Mom Denied Reduced Hours to Pick up Child from Daycare Doesn't Give Up & Wins $255K Settlement

A mom who fought tooth and nail with her employers recently got the justice she had hoped for when a court granted her a huge payout after a tiring legal journey. Here's what happened.

It has often been said that mothers can go to the moon and back for their children, but Alice Thompson recently proved that in addition to that, moms could even fight their old bosses when it concerns their kids.

Mrs. Thompson is enjoying her victory over her former employer after she was recently granted a $255,000 settlement following a bitter fight with her former bosses over reduced working hours.

Like any mom, Thompson found it challenging to be a doting mom and a thriving 21st-century career woman, and her former firm didn't make it any easier as she had more work to do and had to close late.

The English mom then approached her employers and asked for reduced hours so she could pick her daughter from daycare, but to her surprise, the request was thrown out of the window.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's "Woman's Hour," Thompson explained that she requested to close an hour earlier from her usual 9 am to 6 pm shift at real estate agency Manors in addition to a four-day workweek request.

Thompson claimed her request was never taken seriously and she never got appropriate feedback from her bosses, and every avenue to discuss her request was thrown under the carpet.

The touching mom noted she was willing to adapt to a counteroffer that never came, explaining that if her bosses wanted, she was willing to work from 8 am to 5 pm to achieve a win-win situation.

The silent treatment from her former bosses caused the aggrieved mom to resign as she wondered how moms were supposed to care for their children in 2021, especially with the crazy pandemic.

After taking time away from the firm, Thompson decided to pursue legal action against her former employers, noting that she did not want her daughter to face such discrimination when she got to the workplace decades from now.

Reports suggest that workers of over 26 weeks in the UK have a right to request a more flexible schedule from their employers and are entitled to feedback within three months.

In return, employers have a right to accept or reject their employee's requests provided they can prove that their demand for flexibility would have a negative impact on the business.

In the end, an employment tribunal awarded Thompson $255,947 after deciding that her former employers failed to prove that her request would have a negative impact on the firm, thereby denying her rights.

Thompson's pay stemmed from the emotional distress the case caused her, but on the bright side, she revealed that her win had been a win for all women as she has been getting calls from women in similar situations.