I currently work at one of the main financial institutions on a part-time basis. I work part-time hours spread out across five days and we have recently been asked to work from the office three days per week.
HR are adamant my three days are required, despite me working part-time hours.
My issue is that part-time colleagues who work three full days only are required to attend the office just one day per week. Employees working the same hours and patterns as me are not being treated fairly and being asked to attend the same amount of time as full-time colleagues.
Does this sound right? I’ve been attending three days a week as asked of me while the Financial Services Union are having ongoing negotiations for this cohort of part timers and I’m hoping this will be resolved.
I wouldn’t mind coming in one day a week, I’d actually enjoy it, but we’re scrambling for desks on office days. I’ve worked for this employer for a long time, and they don’t need me there three days a week when I’m taking up a desk.
There are no guidelines or laws governing remote working arrangements for part-time workers specifically, which can often give rise to accusations of unfairness if not done right, according to those who work in HR.
While good practice would see a level of consultation and agreement with employees, it is up to employers to dictate how much time is spent in the office for this cohort of employees.
Ideally, employers should try to be as fair as possible, typically by using a pro-rata system, which appears to have been attempted in this case.
Regardless of how the employer sets out remote working terms, “they will always be accused by someone of not being fair”, says Damien McCarthy, founder and chief executive of consultancy firm, HR Buddy.
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Should the employer allow the reader to attend the office for one day, it would mean they would spend one-fifth of their working week in the office, compared to one-third for those working three days, he notes.
“The employer will never win here because someone is always going to have greener grass,” he says.
Although negotiations are ongoing, he says the reader has the right to request remote working from their employer, and could potentially request increased time working remotely.
“This is a request and not something that an employee is legally entitled to, regardless of being in full-time or part-time employment,” he says.
“Having said all that, the employer is in control and while the employee feels that the proportion of time they must attend the office in their part-time working week is too high, there is no law or guideline that can enforce their employer to change that.”
“In a way, they’re comparing apples with oranges,” adds Michelle Halloran, independent HR consultant and workplace investigator, of Halloran HR Resolutions, who believes the request to attend three days a week “seems reasonable”.
“I see where they’re coming from. On a pro-rata basis, they’re being asked to work more time in the office than those working three days per week.
“If the employer wanted to be really strict about it, they could say those who work three full days need to do 1.5 days in the office, but that would be daft,” she says.
From an employer’s perspective, Halloran says the fairest way to manage remote working is to standardise arrangements, such as a blanket requirement to attend the office on certain days.
Ideally, this is done on a pro-rata basis for part-time employees.
“It sounds to me that the employer is trying to be pretty careful here about being fair, because this issue is obviously being debated with the FSU,” she says, adding that the reader’s wish to work from home four days per week would be “disproportionate to others”.
“At best, they might be able to request two days in the office, but the employer’s worry then might be that they would be making an exception for this employee,” she says.
However, noting the reader’s difficulty in securing a desk on office days, Halloran says employers must ensure desk provision. The reader could raise this issue with their HR department.
“I certainly would take issue if there’s a problem with getting a desk,” she says.
If you have work-related questions, from how to deal with burnout to running your own business, The Irish Times Work Q&A column is here to help. You can use the form below to submit your question. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less and please include a phone number. Your name and contact details will be confidential and only be used for verification purposes. Any details about your employer will also be anonymised.