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Hello, new to all this and I could use some advice. My ex partner and I have tome to an agreement via mediation that I can have my children for 5 weekends out of 8. I have contacted my employer ( I work for a major transportation company ) with regards to an application for flexible working to accomodate this. I have been already told unofficially that this will not be granted due to "business needs", and my ex partner has indicated to me that if I fail to keep to the mediated agreement she will cease my access to the children. My other problem is that although my employer offers, but rarely grants, flexible working, we have a syndicate that allows 90% of my collegues to benefit from some form of flexible working. This is, of course, a local agreement, and not covered by official company policy. I have already been forced to lose a days pay to make sure that I was there for my children, and can only see more of the same in the near future. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated....
Hi There,
It's my understanding that employers have to be seen to "try" to accomodate flexible working for it's employees, this was put in place some years ago, but very few company's will actually fully comply as they are able to state the "due to business needs" which is a get out of jail free card.
You may be able to apeal any decision made agaisnt the decision do you have a union or employee based council that can assist?
Darren
Hi there
Have a look on the Direct gov website...it has a section on flexible working and your rights... just put flexible working into the search bar and you'll find the info you need ....Theres a questionaire that you can fill out, if you have parental responsibility for the child, then theres a question that asks that, I would answer yes.
www.direct.gov.uk
Hope this helps!
My argument is that there are plenty of people where I work that have EVERY weekend off, fixed rest days each week, shifts to suit them travelling via public transport and so on. I have tried to do something similar, but I was only 2 weeks into the unofficial agreement before I was forced to take a days unpaid leave. Sort of makes a mockery of the "business needs" argument....
Hi,
I know what you mean, my partner is a nurse and where as many of her fellow nurses manage to sort hours that suit thier home lives and don't work weekends or late shifts when she ask's to not work them either she is told it's not possible.
Keep pressing and you may succeed.
Did you check about union or employee based council?
Darren
A mate of mine had a similar situation.
He was advised by an employment solicitor that he needed to prove that the business could do without him on the set days, so he booked off every other friday afternoon & monday morning under his annual leave and requested unpaid leave for the bits his annual leave didnt cover. His employer OK'd every request.
After 6 months he reapplied for flexible working, allowing him to work 4 long days so he could finish at fri lunchtime one week and 4 long days so he could start mon lunchtime the other week. He was declined due to "business reasons". He applied to a tribunal showing that for 6 months prior his employer had no problem authorising the time off, and argued that there was no difference in pre booked leave and guaranteed flexible working. His employed conceded before the tribunal.
Everyones happy now, but i understand it was a bit awkward for a few months after, but he just made sure he didnt mess them around and its all come out Ok now.
A mate of mine had a similar situation.
He was advised by an employment solicitor that he needed to prove that the business could do without him on the set days, so he booked off every other friday afternoon & monday morning under his annual leave and requested unpaid leave for the bits his annual leave didnt cover. His employer OK'd every request.
After 6 months he reapplied for flexible working, allowing him to work 4 long days so he could finish at fri lunchtime one week and 4 long days so he could start mon lunchtime the other week. He was declined due to "business reasons". He applied to a tribunal showing that for 6 months prior his employer had no problem authorising the time off, and argued that there was no difference in pre booked leave and guaranteed flexible working. His employed conceded before the tribunal.
Everyones happy now, but i understand it was a bit awkward for a few months after, but he just made sure he didnt mess them around and its all come out Ok now.
I like this mans way of thinking!!!!
We always say its the long game you have to play!
Hi,
I know what you mean, my partner is a nurse and where as many of her fellow nurses manage to sort hours that suit thier home lives and don't work weekends or late shifts when she ask's to not work them either she is told it's not possible.
Keep pressing and you may succeed.
Did you check about union or employee based council?
Darren
My union are complicit in the deal, the reps are all benefiting from the deal and don't want the boat rocked. Get the feeling that they want me just to shut up and go away, take what they give me and not complain. My argument is that if its goes to court, an order would be placed on me and they would have to help me but even then they would do the minimum, if that....
Just a quick update, opinions/advice would be extremely welcome. I am still rumbling through the appeals procedure at work, but my employer looks very unlikely to give me flexible working officially. My ex has stated in an email that if I don't adhere to our agreement reached through mediation, she will withdraw my access to the children due to lack of consistency on my part. My employer is looking to make an off the record deal with me that, in theory, gives me every other weekend off, but guarantees nothing as it is done at a local level, and is only on a week to week basis. Feels like I am banging my head against a brick wall at the moment...
My thoughts on this are that an order will not force your employers to accomodate you, the contact order is an order on your ex stating when she must make contact available - if you go to court for an order, the court will take into consideration your work patterns and make the order accordingly. It might be worth looking at mediation again before you do this to see if you and your ex can come to an agreement before you go to court.
Thanks for that. My problem is that, unofficially, i can get pretty much what I want through a workplace syndicate, but it is all unofficial and never guaranteed. I had previously told the people who run the syndicate which weekends I need for my kids and have still had to use annual leave to cover some of the days when they had given me duties. At the moment, I am already using next year's leave to cover days i have had off this year. It appears that I am in the situation that my employer is likely to stop me seeing my kids.
Case in point. Next week I asked to have Friday and Saturday off as it was agreed I would have my kids. Came in today to check my duties, been given Tuesday and Wednesday off. It's like this every week.
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