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pencils 
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Joined: 04 September 2010
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 Topic: negotiating part-time work
Posted: 13 June 2011 at 2:30pm |
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How do you negotiate part-time work when you're on maternity leave?
I'm due back at work in October. I've asked my boss if I can go back part-time (3 or 4 days a week) but was told no.
My child will be a year old by then but when you factor in travel times etc, she could be in daycare for up to 55 hours a week.
I'm thinking of drafting a formal letter, asking my boss to reconsider. Has anyone done this? Do you have any tips? Or will I be wasting my time?
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Flipper
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Joined: 22 January 2011
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Posted: 13 June 2011 at 2:53pm |
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My work granted me to come back on a part time basis when I requested it so didn't have to negogiate thank goodness. It might pay to talk to your boss and find out the reasons why they said no so you can try to convince them.
I am going to do 3 days in the office and 1 day at home.
Is it possible that you could do one day a week at home and access work emails/files at home if they haven't agreed due to them needing the work to be done without retraining/employing someone else? I did have a meeting with them prior and wrote in my maternity letter all the work tasks that I could do at home (I hope to do these in the evenings).
I am on a 6 week probational period of working part time so if it doesn't work for either party then I will probably have to go back full time. Maybe suggesting a trial period of you working part time might swing your boss.
Good luck with it all.
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crafty1
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Posted: 13 June 2011 at 3:47pm |
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I don't think they have to give you anything but your prior job i.e. fulltime. Is there any way you could work from home or flexitime?
Some jobs just really aren't suited for it. As above reply it could be worth suggesting a trial.
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Plushie
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Posted: 13 June 2011 at 6:15pm |
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I would do the same, approach your boss to find out why (probably because they don't want to train and pay another staff member) so you'd have to convince them you can do your fulltime job in part time hours. Alternatively offer to work different full time hours - say instead of working 8 - 5, work 6 - 3 if your partner could work say 9 - 6 your child would only be in daycare say 8.30 - 3.30 including travel time which isnt so bad. Or you work 9 - 6 and your DP 6 - 3.
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HuntersMama
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Posted: 13 June 2011 at 8:15pm |
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My boss knew that I only wanted to come back to work 2 days a week so was pretty prepared when I confirmed everything with her. Maybe you caught them on a bad day so it would be worth another shot.
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reeces_mum
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Posted: 13 June 2011 at 10:16pm |
I have read somewhere before that when you want to change your hours to suit family better you have to put a formal proposal in writing outlining what you want, and your employer has to properly consider it and give you valid business reasons why it will not work. I just did a quick search of the Dept of Labour website - this page seems to have the answers you're looking for
http://dol.govt.nz/workplace/knowledgebase/item/1511
Basically you just have to have been employed for 6 months, and you can only make the formal request once a year. Hope that helps 
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EmDee
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Posted: 14 June 2011 at 10:03am |
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Yeah I would put it in a formal proposal and make sure you outline all the positives for both you and the company. If you can think of any reasons why they might say no, put some thought into ideas for overcoming any issues (job-share etc).
I recently put in a proposal for p/time hours which my manager took time to consider and then denied but gave me really good feedback about why she'd had to say no. What she didn't tell me was that she had put forward a request for a .75FT position for my job on top of the FT position and about a week after she'd said no she rang me to offer me 30h/wk position doing mostly the parts I loved about my job. I was pretty darm happy with that!
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chocol8
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Posted: 15 June 2011 at 3:12pm |
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Yes, was going to suggest the Dpt of Labour website as well. It has lots of information that you should include in the letter to them. Consider the issues your bosses might be likely to see arising with you working part time and show how you can manage these issues. Good luck, I hope it works out.
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DzinerGirl
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Posted: 23 June 2011 at 9:55pm |
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I filled out a form similar to the example given on the DoL website and followed it up with an email to my manager about the benefits of keeping trained staff, knowing the customers, product etc already.
Oh and I had a look at the company policy about flexible work and quoted a couple of lines from that.
This is part of the email...
I'm sure you can see the advantages of taking me back on part-time as opposed to having to hire another full-timer, regardless of the fact that it [hiring someone else] might not happen in the near future. The company would save time and money as they won't have to advertise or interview applicants, I am very keen to get back to work in the showroom I'm just requesting that in order to have a good work-life balance that it be in a part-time capacity. I have the product and system knowledge and already have the relationships with the team, suppliers and, most importantly, the customers which is an advantage to the company.
XXXXXXXXX's parental leave policy encourages managers to "think through the benefits of providing access to part-time employment as a means of supporting XXXXXXX's commitment to assisting its staff in balancing work and family responsibilities." and the Department of Labour's website (http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/bestpractice/worklife/benefits/index.asp) lists benefits to employers that can offer work-life balance and flexible work options, such as working part-time.
I haven't ruled out the possibility of going back to full-time in the future, however at this stage in Noah's life when he is going through such important developmental stages I believe that me being at home with him as much as possible is extremely important.
I enjoy working for XXXXX, specifically XXXXXX, you and the rest of the team at XXXXXXXX and I hope that we can come to an arrangement that will work for everyone and allow me to continue working for the company.
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Gekka
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Posted: 24 June 2011 at 8:14am |
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Thanks for the extract DzinerGirl, I stumbled over this thread & has been really helpful. Have copied your extract to give me ideas when the time comes!!
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negotiating part-time work
