Continuation of flexible working

kingmidas1962

The background to this post
I'm an administrator for a small charity and have been for just over 7 years, employed on a 37 hours per week flexible working contract. When I was offered the job I was not looking for a full time post, but apparently no one even came close to being as suitable as I was (which is nice) and as the successful candidate I was offered the role (which IS full time) on a flexible basis. There were no conditions or timescales imposed on the flexible working and it was very much that I would work in the office when required, and at home the rest of the time.

Over the past couple of years we have had issues with the current management so the trustees have recruited a new CEO to help us fundraise and manage the charity better. We do need funding or the charity will have to close when we have spent all our reserves. Without blowing my own trumpet I have done a lot towards moving the charity forward and trying to make sure we are operating legally (ref my comment above about issues with lack of management)

What has happened now
In the 3 short weeks (seems like a LOT longer ...) since the new CEO started she has made it clear that she is not happy about flexible working. We are moving to a new office next week - further for me to travel, but closer to almost everyone else, and she is insistent that everyone is in the new office all day, every day. She seems to be a bit old fashioned in terms of her thoughts about flexible working and has made a couple of comments about people 'skiving' if they are working at home. She is introducing 'core hours' when our phone will have to be answered (9.30-4) but I'm not the only person who will be in the office so I'm sure this can be done on a rota basis to ensure cover.

This would represent a massive change to my working pattern. I spoke to ACAS and asked whether flexible working can be withdrawn and as it would represent a contract change it cant be done without consultation.

The adviser I spoke to suggested that I submit a FWA (Flexible Working Application) but that I word it to make it clear that I am formally requesting that my current arrangements continue. I have done this and am going to submit it next week, with a copy to the trustees as she is on probation for 6 months. The ACAS adviser said to to it as soon as possible because sometimes not speaking up or raising it could be misconstrued as agreement, or that I don't mind if I no longer work flexibly, which I certainly do.

Aside from the fact that 'I have rights' (and I'm not the kind of person to ever utter that sentence but I feel very strongly about this) I know that I simply do not have the stamina to fulfill full time hours this far from where I live with all the traffic jams etc. That's why I was looking for a part time job all those years ago, and why I wouldn't have accepted it as full time unless they had offered me flexible working.

I've read a lot about people applying for flexible working but I can't find a great deal of information about re-applying, or applying to retain it. I know it wont be well-received at all, and I find her a bit intimidating. Having to take a big deep breath before I give her the letter!

Any advice received gratefully

jobbingmusician

Having been the CEO of several charities, all I can recommend is that you ask to speak to her, give her your letter, and explain your circumstances. Stress that full time attendance at the office would be a serious change to your terms and conditions which you are not in a position to accept, and that you WORK when you are at home - modern technology makes it extremely easy for her to check that you are working just as hard as anyone on site. You might also mention that you find it rather insulting to be accused of shirking!

Say that you understand that she needs to put her stamp on the organisation, but if having thought about it she feels she needs the administrator to be in the office full time you will reluctantly have to accept that your current post is redundant, and will expect a proper redundancy procedure to be followed. (What is the arrangement for HR at your place? You may have an external consultant who will be horrified by all this, or it may well be that your CEO is just expected to know all about HR, as well as buildings management, staff management, contract management and all the other joys of being the CEO of a small charity )

kingmidas1962

HR is going to be something that will fall under the umbrella of this new CEO - it should have been the remit of the old manager but she was/is absolutely useless so a lot of it actually fell to me as far as making sure we are legal. The trustees used an outsourced HR adviser to guide them through the process of recruiting the CEO so I wouldn't be surprised if they also sought her advice about this situation. I hope she tells them they can't just change contracts willy-nilly just because she doesn't like flexible working!

The CEO seems very gung-ho with anything that is actually a legal requirement - she has very casually said that contracts 'don't really matter' and I don't believe she can be that naive - I think some of it is bravado.

[Deleted User]

Typical micro-manager approach. I worked under someone similar for almost 10 years at my old place. She basically got the top job purely by luck, being in the right place at the right time but she had zero management/leadership skills. The problem was that our board of directors were always useless (and conviniently hand picked by her!) so she was never accountable to anyone.

The thing is people like this won't change and it might just be about flexible hours now, but whats going to be next?

See how you get on with the letter, but I would also start having a look at what other jobs are out there.

M_Python

Unfortunately, I think that if push came to shove, the charity would find it much easier to replace an admin person than the CEO!

It might be worth you starting to look around for another job, just in case.

TBagpuss

When you are asking for flexible working, one of things that you need to do is look at the impact on the businessd and how any potemntial issues can be addressed,so whetre you are asing to retian it I would follow the same approach, set out what the benefits are to the business (charity) of the curent approach.

FGive spcifc examples of things which you have done which have benefited the charity (despite working from home)

If you can think of examples where your flesible hours have benefittted the charity, for example if you worked into an evening so things were ready for the board / important donor more quickly than if you;d ben working a standard 9-5 day, put those in.

If she has expressed any specifc concerns or reasons why she wnats you in the office, address those.

So, if one issue is answering the phones during core hours, your response might address (i) whether answering the phones is part of your normal role (ii) if so, what alternative cover there is (and indeed whether you would be open to haing some fixed 'core hours' yourself when you were definitely in the office, so that you could be incolced in any rota for that kind of thing)

I think on a personal level, it would laso make sense for you to decide wat your own bottom line is. Are you going to leave if you can't resolve this?

If so, then start polishing off your CV and making applications now, so that you options available if she says to you that she won't approve it and you must accept the new terms

If not, or if you would be prepared to met her half way, think about where you could compromise, so that at any metin with her you have alterntives you can put forward.

One option might be for you to agree to some set core hours, maybe 10.30 - 2 2 days a week, so that there are fixed times when you will be in the office, while allowing you to keep to travel down and avoid the worst of thetraffic.

theoretica

It shouldn't be beyond the bounds of technology to have the phone forwarded to be answered wherever you are.