appeal advice - Flexible working request rejected

bhaisab

Hello Forum,

Currently on Maternity leave, I am due to go back to work in April and requested Flexible working, requesting for full time work from home.

I suggested this for 6 months at 5 days (with office days when required) to be reviewed regularly in order to decrease work from home and increase days at office.
ATM don't feel comfortable leaving baby at home with partner or family.... even less comfortable with nursery.
Also still breast feeding.

I was working Mon-Fri 8.30am - 5pm. This is an office based sales role, which required me to take inquiries from customers by telephone and email to generate sales quotes. I am required to liaise with the design and orders team, on telephone and email. But when I was in office sometimes we would go to each others desk to compare notes, as that was easier.

Also to note that whilst I was pregnant, from month 6 to birth, I was allowed to work from home due to back pain (no medical evidence was requested). I was provided a mobile phone and laptop by work and I had no issues regarding my work performance or issues mentioned for rejecting my flexible hours request.
And recently a colleague was allowed to work from home, as she her child was suffering from an illness which made her bed bound.

Mrsn

Unfortunately what your work colleagues have been allowed to do will make little bearing on the request that you have submitted for flexible working.

Similarly they didn’t have to accept your previous working request whilst pregnant to allow you to work at home, they only had to make reasonable adjustments so you must appreciate that you were incredibly fortune to have had that opportunity extended to you.

I’ll be honest your request was quiet an ask... no new mum likes the idea of leaving their baby at first and of course with breast feeding it will also make that feel even harder for you but I’ve never ever heard of anyone being granted the sort of adjustments you are after!

It’s not clear from your post of how you were going to minimise the impact that your suggestion would have on the businesses needs. I don’t see how you can fully commit to the role you are employed to do whilst working from home full time with a 9 month old baby (assuming age here obviously could be younger or older).

I don’t mean to be harsh at all with my comments but I can see why it has been rejected as from a businesses point of view it just isn’t feasible

TELLIT01

As other people have already been allowed to work from home, it's entirely possible that the company doesn't feel able to operate effectively with even more not on site.
Having a baby and not wanting to leave it is no basis for working from home. If it was, no parent would ever been seen in the office.

motorguy

bhaisab wrote: »

Hello Forum,

Currently on Maternity leave, I am due to go back to work in April and requested Flexible working, requesting for full time work from home.

I suggested this for 6 months at 5 days (with office days when required) to be reviewed regularly in order to decrease work from home and increase days at office.
ATM don't feel comfortable leaving baby at home with partner or family.... even less comfortable with nursery.
Also still breast feeding.

I was working Mon-Fri 8.30am - 5pm. This is an office based sales role, which required me to take inquiries from customers by telephone and email to generate sales quotes. I am required to liaise with the design and orders team, on telephone and email. But when I was in office sometimes we would go to each others desk to compare notes, as that was easier.

Also to note that whilst I was pregnant, from month 6 to birth, I was allowed to work from home due to back pain (no medical evidence was requested). I was provided a mobile phone and laptop by work and I had no issues regarding my work performance or issues mentioned for rejecting my flexible hours request.
And recently a colleague was allowed to work from home, as she her child was suffering from an illness which made her bed bound.

You're proposing looking after a baby full time and working full time from home too?

I think i can see why they're not so keen on that.

Diamandis

What was the exact reason they gave for rejecting it?

LilElvis

What reasons did your employer give for refusing your request? To be honest I'm not surprised as I can't see how you could combine full time working with simultaneously looking after a baby, which in itself is a full time job.

haras_nosirrah

How would you propose working from home and caring full time for a child. The only concievable way this could be possible would be to have a nanny with you during working hours so that you don't have the childcare responsibilities while working - I assume though that this would defeat the object

As a working mum with two kids who does a lot of work from home - I only work from home when my kids aren't here (childcare or grandparents) or in the evening when my husband is home to entertain them. I cannot work when the kids are here because they want my attention and to be fair that is to be expected

Traceyg

I take it this is your first child? I think you need to address why you don't feel comfortable leaving the baby with your partner or family, surley that's what they are they for, plus there would be no nursery feees. As for breastfeeding, you are still entitled to express during your time at work, baby can be bottle fed during time away from you with your expressed milk.

No one likes leaving their child while they work, my daughter went to nursery when she was 13 months old when I went back to work, it was hard leaving her but she made friends and has done her the world of good socially.

Unfortunatley flexible requests don't always get granted, at the end of the day it's up to the individual company.

motorguy

I dont see how this is even a "flexible working" request in the first instance?

At home with a baby is a full time job, the O/P wants paid full time to do their full time job at home at the same time, guess which one is going to demand - and get - their full attention?

Floop

So you want to work at home in lieu of using childcare? I can see why they said no. I would have said no. You cannot care for a young child whilst working. You might think you can now, but when he/she is a toddler they need eyes on all the time - it’s simply not possible to do both jobs at once.

I think the pregnancy WFH was different - they had to be v careful of you when you were pg, To me the example of the person with the ill child shows me an employer who cares. But your request is asking for WFH to be business as usual with no actual “situation” - very few people actually WANT to leave their kids and work FT but hey, we do, and we get on with it. You are not a special case and you are not entitled to special treatment. I can see why it’s an unattractive proposition for them.

kinger101

It's quite normal for these sorts of things to be turned down. You can't look after your baby and do a productive day's work at the same time. Your employer knows this.

Many employers don't even let people work from home when their children are off school sick for the same reason. It has to be taken as holiday or unpaid leave.

TBH, it's most strange that you don't even trust your partner to look after the baby. You're going to have to start trusting other people to care for your child at some point.

The breast feeding issue is easily solved with a pump.