Hi,

I am looking for some advice on the below situation, a long one sorry!

Thank you in advance for reading my post!

I am due to return to work on Monday 24th April following maternity leave.

My manager left the business a few months before my leave and I never did have a meeting to discuss my leave, holiday utilisation etc. I just confirmed the details of my leave to payroll to ensure I would get paid appropriately whilst off.

The company replaced my manager and 3.5 months into my leave I received a letter confirming my maternity leave. 

At this time I was asked about KIT days, I advised I would look at doing some after the 6 month mark but full days would be a struggle due to not having any childcare in place or family I could rely upon for full days.

I did say I was happy to assist remotely in the interim (already set up for remote work) and had previously discussed this with the HR Director. I was told KIT days are for coming into the office and to let her know if my circumstances change. 

After this I had no more contact with my manager or the HR Director - although I had been made aware that my manager was indirectly asking about my return and what my intentions were.

Fast forward to November 2022, a team member asked me if I was going to the Christmas meal... I obviously knew nothing about it.

After other team members expressing their disappointment at me not being invited, I was then asked to join the Christmas meal albeit by a team member, not my manager. I did attend and have to say was left feeling very disappointed.

My new manager did not take any time to speak to me, and when an introduction was given by another team member, she was dismissive. She also left before I could say anything. I was a little bit shocked and left the meal feeling very upset.

I did speak with the HR Director at the meal and said I would like to come into the office soon and he agreed that there had been lots of changes therefore it would be a good idea.

I arranged to go and meet him February. I was advised we would catch up for an hour first, and this would be followed by a meeting with my new manager. 

I had intended to discuss my experience at the meal with him and let him know how it made me feel. However on the day, I was left waiting 40 minutes as a Teams meeting overran, and had to go straight into the meeting with both of them.

By all accounts there had been A LOT of changes, to the Company, the HR team and apparently how we operate.

Prior to this meeting I submitted a flexible working request to reduce my number of hours and days, and to make remote / hybrid working contractual rather than relying on the company policy (which is very restrictive and request based - not a given).

For context I used to work 5 days per week, I have asked to reduce down to 4 days, and when on site, reduce my hours to meet nursery drop off / collection times. 

Although not a requirement, I did go into a great amount of detail in my request, explaining childcare constraints and financial implications. I also thought in great depth about how the impacts could be mitigated.

My request was also discussed at the meeting and I was advised that the Company is not currently performing as expected, they are looking to do a U-turn on flexible working, and that the HR team has changed since I have been off etc.

I was told boots on the ground are needed and it doesn't warrant much remote working if any. I was asked if I could complete normal hours in the office, and what my childcare arrangements are - all of which I had detailed in my request but I reiterated I could not.

I was told that they would look at the request and give it some serious consideration but at this time they weren't sure how it would work. They asked me to look at the request again and any alternatives. I told them I was open to suggestions from them, and was advised I would have a decision by 17th February. 

After the meeting it suddenly dawned upon me that noone had made any notes of our conversation and based upon my initial feel I thought it prudent to summarise our discussion in an email.

I also followed up with some questions which I had not thought of at the time, which would enable me to consider any alternatives. Most importantly, what is it about my initial request that is causing difficulty.

I did have a text exchange with the HR Director after the meeting as I had asked to speak to him alone, however based upon the meeting I decided now was probably not the time to raise the issues and I still haven't.

Since then I have not heard anything from them. The 17th February has obviously passed and I have chased the HR Director twice for any updates or answers to my questions with no response.

I am now in a position where I need to confirm my childcare arrangements with nursery which I obviously cannot do until I know what I will be working.

Flexible working request aside, I have had zero contact about my return and it is just over 6 weeks away now.

Not sure what my options are here? The request doesn't time out until my return (in hindsight I should have submitted this earlier). Working in the HR Department I do not really have an escalation route.

I am currently feeling like they do not want me to return and certainly not part time. I have applied for some other jobs just in case I am left in an unfortunate position. But I am left wondering is the lack of contact / response intentional? 

If you made it to the end - thank you!