Former Employer Wants Me Back?

TELLIT01

In the current situation, I would be inclined to contact your former employer and say that you appreciate the offer, but personal circumstances mean you are unable to accept.  Don't rule out the possibility of accepting a job later if your circumstances change.  You are obviously highly thought of by your previous employer.

74jax

You left to spend more time with your family.

The company offer you £500 to spend more time with them than your family.

You are in 2 minds? 

I'd seriously talk with your partner, it seems a no brainer to stay at home (to me), but as you are in 2 minds something must be drawing you to it. I can't imagine it's just the £500 so you both need to discuss it. 

Marcon

StevenB12 said:

They got in touch with me on 3 or 4 occasions asking if I would return, I never answered as I'm in an OK job now, good people but the money can be hit and miss, the majority is price work so my income fluctuates massively. 

They have offered me an opportunity to return and sent me a contract out , much better money, probably about £500 a month better off on average, but I'm still unsure on going back to working away, I would definitely miss the family and time at home, but I'm also worried I'm throwing a big financial opportunity away.

You didn't respond and they suddenly come up with this offer, even send out a contract to someone who didn't bother to reply...why are they apparently so determined to have you back (and no, that's not some sort of dig at you)? In your shoes I'd be looking at their accounts (available free on Companies House's website) and generally check out their financial wellbeing before going any further. 

If they are in a healthy state financially, maybe it really is that they see you as a key employee - in which case get negotiating for (a) more money and (b) more time at home.

BrassicWoman

there are more options than just this job, or just that job....

StevenB12

Marcon said:

StevenB12 said:

They got in touch with me on 3 or 4 occasions asking if I would return, I never answered as I'm in an OK job now, good people but the money can be hit and miss, the majority is price work so my income fluctuates massively. 

They have offered me an opportunity to return and sent me a contract out , much better money, probably about £500 a month better off on average, but I'm still unsure on going back to working away, I would definitely miss the family and time at home, but I'm also worried I'm throwing a big financial opportunity away.

You didn't respond and they suddenly come up with this offer, even send out a contract to someone who didn't bother to reply...why are they apparently so determined to have you back (and no, that's not some sort of dig at you)? In your shoes I'd be looking at their accounts (available free on Companies House's website) and generally check out their financial wellbeing before going any further. 

If they are in a healthy state financially, maybe it really is that they see you as a key employee - in which case get negotiating for (a) more money and (b) more time at home.

I work in a very specialised/hazardous trade, so it's hard to find people who have all the cards and qualifications and experience etc. I should rephrase, I stay in touch with people from there, but i never replied to any previous job offers from them in the last couple of months, mainly speculative emails at the time from their side. 


Unfortunately the time at home is a no go, due to the locations and way the company works they can't really favor one emoyee with more time at home than another. 

74jax

StevenB12 said:

Marcon said:

StevenB12 said:

They got in touch with me on 3 or 4 occasions asking if I would return, I never answered as I'm in an OK job now, good people but the money can be hit and miss, the majority is price work so my income fluctuates massively. 

They have offered me an opportunity to return and sent me a contract out , much better money, probably about £500 a month better off on average, but I'm still unsure on going back to working away, I would definitely miss the family and time at home, but I'm also worried I'm throwing a big financial opportunity away.

You didn't respond and they suddenly come up with this offer, even send out a contract to someone who didn't bother to reply...why are they apparently so determined to have you back (and no, that's not some sort of dig at you)? In your shoes I'd be looking at their accounts (available free on Companies House's website) and generally check out their financial wellbeing before going any further. 

If they are in a healthy state financially, maybe it really is that they see you as a key employee - in which case get negotiating for (a) more money and (b) more time at home.

I work in a very specialised/hazardous trade, so it's hard to find people who have all the cards and qualifications and experience etc. I should rephrase, I stay in touch with people from there, but i never replied to any previous job offers from them in the last couple of months, mainly speculative emails at the time from their side. 


Unfortunately the time at home is a no go, due to the locations and way the company works they can't really favor one emoyee with more time at home than another. 

Have they said why not? If they want a particular person they can throw any incentives in they want. 

If you've had no contact, never replied to speculative requests, and a contract turns up, you've nothing to lose saying you've got the contract, you'll only consider with more time at home. If they say no, just ask for them to delete your contact data for speculative new jobs. If you know you want to be with your family, constant contact won't change that, so tell them to stop. 

ACG

Not quite the same, but I have a 4 year old now. 
Prior to her being born I would work any day, any hour. If someone wanted to see me 2 hours away at 7pm on a Thursday night, I would be there. I would get home at 10pm and it would be fine I never bothered. 

When my daughter was born, I completely changed. I was done by 6pm and agreed to not really work on a Saturday unless really busy. As she gets older and I can do more with her I think more and more it was the right decision. Being away from her any days is not really something I would ever consider unless it was the only way to keep a roof over our heads. 

Sorry to make this sound really harsh, but it sounds like the trade off is time with your family for £6k a year. Change that to £60k and I still think you are getting the worse end of that deal. 

TELLIT01

StevenB12 said:

Unfortunately the time at home is a no go, due to the locations and way the company works they can't really favor one emoyee with more time at home than another. 

If they are so desperate to get you back, EVERYTHING is open to negotiation.  You are in the strongest bargaining position you are ever likely to be in, so use it you your advantage.  Request guarantees that you won't be away from home more  than x days per month along with more money than they are currently offering.  If they decline, you aren't as vital to their operation as you may think.  That's not a dig at you.

Ath_Wat

StevenB12 said:

Hey guys,

I'm in a bit of a situation and in two minds as to what to do.

About 2 years ago now I left my job of working away from home, it was a good job, good money, good employer etc, I left due to family circumstances at the time and I was missing out a lot on my son who was only a couple of months old when I started there. 

They got in touch with me on 3 or 4 occasions asking if I would return, I never answered as I'm in an OK job now, good people but the money can be hit and miss, the majority is price work so my income fluctuates massively. 

They have offered me an opportunity to return and sent me a contract out , much better money, probably about £500 a month better off on average, but I'm still unsure on going back to working away, I would definitely miss the family and time at home, but I'm also worried I'm throwing a big financial opportunity away.

Any advice welcome!

Thank you 

Lots of people are telling you what they would do, that is irrelevant,.  All that matters is what you would do, which nobody can help you with, as we don't know how you think or what your life is like.

Marcon

StevenB12 said:

Marcon said:

StevenB12 said:

They got in touch with me on 3 or 4 occasions asking if I would return, I never answered as I'm in an OK job now, good people but the money can be hit and miss, the majority is price work so my income fluctuates massively. 

They have offered me an opportunity to return and sent me a contract out , much better money, probably about £500 a month better off on average, but I'm still unsure on going back to working away, I would definitely miss the family and time at home, but I'm also worried I'm throwing a big financial opportunity away.

You didn't respond and they suddenly come up with this offer, even send out a contract to someone who didn't bother to reply...why are they apparently so determined to have you back (and no, that's not some sort of dig at you)? In your shoes I'd be looking at their accounts (available free on Companies House's website) and generally check out their financial wellbeing before going any further. 

If they are in a healthy state financially, maybe it really is that they see you as a key employee - in which case get negotiating for (a) more money and (b) more time at home.

I work in a very specialised/hazardous trade, so it's hard to find people who have all the cards and qualifications and experience etc. I should rephrase, I stay in touch with people from there, but i never replied to any previous job offers from them in the last couple of months, mainly speculative emails at the time from their side. 


Unfortunately the time at home is a no go, due to the locations and way the company works they can't really favor one emoyee with more time at home than another. 

Why not if they want you badly enough? Not all employees will want to spend more time at home(!), and even if they do, there is no requirement for an employer to treat everyone the same, provided that any differences in approach are not down to unlawful discrimination. Whether it's good industrial relations is another matter, but if they want you enough, that may be the price of getting you.