Requesting flexible working hours in my new job. 8 April 2022 at 5:57PM in Employment, jobseeking & training 24 replies 1.4K views

Taucher

Ath_Wat said:

How long after the interview was the job offered and accepted?

Can you still turn it down if that is your preference?  Did you say when it was offered that you were only willing to accept if you could continue your current hours?

I had an interview on a Monday. Was offered the job on the Thursday. They sent me an email on Thursday asking if their proposed start date was ok - I replied the same day. They replied to THAT email yesterday - a week after I sent it, and also made it clear that I am expected to work 9-5. 

I havent signed a contract so I assume I can still turn it down. I did not say, when I was offered, that I would only be willing to take it if I was offered the hours I want although the person offering me did mention they would get back to me re: flexible working. My current manager, who knows my new manager well, told me he believes that they will accommodate their new hours.

I have handed my notice in to my current job, so its a mess. I am going to try to speak to HR on Monday but yes Im minded to stick with my current job for now. Which might seem crazy to some. But Im not going to put my wife in a position where she does all the children things AND works while I just go to work and come home with no responsibilities. 

But its causing a lot of anxiety.

Taucher

Andy_L said:

They can only refuse if they have a " valid businesses reason" Do they? Is there a way you can show that reason is either mistaken or can be mitigated?

We work closely with other departments and, lets call them 'customers', and the office hours are generally 9-5 although I do 10-6 currently and in another department I did 9:30 - 5:30 with no complaints at all from managers. 

I mean I would be able to make a 9:15 start work but Im reluctant to start and have even that rejected because then I will be leaving my wife with it all to do. 

TELLIT01

Bottom line is that anybody can request flexible working but the employer doesn't need to accept the request, particularly if it affect the business negatively.  Those conducting the interview were correct in saying it would be considered but the OP seems to have taken that as agreement.  It was not.  Even if variation in working hours was agreed in principle it doesn't mean that the days the OP wants to change are practical for the employer.

I wanted to reduce my working hours to a 4 working day week, but my employer wouldn't let me take Monday or Friday as they already had as many people off as they could cope with.  Slightly different situation, but the principle is the same.

Undervalued

Taucher said:

General_Grant said:

I think I'm alone in not seeing the problem.

You are looking to a promotion which would prevent your taking your child to school most days.
Your wife has a job which is working from home (so perhaps not that far from the school) and would need to get him there before 9 am.  So she'd be back at home close to normal business start times and perhaps these are not critical if she is able to take time in the middle of the afternoon to collect them now.

The question is, "how does the boy get to and from school, who is available to accompany him?"

Answer: a parent takes the child and the one available is the mother.

It's not about who earns the most and sharing child care: it's about the practical task of getting the child to and from school.

Unfortunately you are not alone in not seeing the problem. Yours is the attitude of my employer, seemingly.

The parent who is available to take my child to school is not 'the mother'. My wife works from 7:30am - 2:30pm. She collects my son from school. I work 10am - 6pm. I get my son up, give him breakfast and drop him at school on the way to work. This works well and will work when we have another child. 

My son's school starts at 8:55am. The school is 30-35 minutes from my work. The school has told us there is no space available in the breakfast club so that is not an option. So if my new job insists I start at 9am that would leave my wife to take my son to school and pick him up at the end of the day. Soon she will also have to take our other child to nursery and collect them too. All while doing her own job which, relevantly, is most of our income. 

Slightly going off at a tangent, even if your resolve this issue, have you considered what you will do if your son is off sick from school once your wife's maternity leave ends?

You have a legal entitlement to "short" periods of unpaid leave for "emergency situations" with a dependent. Both terms in inverted commas are undefined in the law but are taken to mean time to arrange care but not any length of time to care for the child yourself. Also, you mention your wife is much higher paid so you would presumably prefer to be the one taking the unpaid leave? However your employer could reasonably insist that you share such responsibilities equally between you.

As I said in my earlier post, the employer's attitude to being a "flexible caring employer" is far more relevant than your bare bones rights.

[Deleted User]

Does your current role fit with your child-care needs?

Does the employer have family friendly policies that can be applied?

Taucher

TELLIT01 said:

Bottom line is that anybody can request flexible working but the employer doesn't need to accept the request, particularly if it affect the business negatively.  Those conducting the interview were correct in saying it would be considered but the OP seems to have taken that as agreement.  It was not.  Even if variation in working hours was agreed in principle it doesn't mean that the days the OP wants to change are practical for the employer.

I wanted to reduce my working hours to a 4 working day week, but my employer wouldn't let me take Monday or Friday as they already had as many people off as they could cope with.  Slightly different situation, but the principle is the same.

I don’t agree that I considered they agreed at the interview. In the interview I said I work different hours currently and asked if they would consider flexible hours for the successful role holder. I was told that they have two members of staff who work different hours and that any requirement for non standard hours can be discussed with the successful applicant. I left it there at that point. Four days later when I was offered the job I was told that they know I want to work slightly different hours but she wanted to discuss general principles about this with her manager and could we discuss this at a later date. I heard nothing for eight days until I got an email saying all staff are required to work 9-5. I got this email after work hours on Friday. 

NCC1701-A

Taucher said:

TELLIT01 said:

Bottom line is that anybody can request flexible working but the employer doesn't need to accept the request, particularly if it affect the business negatively.  Those conducting the interview were correct in saying it would be considered but the OP seems to have taken that as agreement.  It was not.  Even if variation in working hours was agreed in principle it doesn't mean that the days the OP wants to change are practical for the employer.

I wanted to reduce my working hours to a 4 working day week, but my employer wouldn't let me take Monday or Friday as they already had as many people off as they could cope with.  Slightly different situation, but the principle is the same.

I don’t agree that I considered they agreed at the interview. In the interview I said I work different hours currently and asked if they would consider flexible hours for the successful role holder. I was told that they have two members of staff who work different hours and that any requirement for non standard hours can be discussed with the successful applicant. I left it there at that point. Four days later when I was offered the job I was told that they know I want to work slightly different hours but she wanted to discuss general principles about this with her manager and could we discuss this at a later date. I heard nothing for eight days until I got an email saying all staff are required to work 9-5. I got this email after work hours on Friday. 

So what are you going to do?

Ath_Wat

Taucher said:

Ath_Wat said:

How long after the interview was the job offered and accepted?

Can you still turn it down if that is your preference?  Did you say when it was offered that you were only willing to accept if you could continue your current hours?

I had an interview on a Monday. Was offered the job on the Thursday. They sent me an email on Thursday asking if their proposed start date was ok - I replied the same day. They replied to THAT email yesterday - a week after I sent it, and also made it clear that I am expected to work 9-5. 

I havent signed a contract so I assume I can still turn it down. I did not say, when I was offered, that I would only be willing to take it if I was offered the hours I want although the person offering me did mention they would get back to me re: flexible working. My current manager, who knows my new manager well, told me he believes that they will accommodate their new hours.

I have handed my notice in to my current job, so its a mess. I am going to try to speak to HR on Monday but yes Im minded to stick with my current job for now. Which might seem crazy to some. But Im not going to put my wife in a position where she does all the children things AND works while I just go to work and come home with no responsibilities. 

But its causing a lot of anxiety.

It's not crazy at all.  If it doesn't suit you, and you can still turn it down, turn it down.  There's no problem.

74jax

OK, I though you were further along the process than just negotiating the contract terms. 
This is very common in my field and not unusual to go back and forth with a contract. 
I'd make it very clean this is a non negotiable, if they can't accommodate its really OK to say you've seen the contract, thank you but on receipt of the contract you will be declining the offer. 

Spendless

When's the new role to start? Does the breakfast club operate a waiting list? If so how far down the list would your son be? If it's attached to a  Primary school then if they have yr6 kids attending they leave when they move to Secondary school so might be spaces arising in the Autumn

Can you find alternative childcare eg a childminder. Would the new role be open to you doing 10-6 just until July when your wife goes on maternity (and most parents have to take younger child/ren inc babies with them when doing the school run) and then you'd have a year to find suitable childcare for mornings. Where will baby be going when your wife's maternity has finished? Some nurseries also incorporate drop off/pick ups for older children to local schools.

If all draws a blank, then withdraw your notice and  decline the new job  stating 'Thank you but you are not in a position to accept their offer'