Hi I wondering if anyone can give me advice on my situation at work.

I'll start from the beginning.

My partner and I both work and our work life balance has been fine up until now. I am currently working 10am - 6pm Monday to Friday. My partner was on nights so this worked well for us in regards to childcare arrangements.

As of this Monday my partner has been put onto days and this has left us stuck with no childcare.

I went to my boss with my problem and said that I can not get childcare at such short notice and is there any way I could reduce my working hours to 10am - 3pm so I can still take my children to school and collect them. I was told that this would not be possible and is there any way I could work 9am - 4.30pm. I tried my hardest to arrange some childcare but have had no luck!

I was then told that I would have to go on annual leave and unpaid leave until the 23rd of June, so as to give me time to sort something out. I was not happy with this decision as it took up all my annual leave and I'd be loosing money from my wages.

I was told that if it wasn't resolved by this date I would have to hand in my notice.

To my horror today I see my job advertised on the company website. I messaged my boss and said that I was shocked and upset that I had seen this and not been personal informed about it. The reply I got was, basically they need to have someone there that can do the full hours and that I need to get my letter of resignation to them as soon as possible. I replied with, what if I find childcare in the time you gave me but I've had no reply.

My question is, is there anything I can do about this and are they aloud to advertise my job without telling me or without me handing in my notice?

This is really stressing me out as I can't afford to not be working and if I'm honest I don't want to leave my job I quite enjoy it!

Employees who care for a child or adult have the legal right to request flexible working.

Have a read of this and follow the steps - https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working/making-a-statutory-application

Oops, sorry, welcome to the site.

thank you I will have a read now.

Employees who care for a child or adult have the legal right to request flexible working.

 

 

Have a read of this and follow the steps - https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working/making-a-statutory-application

 

 

Oops, sorry, welcome to the site.

As you say, you can request flexible working, and they MUST consider your request.

However,

https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working/after-the-application

Although they must consider it, there is no obligation to agree, and you can't appeal if you think they've made a wrong decision, only if there is procedural impropriety in the way they made the decision.

"Employees can’t appeal if they just disagree with the business reasons for the rejection."

I have spoken to my boss about changing my hours. They are willing to do it but it still doesn't fit in with childcare arrangements unfortunately.

So do I just accept this and hand in my resignation or are they in the wrong in any way?

I have spoken to my boss about changing my hours. They are willing to do it but it still doesn't fit in with childcare arrangements unfortunately.

 

 

So do I just accept this and hand in my resignation or are they in the wrong in any way?

Can you find a working pattern that does fit with the currently available childcare arrangements AND fits the needs of the business?

This would be the ideal.

If not : you'll have to make different childcare arrangements so that you can fit with the reasonable needs of the business OR you've rendered yourself not employable by them.

I was asked to work 9am - 4.30pm but due to the lack of childcare in my area I can not commit to these hours as I have to take my children to school myself. After school is fine as I can have them picked up and looked after till 5pm. I suggested 9.30am - 4.30pm so I would only be down half an hour but this was not accepted as I would loose half an hours pay. This is what I can't understand. I am happy to loose half an hour and I can certainly fulfil all or the required work in that time frame.

I was asked to work 9am - 4.30pm but due to the lack of childcare in my area I can not commit to these hours as I have to take my children to school myself. After school is fine as I can have them picked up and looked after till 5pm. I suggested 9.30am - 4.30pm so I would only be down half an hour but this was not accepted as I would loose half an hours pay. This is what I can't understand. I am happy to loose half an hour and I can certainly fulfil all or the required work in that time frame.

Seems to me your employer is being entirely unreasonable, good employers realize that accommodating an employees needs with regard to flexible hours is in the long term beneficial to both parties.

Tell your employer you have no intention of resigning and if they are not able to satisfy your very reasonable request for flexible hours then they will have to sack you. If they do sack you, make yourself a placard and stage a peaceful protest outside their building.

Surely your employer can't advertise your job without firing you first, at the very least? Sounds like your boss is a jerk and the company's not worth it. I feel your pain because I am in a situation where I feel that I now am going to have to hand in my notice.

Are you a member of a union? If not, I strongly recommend it.

your employer can certainly advertise your job but would be wise to wait until you hand in your notice before employing your replacement.

I am not sure why the employer is evil here; it's your husband's employer that rocked the boat.

How long have you worked there for? If it's over 26 weeks, you do have the right to request flexible working. If it's under 26 weeks, then unfortunately without that added legal protection, they could let you go as you would be in breach of contract by failing to fulfil your hours if an informal agreement cannot be reached.

The other thing I would consider is your partner making a flexible working request, which is probably more likely to be accommodated if he has previously worked the desired shift pattern!