Flexible working request

[LittleOwl]

Hello, I'm interested in people's experiences/advice re making a request for flexible working. I'm currently on maternity leave and plan to return to work in September. Under my company's policy (which I presume is fairly standard) I'm required to put in a formal request stating exactly what I want in terms of hours/home working. Once I've made a request (successful or not) I can't put in another request for 12 months, although there may be some scope for reviewing the decision. I'm unsure about exactly what hours I'd like to work- possibly 3 or 4 days per week and/or some home working. I'm planning to discuss options with my boss first but didn't realise I effectively only had one bite of the cherry in respect of the formal request. I'm unsure whether to request 4 days on the basis that it's more likely to be accepted. In general I don't know whether it would be preferable to start back on fewer hours with a view to increasing them in the future or vice versa and which would be more likely to be accepted by my work. Argh!

[nunheadmum]

If your boss is decent, I'd definitely suggest having an informal chat first. I imagine your boss would have a reasonable input into what is workable for the company/department. Or they may have experience of other cases that can inform your thinking. And you may find that most people agree the option informally and then formally request what has been already agreed to.

Remember - policies are often in place to protect in worst case scenarios (from the company perspective) so things might not be quite as inflexible as the policy implies.

[Sarah9999]

I would start by looking at any precident set in your company (if there is any) particularly in jobs that have a similar level of responsibility or management status. That might make things easier to get approved.

Really work out what you want, and what you would settle for worst case scenario.

Try and put yourself in your bosses position, and work out if working from home would impact your job or communication with your team. If it would, what could you do about it, do you have robust internet, would they need to supply a computer at home for you etc?

It depends obviously who you work for, but if you can have a chat to them first and talk about say 3 options that you think might work, before putting in a proposal, then that cuts out the 'one time request only' and you'll get a feel for their appetite.

I'm going through this thought process myself now (2nd mat leave) and its so hard. Remember they don't have to agree anything, they just need to 'reasonably consider options'.

Also consider if you are doing 3 or 4 days, who else is going to pick up the slack.

After returning to work after my first child, I got 4 days. (i didn't ask for 3 I really don't know why I didn't ask now. It was almost ok, apart from I was doing 5 days work in 4, no change of job description but obviously 20% less pay. Calls on the day I didn't work, but decisions being taken without me there. All rather snnoying.

I go back in October, like you I'm thinking about what to ask for, and what I'll do if I can't get something that will work for my family.

I wish you the best of luck.

[sb]

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[kishlight]

aLso...obviously not having any knowledge of whether your boss is trustworthy or not, but a family member in same situation was actively encouraged by her boss to go for less hours with a view to increase later, when in actual fact they had begun "re-structuring" behind the scenes and she was never able to return to her original hours/

[sb]

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[midivydale]

Great advice from sb. Best of luck with the application

[LittleOwl]

Thanks for all the advice. I've certainly got some thinking to do!