Is work worth it?

[jebbieD]

Does anyone else feel working part-time isn't worth it? I work as a radio journalist - a job I loved before I had my little boy 13 months ago. Now working three days but finding it stressful. My boss is great but not always there and other staff don't get that I have to leave on time to pick up from nursery. They try to send me on jobs up to 60 miles away an hour and a half before I have to leave and make me feel bad when I say I can't do it if it takes me over my hours. The others bitch because I have set days and a 9-5 shift because I have to make nursery (I have no other childcare options). So I work twice as hard when I am there, even tho my take home pay is similar to dole money once the nursery fees come off. I am actually paying to work! I also try to come up with original ideas for projects, to try and be valued again, but if they get accepted, I'm expected to do them in my own time with no time or payment for it.
While on maternity leave I missed a round of pay rises, and a round of bonuses for the staff who stayed while quite a few others left - now there's a pat freeze so I feel a bit like they are taking the mickey out of me.
Should I accept this is maybe a job for a childless person and stop moaning? I just feel a bit like an idiot for putting up with it, and feel a bit out of control because I can't do anything about it, can't make colleagues understand and can't see a way out - there are not a lot of jobs around in my industry. I really want to work but this is just so stressful!
I can see why mums set up their own businesses - I feel like a freak when people can't talk to me the same way they used to, treating me like an idiot because I work three days and have a baby! Please someone kick me up the bum.
)

[LunarSea]

You can't just miss a round of pay rises because of maternity leave - see here.

" Pay rises during maternity leave
An employee on maternity leave is entitled to benefit from any general improvements to the rate of pay, or other terms and conditions, which are introduced for her grade or class of work - as if she hadn't been away."

[kathyis6incheshigh]

You should definitely not stop moaning. In fact you should moan more loudly and to more people.
Good luck.

[wheelsonthebus]

I have huge sympathy. I was in the media and quite frankly the hours are simply not compatible with family life, and when they 'try' and make them compatible, the 'mix' doesn't really work. I tried to make it work for a while - it was hell. Crazy shifts continued for the most part, incl weekends, no one cared if I had a family (men/childless women just assume you have nannies or a compliant grandmother). I would hang on to the job but plot your escape during all your spare waking moments. You may have to go 'dull' ie local government or something. Sorry to sound so negative, but the media industry will never really change.

[mamas12]

Agree about the media industry never changing. But as a journalist you could write about these experiences can't you, and that would be on your own time and you keep all the proceeds from any deals you make.

[Speckledeggy]

I know it sounds simple but work out what you want and do it. You don't feel unhappy, fed up or frustrated without reason. It's pointless brushing it all under the carpet. If you do it will come back and bite you on the bum!

We got married last year and my Father was terminally ill. It was an awful time for me and my boss and colleagues didn't understand and didn't care. They didn't even buy me a wedding card!!!

A week after we came back from honeymoon I resigned. I then took five months off to be with my family. My Dad died earlier this year. I then found another job close to home, paying more money for less hours.

Be brave and have faith in yourself that you will make the right decision. You may just surprise yourself!

[dollyparting]

I think your post highlights the challenges of working in any demanding career on a less than full-time basis. Presumably before you had your child you accepted the demands of the environment, and the hours, as part of the job that needed to be done.

I think you are fortunate that your boss has agreed that you could work part-time and that your hours could be fixed, if that is not the normal pattern of the job. Some employers would have rejected your proposal citing business need. I am not saying that this is right, just that from what I hear it is unusual, particularly in media jobs.

Your colleagues probably find it a little frustrating that they have not been able to negotiate the same terms. The time may come when some of them also require part-time contracts, and then perhaps they will show more understanding and may even be glad that you have established a successful pattern.

When I first went back to work my boss and my male colleagues were extremely doubtful that my job-share arrangement could ever work. It took a long time to change their minds, but the proof of the pudding was in the eating - hard work, persistence, unfailing cheerfulness, some flexibility on my part (luckily I could do that), smiling at people when I wanted to spit at them for their ignorance, and output that was higher than any of the full-time staff.

So you may feel a bit despondent at the moment, but you are in a job you have trained for, you are at least taking home some money, you are keeping your skills and contacts up to date, you have negotiated something that suits you in a very difficult industry, and you are spending time with your little boy. Keep your chin up.