Return To Work On Child-Friendly Hours

.: What are my rights?

If you want to change the way you work after having a baby your employer must seriously consider your request. According to the Sex Discrimination Act, employers must have a good reason for refusing to let women work flexibly in order to look after their children. Your employer will only be able to know if you can change the way you work by giving it a lot of thought.

Refusing to even consider your request would probably be seen as unjustified if the matter went to an Employment Tribunal (industrial Tribunal). So would having a policy of refusing part-time work. People often assume a job has to be done full-time or at certain fixed times of day. But, if you and your employer look carefully at your job, you may be able to work out a more child-friendly option - perhaps one that neither of you had considered before.

.: Does all this apply to me?

Employers must consider the request of any woman with children to work child-friendly hours. However, legal protection only applies if you would be disadvantaged by not being allowed to work the child- friendly hours you need to. In other words, you must have a good reason for asking to work differently, just as an employer must have a good reason for refusing. Some good reasons for asking are:-

• You can't find full-time childcare.
• You can't afford to pay for full-time childcare;
• You have to be there when your children come home from school, perhaps because they have special needs.
• You are suffering from severe stress from working long hours (perhaps because your partner can't share the childcare).

.: What counts as a good reason for refusing?

Many of the arguments employers use do not count as justification at an Employment Tribunal (Industrial Tribunal). For example:-

• There are no part-time vacancies (they should look at whether your own job could be done part time or as a job-share).
• The job is too senior (the law applies to all women, no matter how senior).
• Last-Minute overtime is an essential part of the job (your employer should consider setting up a job-share, or an 'on call' rota).
• It is too expensive (costs are not usually any higher for part- timers).

Continuity is crucial (there are usually practical ways around this, like keeping good records and ways of communicating). An employer probably would be justified in refusing flexible work if there were good business reasons and there was no alternative solution (e.g. if particular opening hours are necessary for business.

.: What do I do next?

You should sit down and discuss flexible working with your boss. Someone from the personnel department and' or your union representative. If you are on maternity leave, you can write. You can look at the work you do now and consider how it could be done differently. If your employer agrees, they can't demote you, they must let you do the same job as before. You should be paid the same hourly rate as full-time staff and have the same contractual benefits such as holidays (but pro rata). If you start to work part time.

You do not have the right to go back to full-time work later on, unless you have negotiated this with your employer. If your employer refuses to let you work part time you can take your case to an Employment Tribunal (Industrial Tribunal). You must apply for this within three months of your employer refusing your request to work part time.

.: Dismissal or Unfair Treatment.........

It is against the law for your employer to treat you unfairly, dismiss you or select you for redundancy for any reason connected with pregnancy childbirth or maternity leave. If you are dismissed while you are pregnant or during your maternity leave, your employer must give you a written statement of the reasons. If you are dismissed or treated unfairly, you must put in your claim to the Employment Tribunal within three months. Any claim will probably include a claim for compensation for sex discrimination.