not on the letter) that if was just coming in 30 minutes later to drop of my son at nursery that they could 'perhaps work around that'.
They didnt replace me for my maternity leave and had the accounts girls covering the phone and the managers had to do their own paper work. They got somebody to cover the summer holidays and that was it so working 25 hours a week (thats what i had asked for) could have been manageable but i think they didnt want to share the extra work load.

They employ about 40 men full time out on the ground at building sites. There are no part time positions in the office or on the ground.

scmp

The child benefit is in my name so that is helpful to know about the NI! Thank you!

I am so clueless about all this

Darksparkle

Are you sure you were getting working tax credits and not child tax credits?

On the income figures you have stated working tax credits would not be possible.

scmp

Ah it was a child tax credits!

McKneff

Good for you for wanting to spend more time with your baby.


Money isn't everything and watching a baby grow up is priceless.


Enjoy.

glentoran99

what reason did they give you for denying? there is a list of very specific reasons they are allowed to use, nothing else


the burden of additional costs
an inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff
an inability to recruit additional staff
a detrimental impact on quality
a detrimental impact on performance
detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work
a planned structural changes to the business.


also be aware as you are not going back they can reclaim maternity paid to you

scmp

I didnt have any maternity pay from them so no need to pay that back thankfully.

The reasons: (word for word)
1) I consider that the change will have a detrimental impact on business performance. The position is a fulltime posiion and as such in order to meet your request we would have to engage another employee ro work part time to cover those times that you are not in. I do not think that this wpuld be a satisfactory position in terms or organising the work on a daily basis as there would be occasions when continuity wpuld be imperative to meet deadlines.

2. The company would suffer additional costs in both time and expense in engaging another employee on a part time basis in both set up vosts and on-going costs.

glentoran99

scmp wrote: »

I didnt have any maternity pay from them so no need to pay that back thankfully.

The reasons: (word for word)
1) I consider that the change will have a detrimental impact on business performance. The position is a fulltime posiion and as such in order to meet your request we would have to engage another employee ro work part time to cover those times that you are not in. I do not think that this wpuld be a satisfactory position in terms or organising the work on a daily basis as there would be occasions when continuity wpuld be imperative to meet deadlines.

2. The company would suffer additional costs in both time and expense in engaging another employee on a part time basis in both set up vosts and on-going costs.

damn looks like they covered it then