A 9 hour day not too long?

Yep - I think this is going to be a bigger issue than the change in hours.

I went to compressed hours when I went back to work after having DS. Mine ended up being a 10 hour day though. I had to fight to get it and appealed the initial rejection (they wanted me to finish at 6pm but I needed 5:30pm so I could pick DS up from nursery at 6).

I didn’t even make through the 3 month trial. I hated it. My mental health plummeted, I was burnt out, more stressed, started getting migraines etc and (this was the turning point where I realised it wasn’t working) I started to dread my day off with DS because I was so burnt out I didn’t have the energy to enjoy him. It was not what I imagined. I went back to 5 days the moment I told my manager and I’m a better person and a better mum!

That said, many people I work with do compressed hours and manage them just fine. So why not try it? You are entitled to submit 2 flexible working requests per year. And if they reject it they have to give you very specific reasons why, and you also have the right to appeal the decision. Like a pp said, if it is rejected then stop doing the extra hours you’re doing now.

@MonsteraMama and my point was that in many industries, nine hour shifts are very much not the norm and wouldn't be approved for a whole number of reasons.

I've worked plenty of 9-10 hour shifts in the past by the way! I know full well they're normal in many jobs but a request for them could just as easily be rejected in others.

Your manager might not want to approve it as you're not currently able to finish in your normal hours - if you compress then what would your plan be for the extra you're currently working? As @CutthroatDruTheViolent said, you're currently doing 30 working days free for them a year, they have no reason to compress.

Do it, and if they say no, then stop working at 4! They have no incentive to change anything if you're picking up the slack and giving them free time.

Even an extra hour an evening, 5 days a week (over 48 weeks) is an extra 240 hours or 10 full days, or 30 working days of free work you're giving them!

But you're doing it already anyway. And yeah loads of work places are moving to this now.

9 hours is a normal work day for many, many people

I used to work 3x11-hr shifts for the council (1hr lunch and 30min tea, both unpaid, signified new shifts in their view). I then worked a 7-hr shift to complete the week. It was hard in the winter but I got used to it and it was customer facing in a public building so could be stressful but not physically hard. Retired 6 years ago - couldn't wait!

I started a new job yesterday where most of my shifts are 8-6 (potentially finishing half hour earlier depending on the day) but have just come from doing 8-8:30 so being at home at 6 in my pjs having dinner was amazing.

I wouldn't say 9 hours is a long day. Don't think I have had a job less than 8.5 hours in last 20 years ranging from retail, office based, management and how healthcare.

I guess it is up to you what you feel capable of. I would rather more hours in 1 day with more days off!

My DS just did a 16 hour shift last week, not planned it was just the way it planned out and he has a job where you cannot just leave. I mean I had a job in the NHS many moons ago and after one too many 12 hours shifts I had enough. It’s fine but agree they probably do not want to set precedent.

Friends and work colleagues are saying it's too much of a long day and my manager won't approve it

Just ask your manager then you'll know for sure.

But if you're working 9-6 you won't be available for school pick up, as you'll be working at that time? Won't you?

Eh? as drs our "short day" is 730am-6pm we do that 5 days a week for 2 weeks in a row, then swap to 5x13h oncalls in 7 days instead

Oh and a 3h commute daily

It's more than I work (7-3 with an hour lunch) but compared to some PPs I look like a part-timer!

If you already do they why not

It's a pretty standard working day? 9 hours really isn't long.

I work compressed hours, doing 7:45 to 6:15 and it's fine.

Definitely not too long. I did 7.30-5.30 five days out of seven, two 20 minute breaks and a half hour lunch. Very physical job. 15,000 steps minimum per day.

Our regular hours are 0800-1800 every day! On some jobs we were allowed to compress hours and do a 4 1/2 day week or 9 day fortnight.

That's nice for you. The point I was making wasn't that jobs where you work fewer than 9 hours are scarce or unusual, but that a 9 hour working day is normal and average in a lot of industries and not something so extraordinary that it would require management approval. She also wouldn't actually be doing a 9 hour shift, 9-6 would be 8.5 at most with a break included.

There are plenty of industries where 9 hour days are completely normal, just because you've never worked in one doesn't mean it's not a lot of people's normal.

Yes that's what I was going to say - 9-6 is a normal day, but it won't count as 9 hours.

Do you currently work a little over etc? Because your manager won't approve that as compressed hours if it's just the norm.

Blimey your friends are privileged to work such cushy hours. I work 7am-6.30pm in a nursery. I'd love to only work 9-6!

By law you have to take a minimum of 20 min break every six hours so you need to factor that in, it may mean you need to make a small cut in hours if you want to finish by 6.

9 to 6 wouldn't be 9 hours as you are legally required to have a break. Maybe that's the issue. At most that's an 8.5 hour shift.

It probably depends on what you do.

I normally start work at 8 and finish some time between 6 and 9, so a 9 hour day doesn’t sound bad to me at all. (Not working today, before someone comments 😅).

For me it’s an hour of planning and delegation, then 9-5 is pretty much back to back meetings, then 5 onwards is actioning everything that came out of the calls.

Your manager isn't declining because it's too long a work day, they are declining because it'll set a precedent and everyone will want to compress their hours into 4 days....

After a couple of 12 hours shifts I always find 9 hours to be relatively short.