Flexible Working as a Grandparent

If you are a grandparent and want to work flexibly to help out with childcare, here's how.

Many grandparents take a role in helping out with childcare these days, and it is a role they do willingly. If you are a grandparent, and want to ask for flexible or reduce hours so you can help out taking care of your grandchildren, here's how to approach it.

1. Prepare by Compartmentalising Your Role

When you switch to fewer hours, you probably won’t be able to fulfil all your typical responsibilities. Therefore, your employer will have to designate responsibilities to other team members or hire another part-time employee to handle them.

To be courteous in making your request for flexible working, prepare by compartmentalising your role into different areas of expertise. Sectioning off your duties can help you and your employer better visualise how this shift will function in reality. By committing to fewer hours or days, you can also remain respectful of your employer’s time while still being realistic about expectations.

2. Schedule a Meeting with Your Manager

The next step in this process is to schedule a meeting with your manager; it’s a good idea to tell them what the meeting is about if you want to prepare them for your request.

During this meeting, make your request to work flexibly respectfully by laying out all the necessary details. You might even want to rehearse or write a script of what you will say to your employer when you make the proposition. This can help you stay organised and focused during the meeting.

3. Submit a Formal Request and Collaborate on Solutions

When you meet with your employer, it’s a good idea to submit a written request along with your verbal conversation. This can help your employer avoid uncertainty and document your request for future reference. As your request will probably be a challenge to navigate for both you and your manager, it’s important to offer to collaborate on solutions.

Here’s an example of what you can say in the meeting with your manager as a part of your request:

“Many thanks for taking the time to meet with me today. I wanted to discuss my current workload and schedule with you. As I am keen to help out my daughter/son with childcare, I don’t feel I currently have the time to commit myself full time to this role. I care about this organisation, so instead of being unrealistic about what you can expect from me, I’d like to request to reduce my hours.

I have prepared a proposal for how we can navigate this transition in terms of timeline and my current duties. I’d like to retain my xxx and designate my xxx to another team member if possible. I could see this shift benefiting the team’s efficiency in the long run. I know that this request involves many considerations, and I’m prepared to collaborate with you on how we can best approach this transition, given I know how stretched you are at the moment.”

4. Suggest a Trial Period

If your new manager is not in favour of part-time working, suggest a trial period for a few weeks before making it official. This could give you and your manager a chance to come up with the best ways to cover your responsibilities. It might be even more beneficial to cut down a little at a time.

It’s important to reassure your manager. Your manager will likely miss having you in the office once you reduce your days, so reassure them that you will still be there to cover your responsibilities as needed and offer to train the person who will take on the other portion of your responsibilities.

In the months leading up to your request, ensure that you’re doing high-quality work. If you have a fantastic performance record, you are more valuable to the organisation; and because of this, your manager might be more willing to accommodate your request.

*Liz Sebag-Montefiore is a career coach and Director of 10Eighty, a strengths-based HR consultancy. For more information, please visit www.10Eighty.co.uk.