go to citizens advice for help
Thanks you guys will try xxx
Thanks Sarah thats great xxx
Also note the rules change on the 6th April 2009, so make sure which side of the line you want to be considered, if the rule change covers your situation.
Good luck with it all, a real nightmare for both the employee and employer, I hope you can sort some thing out, make sure you keep copies of anything you send to your employer.
Also, make sure you take a friend/work colleague along to any meetings with your employer - they can take notes and bolster your confidence.
I haven't a clue, way too old for that preggie stuff now!
But many congratulations xxx
It's usually down to the employer to prove that the hours have to be worked when they say - i.e. if not working those hours would have a detrimental effect on the service they offered, then they are within their rights to ask you to work them. However, it's a legal minefield and my HR knowledge is very rusty.. the sites Sarah and others have suggested should help - good luck :thumbup:
Thanks to all of you that have responded, really appreciate you help and advice, thank you xxx
Marley
is there a trades union in your workplace?
even if you are not a member you can still ask them for information relating to your company.
CAB and ACAS are good places for general information but a recognised trades union will know any specifics that apply to your employer.
If it is not obvious which union covers your job you can ask the TUC to put you in touch with the correct one.
For example I worked in banking and for me it was the finance section of Unite.
good luck
as an employer who has several pregnant staff at the moment I would say that it is difficult for an employer in these times but the law does fall down on the side of the employee. You have the right to return to work in your pevious capacity eg hours and job but you also have the right to flexible family friendly working hours. However your employer also has to cover the needs of the service that they are providing. It is best to try and solve your differences with your employer but ACAS are very good with this sort of thing if you have no union in your place of work
Advising employees, negotiating with employers and indepth employement law knowledge is my job so I thoguht I would add some further information to what has already been said.
First of all, just a slight correction to something that has been said earlier; you have the right to 'request' flexible working and not the right to flexible working.
Your employer has a duty to seriously consider your request and give a decision based on business grounds and not an individuals circumstances. An employer can say no and if they state a sound business reason for doing so, there is little that you can do about it. You can appeal but in my experience this more often than not does not change the initial decision, as under law 'you have no right to make a complaint where you simply disagree with the business grounds provided for declining your request.'
If an employer does refuse your request they must do so in writing, giving you the reason for it. It must be for one of 8 business reasons set out in law and must explain why that reason applies. The reasons that can be use are:
burden of additional costs
detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
inability to reorganise work among existing staff
inability to recruit additional staff
detrimental impact on quality
detrimental impact on performance
insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
planned structural changes
I'm afraid that the law is most definately not on the side of working parents on this one.
You can get further advice from ACAS, but in terms of what to do at the meeting, I would contact your union if you have one on site. If you are a member and they can accompany you to a meeting you are probably more likely to succeed in your request, as in my experience when there are already negotiation and discussion channels open it works better and can bring a little pressure onto an employer who might otherwise say no.
If you do not have or are not a member of the union it will be more difficult for you as you will have to go in and argue your own case. Depending on how hostile your employer is, you may need to formalise your request under the statutory guidelines. Information on how to do this (you need to put it in writing and include certain information) can be found on both the and acas websites.
With regards to the meeting itself, it is helpful if you prepare your case in advance, including what the benefits to the business might be and what effect any changes will have on your job. You should try to show that your plans would not harm the business and may in fact enhance it and of course always make sure you take someone into any meeting you have and that you take notes.
If your employer is not saying no but requesting you work an alternative to your suggestion then you will need to consider this and see if there is some middle position that you can come to with them, so that you both are happy with the outcome.
In terms of the changes mentioned earlier that are happening from 6th April, these will not make a difference to your situation. All they do is change the age that your child/ren have to be to make the request, so all parents of children 16 and under now have the right to make the request.
Hope this helps and sorry it's not more favourable to you, but this is a particular bit of law that really doesn't help working parents. Good employers already consider requests and those that don't want to allow it will just find a business reason not to, the legal obligation for them to 'consider' in fact means very little in practice.
xxx 
