Liz...........

I'm having a nightare - cried on phone to hr this morning, completly stupid i know but got sooo upset!

Basically i wrote my letter.... deatils on other thread then he was away for week and half but said he's back on the wednesday and would give me the dicision on Friday which is 14 days from meeting.

I got a phone call and then the letter came Saturday... basically it says that they are unable to accept my proposal of 3 days a week at this point... it then says about he'll access whether a job share is practicle... but this will only be confirmed once or if someone appropraite is recruited...

he give no reasons as to why my orginal propsoal was declined and no timesacles etc... as recruitment could take up to 6-8 weeks at least i am juts waiting!

i said on phont what happens if you dont get someone as he said in my meeting it would be virtually impossible to get someone for 2 days thats qualified... bla bla bla... he said on phone that if it was unsucessful then i would have a big decison to make as it would be full time or thats it... !!!

i said all this to hr and they were nice but kept saying that he had sent me a 'holding letter' until they could see if they can recruite someone... if they do then i'll get my offer... i was like thats not good enough..1/ i never got told about a holding letter' 2/ ive had no reasons as to why my other suggestions have been declined 3/ i need to write to them end of june giving 8 weeks notice of my return to work but obviously would need to know what i am coming back to do!!!

as you can tell im in such a muddle and keep crying and feel sick with worry!

can';t just find another job as got ??3000 uni fees would have to pay back, i currently have company car and wlathough if working part time would have to give back i wanted it all sorted so i could go get a loan and buy a car before end of aug... dont dare do this incase of money! also apparently you have to pay back mat pay!!! also WHY SHOULD I!

I've written back agreeing top him starting recruitment process for job share but have also put in that he has not given me the right info etc....

there are other staff in headoffice that do part time working under the same job and when i aid how come it cant work when it's already done elsewhere he just said thats being looked into in that office...

are they in the wrong not given me any timesacles, exact decisons etc... or can they do this???

xx

Hi, replied on other thread but had only seen header on this before. You clearly have a very strong argument for part time working since they already have part time employees and it sounds like your manager is being pretty useless at dealing with your request.

He has to state the business reasons as to why your request would be turned down, he can't state inability to recruit before he has even tried!
In terms of the Mat pay does it state you have to pay this back in their maternity policy or your contract? And if so were you given a copy of this prior to going on maternity leave? It is a very unusual request and they cannot ask you to pay back any statutory maternity pay, only the enhanced amount. I would also say that it would be unreasonable to expect you to pay that back in one go, particularly as you are willing to go back to work but they are unable to meet with your flexible working request.

If other people work part time doing the same job then unless part time working as a whole is under review throughout the company then he really needs to be careful what he says! Do they have a flexible working/ part time working policy? If so make sure you have a copy so you can see what it says.

I would put your complaint into the HR department in writing at the way your flexible working request has been treated. I would say that as a long term dedicated employee you would have expected further discussion to take place around possible solutions rather than being give such a black and white answer.
I would also ask them how they intend to recruit, and as I put on the other thread ask if you could come back working part time on a trial basis until that recruitment process had finished. You also need to know how long they intend to try and recruit for before they determine that the role is 'impossible' to fill. Generally from start to finish I would say it takes around 3 months to recruit someone, from putting adverts in/ contacting agencies, interviewing, making an offer, the candidate working their notice period to their start date.

What are his reasons for turning down your part time working request? Does it have to be job share? Can the rest of your tasks be absorbed by other employees?
As I think I mentioned before, offering to help train the new employee would also be a positive thing to do.

They certainly need to give you more information and open up the communication channels, as you say you should be given an idea of timescales as to how long this process is going to take and what you do in the meantime if your maternity leave comes to an end.

Try and stay strong, I know it is very difficult when facing this kind of situation and your employer should not be making the process so difficult for you. You could perhaps suggest another meeting to explore any other options that you could consider. I am surprised that they have not even come back with one other possibility of they feel recruiting a part time employee would be so difficult.

Big hugs coming your way, let me know how you get on xx

Thank you sweetie, im soooo sorry to bother you with all this!

Ok things have got worse - if they possibly can!

HR manager (different one to the one i spoke to) has emailed me a written response to my letter on behalf on my manager... it's very blunt and not very to read....

basically saying...
the letter is not refussing nor accepting my request as they are looking into whether it will wrk operationally - it says that should give me some comfort.

then says i can remain on mat leave until november albeit without pay

then about my manager is reviewing the staffing complement in our office now he knows i want part time working -because of this he isn't actually in a position to advertise the job (to do job share) if what he is thinking he wants to do he thinks will work then it will need to go through a procedure of management committee and management team, which of course takes time.

Says about it putting my in an awkward situation as it is unlikely to be resolved by end of june so cant gove in my written notice to return to work or i can choose to take the risk and come back end of august whatever the situation is then...


in response to your advise... i put about training someone, job share, looking after my own patch, i explained how it works elsewhere in company and also how i feel i can make it work...

also at the bottom of his letter it asks me to write back within 5 working days to say i agree with the proposal to allow him to commence with recruitmnet process... and on phone he said the quicker i respond he can get on with it..

but then in letter from hr its now saying he's looking at something else - which i have never been told about and thatg he cannot look to recruit at the moment because of this other option!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxxxxx

Sounds like they are really communicating well to each other doesn't it!

Ok, in response to this I would write a letter to your HR Manager and your Manager querying why you have been given comflicting information - i.e. your boss telling you he needs to recruit asap and the HR team telling you some kind of restructure is taking place. I would also state that you do not feel it is reasonable to keep you waiting potentially 6 months for an outcome on your flexible working request, particularly as their policy states an answer will be given within 14 days (think thats what you said before?). It is not a satisfactory answer to say you have to wait for a non defined period for them to decide whether it is a feasible option or not!! Or for them to simply say in the meantime you can come back full time or be on maternity leave with no pay!

It sounds like something else may be going on in the background (either that or they are a bunch of numpties!!). Even if they were doing a restructure they should be handling it better than this and would surely be able to see whether a part time role would work or not.

The other point to add is that it was you that requested part time working with a possible job share solution so why is your manager asking you to give him the go ahead to recruit for that?! It should be a matter of course that if they think this would work that they would advertise or contact agencies etc to attempt to find a suitable candidate to make this work. Obviously I would expect them to then ensure you are happy with proposed hours before they made an offer to a candidate but at this stage they just need to find out if there is someone out there that will work part time hours to suit!

I would perhaps also add that you are not happy with how your flexible working request is being handled and that as you have not had an outcome as yet you are not able to appeal the outcome, but that you would certainly like to complain about their poor communication and upset their handling of this situation is creating.

I think you could really do with another meeting with them to try and get some more answers, they are trying to fob you off and maybe the direct approach is what is needed. Wish I could come in with you to be honest! Really pees me off to hear how badly they are treating you.

Keep smiling, it will all get sorted xx