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I can’t do compromise on Saturday working: ask the expert
I’m returning to work after OML I have requested flexible working. My contract states 35 hours per week, 5 days out of 6 Monday-Saturday. Before maternity leave I was working every other Saturday. Now I have requested to return to work as half time under a scheme called new parent return to work guarantee. I am unable to work Saturdays as I have no childcare as my previous carer cannot look after two children. My employer has refused my request and has demanded that I now do one in three Saturdays which I still cannot do due to no childcare. What are my rights?
Strictly speaking, your employer is entitled to offer you the same job on the same terms and conditions that you undertook prior your maternity leave. Accordingly after OML, you are entitled to return to work, working every other Saturday.
You have a statutory right to make a request for flexible working (I am not sure of the terms of the “new parent return to work guarantee” and whether that mirrors the statutory right to request to work flexibly or whether there is a guarantee to request flexible working). However, under the statutory right, your employer has the right to consider the request and, can refuse the request provided it has good business grounds. I am not sure what reason your employer has given, but if it is due to a good business reasons, then they can do so. If you feel that the request has not been considered properly, then you have a potential recourse to the Employment Tribunal.
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Comments [1]
Anonymous says:
i am a business with myself and one employee who now after returning from maternity leave requests part time working
|She is a receptionist and also sells to walk in customers
What statutory reasons may I use to deny her requst
Editor: The law on flexible working allows for eight grounds on which requests can be rejected, but you must show that you have given due consideration to her request and that you have not just dismissed it out of hand, which your comment suggests may be the case. You must also give a full explanation to back up the reason for rejecting the request – see https://www.workingmums.co.uk/advice-and-support/career-advice/197211/flexible-working-a-guide-for-employers.thtml.