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Hello, i am new to this forum and could do with some advice as i feel that i have been treated unfairly.
I had a baby in February 2011 and am due back in Jan 2012.
I have made a flexible working request to the company which they have refused.
My current contract is to work 7:30-16:30 and i have requested to work 12:00-17:00 doing the same job. In my absence my role is currently managed by my brother who is also employed to do the same job as me and one other person. Before i left for maternity leave it was just the 3 of us so the workload has been stretched between less people while i have been away.
Their response to my request was to say that the mornings are the busiest times of the day and therefore they can't accomodate my request. Both my brother and myself both know that it is the afternoons that are the busiest and i have asked them to show me the facts to back themselves up but they have failed to do this on more than one occasion. They then offered me a part time role in the morning, the same role as i currently hold but from 8am-2pm or a receptionist role 13:00-18:00 which is nothing like my current job and i don't feel i have the skills required as i currently do catering/hospitallity. My mum is my only option of childcare due to cost and she works 8:00am12:00pm and is unable to provide childcare after 17:00 so that rules out every option they have offered.
I have explained that if i cannot get the hours requested then my only option is to resign and they would then need to recruit a new member of staff in which case they could have done this anyway for the morning part of the shift if they felt it was THAT critical.
I appealed their decision and their response was more or less the same and they stated: the reason as them needing to 'maximise the time you spend at work for the best needs of the business.' Their only grounds for this were that mornings are the busiest time of the day when they have failed to prove that to me and another employee who currently does the same role also disagrees with this point. All the people who do the same role know full well that afternoons are actually busier and they are still avoiding this point every time i challenge their lack of facts!
Lastly company policy is to hold the appeal meeting within 14 days of receiving a letter from the employee stating they are going to appeal. The meeting was after this deadline but i forgot to date the letter. However it was hand delivered along with another letter that was dated which they have already confirmed they have received.
Where do i stand?
I had a baby in February 2011 and am due back in Jan 2012.
I have made a flexible working request to the company which they have refused.
My current contract is to work 7:30-16:30 and i have requested to work 12:00-17:00 doing the same job. In my absence my role is currently managed by my brother who is also employed to do the same job as me and one other person. Before i left for maternity leave it was just the 3 of us so the workload has been stretched between less people while i have been away.
Their response to my request was to say that the mornings are the busiest times of the day and therefore they can't accomodate my request. Both my brother and myself both know that it is the afternoons that are the busiest and i have asked them to show me the facts to back themselves up but they have failed to do this on more than one occasion. They then offered me a part time role in the morning, the same role as i currently hold but from 8am-2pm or a receptionist role 13:00-18:00 which is nothing like my current job and i don't feel i have the skills required as i currently do catering/hospitallity. My mum is my only option of childcare due to cost and she works 8:00am12:00pm and is unable to provide childcare after 17:00 so that rules out every option they have offered.
I have explained that if i cannot get the hours requested then my only option is to resign and they would then need to recruit a new member of staff in which case they could have done this anyway for the morning part of the shift if they felt it was THAT critical.
I appealed their decision and their response was more or less the same and they stated: the reason as them needing to 'maximise the time you spend at work for the best needs of the business.' Their only grounds for this were that mornings are the busiest time of the day when they have failed to prove that to me and another employee who currently does the same role also disagrees with this point. All the people who do the same role know full well that afternoons are actually busier and they are still avoiding this point every time i challenge their lack of facts!
Lastly company policy is to hold the appeal meeting within 14 days of receiving a letter from the employee stating they are going to appeal. The meeting was after this deadline but i forgot to date the letter. However it was hand delivered along with another letter that was dated which they have already confirmed they have received.
Where do i stand?
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