Returning to work p/t after maternity leave = drain on rest of the team?!?

[dreamaholic]

My maternity leave is due to end in late August, and I can only find childcare for 2 days a week in August and September before increasing to 4 days a week in October. I have accrued 30+ days off throughout my maternity so my plan is to first use up those annual leave days before formally submitting a request to work 4 days a week from 1/1/2014, say.

I have communicated my plan to my manager verbally back in mid May, followed by an email in early June after I got a formal offer from the nursery. I didn't hear back until today, almost 2 months after our chat, with an email from my boss saying me returning back to work for 2 days a week in September would be "a drain on the rest of the team", and his "preference would be for me to utilise your holiday during September"

I feel very frustrated that they didn't let me know sooner (it's been almost 2 months since I told him the plan!!) and disheartened to see that I would be "a drain on the rest of the team". Had I known sooner that I'm not welcome to work for 2 days a week in Sept I wouldn't have arranged to start nursery in late July! (and saving me hundreds of pounds!!!) Will discuss with them... but just wondering what are my options? Can they force me to use up my holidays in September bcoz they dont want to see me? I don't want to use up the accrued annual leave that way!

Thanks for reading and thank in advance for advice!

[Privatebanking]

Hi,

Not sure if this will bide you more time but my understanding was that any request for flexible working must be considered and responded to by an employer witin 14 days. You may find more info on a specific 'working mums' website with lots of legal info around maternity leave rights. Perhaps you can negotiate with your workplace a shorter phase-in, so a couple of weeks 2 days, a couple of weeks 3 days, increasing to 4 days. Naturally childcare needs to be in place.

Hopefully someone will be along shortly with more knowledge. I am expecting at the moment and will potentially face such obstacles.

Fingers crossed your workplace can be more flexible.

[dreamaholic]

Hi PrivateBanking, thanks for your suggestion, I'll check out the website you suggested.

Because my 2-day a week arrangement is only for 2 months, then I'll work 4 days a week, I didn't submit it as a formal request. I don't know if this is why my boss thought he could ignore me for 2 months!

[edanna]

Oh dear that's tough and very tactless of your boss. There has to be a way of coming to some kind of agreement. Depending on the relationship you have with him it might be a good idea to have a face to face meeting and chat it through. It's hard returning from maternity leave and for them to be flexible for just a couple of months sounds reasonable to me. Have they got cover while you're off? Can't they have some part-time cover for a couple of months while you phase back in? There are probably lots of options - try to be confident in your negotiations - which can be hard when you've been out of the workplace for a while. You have just as much to offer now as before. And in my experience part-time mothers work exceptionally hard while they are in work and therefore present excellent value for money. Good luck.

[Browncoffee]

Is there someone in HR (assuming you have an HR department) you could talk to? Sounds to me like you need to take a step back and apply formally, in which case they would need to give your application due consideration. Good luck!

[Saila]

I'm going to say something un pc

Coming back off maternity leave is tough

I have taken the approach of biting the bullet and doing whatever I can to show commitment etc

That way, when a child is sick, you have sports day etc there's some goodwill there.

Life can get quite tricky if you don't have your firm's support and you'll end up on a slippery road out.

It's not fair. But it's reality.

Extra cost of childcare is a pain, but is it worth losing faith from your boss?

Personally, I'd say the issues (extra costs and lack of communication) you have but that you will try your best to accommodate them. That way you come out looking good and they owe you one!

You'll need that return favour many times over...

[oimissus]

I'm a bit confused - long term, are you getting the hours that you want to do? If that's the case, I would suck it up in the short term - oh, and get your partner to step up - once you're not on ML childcare should be shared between the both of you - he can take some days off, can he not?

It's a pretty crap thing to hear, that's for sure, but if you like the job, your colleagues etc I would stick it out.

[tinyem]

I'm looking into my maternity leave at the moment and accrued holiday can either be used up before I leave or must be used up at the end before I return, i.e. I wouldn't be able to use them to make it 2 days per week until used. I suspect this is the official line as I work for a large company who have some sort of accrediation for this sort of thing.

I'm not sure about flexible working as I will be going back fulltime unfortunately.

[dreamaholic]

Thanks all for your reply. I'll have a face to face chat with him tomorrow... fingers crossed it will all work out.

I'm smelling trouble though... because I haven't submitted the 4 day part time request (as I was going to first use up my annual leave so I wouldn't need that to start till 1/1/2014, so I thought I had some time! how naive....) and the tone of his email doesn't sound like he's going to approve it. Also, while I was off, instead of getting temporary cover, I think they "restructured and expanded the team" and hired 1-2 extra staff, so I have a feeling that I'm no longer wanted.

Maybe I'm thinking too much, lets see how tomorrow goes.

[dreamaholic]

Lots of horror stories here. Oh dear!!

http://www.workingmums.co.uk/search/advice.thtml?&tag=3716&refinement=Flexible%20Working&o=&search=returning%20to%20work

[monniemae]

I spent ages weeping at that site when my employer reacting very badly to my pregnancy. I also asked for advice but my question (and reply) never appeared...

Anyway I got really great advice from Maternity Action http://www.maternityaction.org.uk/adviceline.html - my situation was complicated as I'm on a fixed term contract, and I found ACAS gave me conflicting advice, but Maternity Action were supportive and helpful regarding what I felt was a constructive dismissal situation. Anyway it came to nothing - I can't say why, but I suspect the confidence and information I was armed with that I gently disclosed to employer meant they backed down and it became a much more enjoyable situation very quickly.

Also I kept emphasising that I love my job, was committed to the company, etc etc...

Good luck today!