Returning To Work After Maternity Leave - Different Hours
Discussion
My wife's standard maternity leave is over and we've sent a letter for flexible working with proposed new hours. She previously worked almost full time (about 30 hours a week) but at random times, so on a Tuesday she would work 9-6 and Friday she would work till 12-8pm and all day Saturday. This is now not feasible with a baby, however she can work all day (9-5) Tuesday and all day Friday.
She spoke to her boss today who was very evasive, her boss said that she has sent my wife a letter and they have a meeting on Wednesday. She also said that she would email it prior to the meeting (no sign of it yet) so, along with a comment from a colleague, we think that she is not going to accept the new hours. (Although we could be reading into it too much!)
Which brings me to the reason of this post.... I understand that the employer must keep the original job and hours open, and that they do not have to accept a change in hours upon return. But if the latter is the case then where does that leave my wife? If they won't change the hours, she can't possibly work the original hours, so does she have no choice but to quit?
If it matters, she is a beauty therapist and had regular clients, so it is feasible that her previous clients could be booked into the two days she can work without any aggro, and I can't see how it affects things like reception work etc so I think it is a fair request to accommodate without causing any real disruption to the business. The hours aren't too dissimilar to her original hours and they have adequate levels of part time staff.
She spoke to her boss today who was very evasive, her boss said that she has sent my wife a letter and they have a meeting on Wednesday. She also said that she would email it prior to the meeting (no sign of it yet) so, along with a comment from a colleague, we think that she is not going to accept the new hours. (Although we could be reading into it too much!)
Which brings me to the reason of this post.... I understand that the employer must keep the original job and hours open, and that they do not have to accept a change in hours upon return. But if the latter is the case then where does that leave my wife? If they won't change the hours, she can't possibly work the original hours, so does she have no choice but to quit?
If it matters, she is a beauty therapist and had regular clients, so it is feasible that her previous clients could be booked into the two days she can work without any aggro, and I can't see how it affects things like reception work etc so I think it is a fair request to accommodate without causing any real disruption to the business. The hours aren't too dissimilar to her original hours and they have adequate levels of part time staff.
Yes the can turn down the flexible working request and should give you the reasons which have to be reasonable.
If your wife considers the refusal unreasonable she can appeal. If this fails and you are positive you have a strong case you could look at unfair dismissal or even sex discrimination claims, but you would need to be positive the response is unreasonable.
If your wife can no longer do the hours and they have refused a flexible working request (and appeal is not upheld) she will need to resign.
I turn these down all the time. From the other side of the fence, it is amazing what people request!
If your wife considers the refusal unreasonable she can appeal. If this fails and you are positive you have a strong case you could look at unfair dismissal or even sex discrimination claims, but you would need to be positive the response is unreasonable.
If your wife can no longer do the hours and they have refused a flexible working request (and appeal is not upheld) she will need to resign.
I turn these down all the time. From the other side of the fence, it is amazing what people request!
We've now received the e-mail, it appears we were over thinking it slightly. Her boss isn't really arguing the hours, she hasn't agreed them either, but seems very open as they are so similar to her old hours. It's a female only gym with mostly female staff, so her boss is probably used to maternity leave and flexible working etc!
I think her boss was evasive because we put the return to work date on the request for flexible working form as "ASAP" however her boss wants 8 weeks notice before she returns earlier than the official return to work date at end of maternity. She was probably a bit worried that my wife needed to come back ASAP for money reasons and she can't accommodate, however there is no rush at all, her job just gives her something to do and a bit of extra money, we meant "As soon as possible that suits you" so it's looking good for her to return at beginning of August (her boss wanted 8 weeks notice if she wanted to come back early, if not she assumed she would return 3rd Aug)
I think her boss was evasive because we put the return to work date on the request for flexible working form as "ASAP" however her boss wants 8 weeks notice before she returns earlier than the official return to work date at end of maternity. She was probably a bit worried that my wife needed to come back ASAP for money reasons and she can't accommodate, however there is no rush at all, her job just gives her something to do and a bit of extra money, we meant "As soon as possible that suits you" so it's looking good for her to return at beginning of August (her boss wanted 8 weeks notice if she wanted to come back early, if not she assumed she would return 3rd Aug)
Well she had her meeting today and I'm not massively impressed. Long story short, they are trying to re-arrange their business to evenings and weekends as it seems they're a bit quiet at other times. So they've said that she'll have to work some evenings and some Saturdays which isn't really going to be possible. She gets minimum wage and it's only part time so she'll take home about £400 a month before fuel costs. If we have to pay for childcare then she'll be working for free, can't really assume that her parents can look after our son randomly, what about when they go on holiday, they're working, or just busy?!
They are also implying that if she comes back they'll be binning off another girl who they state is her maternity cover, funny that though considering the other girl had worked there for months before my wife was even pregnant..... part of me wonders if they're hoping my wife doesn't come back, they know she doesn't need to work financially. It just seems a bit unfair that they've basically said "if you come back you'll have to work some evenings and weekends, and we're going to sack your colleague" - they know full well she can't do evenings at all now, so for them to propose it, it seems like they're hoping she doesn't return.
I do employ 12 people myself, with a member of staff who went on maternity last week, so I do get the employers side of things. Maybe that's why I can see what's going on and feel like she's being engineered out to suit their businesses new working hours.
They are also implying that if she comes back they'll be binning off another girl who they state is her maternity cover, funny that though considering the other girl had worked there for months before my wife was even pregnant..... part of me wonders if they're hoping my wife doesn't come back, they know she doesn't need to work financially. It just seems a bit unfair that they've basically said "if you come back you'll have to work some evenings and weekends, and we're going to sack your colleague" - they know full well she can't do evenings at all now, so for them to propose it, it seems like they're hoping she doesn't return.
I do employ 12 people myself, with a member of staff who went on maternity last week, so I do get the employers side of things. Maybe that's why I can see what's going on and feel like she's being engineered out to suit their businesses new working hours.
MrSparks said:
Well she had her meeting today and I'm not massively impressed. Long story short, they are trying to re-arrange their business to evenings and weekends as it seems they're a bit quiet at other times. So they've said that she'll have to work some evenings and some Saturdays which isn't really going to be possible. She gets minimum wage and it's only part time so she'll take home about £400 a month before fuel costs. If we have to pay for childcare then she'll be working for free, can't really assume that her parents can look after our son randomly, what about when they go on holiday, they're working, or just busy?!
They are also implying that if she comes back they'll be binning off another girl who they state is her maternity cover, funny that though considering the other girl had worked there for months before my wife was even pregnant..... part of me wonders if they're hoping my wife doesn't come back, they know she doesn't need to work financially. It just seems a bit unfair that they've basically said "if you come back you'll have to work some evenings and weekends, and we're going to sack your colleague" - they know full well she can't do evenings at all now, so for them to propose it, it seems like they're hoping she doesn't return.
I do employ 12 people myself, with a member of staff who went on maternity last week, so I do get the employers side of things. Maybe that's why I can see what's going on and feel like she's being engineered out to suit their businesses new working hours.
Could your wife not do a mobile service for existing clients, self employed? They are also implying that if she comes back they'll be binning off another girl who they state is her maternity cover, funny that though considering the other girl had worked there for months before my wife was even pregnant..... part of me wonders if they're hoping my wife doesn't come back, they know she doesn't need to work financially. It just seems a bit unfair that they've basically said "if you come back you'll have to work some evenings and weekends, and we're going to sack your colleague" - they know full well she can't do evenings at all now, so for them to propose it, it seems like they're hoping she doesn't return.
I do employ 12 people myself, with a member of staff who went on maternity last week, so I do get the employers side of things. Maybe that's why I can see what's going on and feel like she's being engineered out to suit their businesses new working hours.
Busterhighmen said:
Could your wife not do a mobile service for existing clients, self employed?
If she can't work it out with her employer then I think she's probably going to do some of this yeah. She's also going to do some work for my company (paid) as she currently dispatches my orders as it is anyway and she can start processing the orders and dealing with day to day stuff for a small salary.edc said:
Or even work on a zero hours basis as extra cover for peaks or for absence when needed.
She could suggest that, problem is, she's on minimum wage, her work is 15 miles away from our home and we will need to arrange child care at random times when she's needed in. So I feel that she'd be working for almost nothing and might as well just not work at all. Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff