To think Friday would be a rubbish NWD?

Not working Fridays buys you long weekend breaks and going forward, most school assemblies.

Yes but I will be dropping a Friday after maternity leave in anticipation of the kids starting school in a couple of years because all schools finish at lunchtime on a Friday here 😩

In my job so many people have Friday or Monday as a nwd that I wasn't allowed them Tues and Wed suits me perfectly though, I prefer getting a break in the middle and never have to work more than 2 days at once! Also find a lot of school events are mid week.
As far as the annual leave goes- in my job you get more annual leave if you dont work Monday. Because you get a pro rata allowance for bank holidays- every time you take a bank holiday off it comes out of your allowance and when you run out of allowance you still have to take the bank holiday but it comes out of annual leave. If you don't work Mondays then you have that day off anyway so doesn't come out of the allowance so you never get to your annual leave......so check how it works for you.

I think it depends on your job. I would find anything other than a Friday too disruptive, I think. I'd also end up having to turn down lots of meetings (I know your part time pattern is supposed to be accommodated but in reality it's not possible in my job). Fridays are the 1 day when my diary is usually pretty clear, I assume because a lot of people are on NWDs or more likely to take A/L. So it's much easier for me to take off, but at the same time I'd miss the quiet day that I usually get things done.

Its generally slightly more favourable BH A/L wise to have a Monday as a NWD.

Coincidentally I actually had a random day off today. My local town was full of old people, especially in JL cafe (which was rammed). For all I know they go every day though!

I am a teacher and enjoy working Fridays becayse the full timers are winding down and so they never put anything awful on on a Friday.

I can't wind down though as in my job you can only really so that if you manage your whole week well enough, which is sometimes frustrating.

I do find at home household stuff falls to me on a Monday Tuesday becahse 'I'm off' and I think I'd prefer to have Friday off to get stuff done before the weekend rather than both of us being shattered by Friday. But really my other half should just pull his weight at the weekend and not leave everything to me! So basically look at the partner you have when picking your days 😂

I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and love it.

I have Thursday/Friday with my little one and try to fit some housework round her naps if I can.

We then have Saturday and Sunday as a family x

Places are busier but I found most other people had Friday off while I didn't so my LO missed out on a lot of socialisation with friends and people from NCT etc.

I would go Tuesday, Wednesday instead of Wednesday, Thursday if you get bank holidays off. You still have the middle of the week weekend but when it is a bank holiday you get the bonus Monday so are off 5 days in a row.

I agree supermarkets on Friday are a nightmare. I used to work TWTh and always felt when I came back to work that I had missed so much with 4 days off together. I like the midweek break idea.

When I first went part time most of my mum friends had Friday off and they all had their meet ups on a Friday. I don’t get to choose what my non working days are so initially got Tuesday and Thursday, which was nice that I was never in more than one day but really annoying as I felt like every day was a Monday with loads to catch up on. More recently I had Tuesday and Wednesdays off which was a nice little mid week weekend. If I got to pick I’d have Friday off to see all my friends and have an early weekend

My favourite part-time work pattern was Mon, Wed, Fri. I liked having every other day off. I also preferred working Fridays because everyone's in a "it's nearly the weekend" good mood. Easter was particularly good - I finished on the Wednesday and didn't go back until the following Wednesday.

I've just been through making this decision and i agree it is tricky. Our nursery has a policy that if you are 3 days a week, it must include a Mon or Fri, so that stopped me doing Tue, Weds, Thurs which was my previous working pattern. In a precious job, I used to get Wed or Thur off in lieu of working a Saturday, and I never really felt like it was a proper break - my mind didn't switch off from work. So I've gone for Thurs, Fri as NWD so that then every time there is a Mon bank hol, it rolls into 5days off. No idea how it's going to go as only a month or so in, but it's ok so far. I agree places are busier but still substantially less busy than a weekend so I think i can manage with that. And also has the benefit that most baby / toddler groups round us are Mon, Thurs or Fri so its working out quite well with getting to things.

I guess it depends on your lifestyle - i live some distance from family and many close friends so i use a lot of my annual leave taking Fridays and Mondays off to visit them and usually 2 or 3 long weekends away through the year too. So I would struggle to do that with a part-time annual leave allowance if i took mid week days as NWD.
Fridays can be a good working day as I find people tend to schedule less meetings so it's often the day I can get my head down and properly stuck into tasks.
If you need childcare then you'll probably find it easier to get places mid-week because more people have Fri & Mon as their NWD.

I used to have Wednesdays off and switched to Fridays.

Work wise, Wednesdays were more of a challenge to have as a NWD as it was much harder to switch off from work, as I was out for one day and back in the next. With a Friday off it feels like a much cleaner seperation between work and home (but that's just me).

Friday is better than a Monday for a day off I think. Long weekend and even better when it's a bank holiday.

If you work Monday you will end up with less annual leave. And you really need as much annual leave as you can with kids. , especially when they start school.

i used to have Weds and Thurs off and it’s crap. I spent a lot of Friday trying to get up to speed with things after my ‘weekend’. ( remember, no one else has had a weekend so work piles up) If you work three days, it’s much better if they are consecutive.

I changed to working Tues to Thirs and it was much better.

I love Fridays in the office. Nice and quiet, hardly any meetings. I picked Thursday as a NWD but it does mean I miss more meetings than I would do on a Friday.

Loved Mondays as a NWD - felt like a bonus day after the w/e and working Tues - Fri was a short week.
Had a 3 day job share Tuesday, Thursday & Friday when I first retunred after maternity leave - that worked well too.

I went back Wed-Fri after my mat leave and really like it. Fridays are really chilled in my office so it doesn’t feel too difficult and I never get that Sunday night feeling of dread that I used to get before working on a Monday. Most places are lovely and quiet on Mondays and Tuesdays too, though I have found that lots of places are closed on Mondays now.

Thinking back, I just asked my boss which days worked best for them. It was a give and take kind of work place where I tried to be flexible and they tried to be flexible for me in return.

Consider whether there's anyone you'd like to meet up with on your days off as well. I used to work Mon/Wed/Thu which meant I was only ever missing one working day at a time so work didn't build up too much in my absence. I also had particular groups I liked to take DC to on Tuesdays and other mums with similar aged DC to meet up with on the Fridays as most I knew had that day off.

I used to like having Fridays off because a lot of my friends also worked Mon-Thu and we met up on Fridays.

Can you choose whichever days you want? In my workplace the days have to be either before or after the weekend so you’ll always have a Monday or Friday off. Some of my friends didn’t have a choice and had to take the end of the week off as that was their company policy.

I have Mondays off because then I can use my ‘bank holidays’ as regular leave and take them whenever I want. In our company, if you work Mondays, your leave is pro-rata but you’re forced to take all the bank holidays off, which leaves you with fewer anual leave days if that makes sense.

Also, our nursery charges the same for Mondays, so you end up paying for bank holidays when they are closed. But I know some nurseries have a reduced rate on Mondays to reflect that, so it depends.

Friday or Monday at home with kiddos:

Pros: Easy to go away for a long weekend. Your Mum friends who have also gone part time more likely to be available. For Mondays, you are not paying for nursery despite it being closed for several bank holidays. Once your child is at school, they sometimes finish term at lunch time on Fridays and end of term assemblies etc more likely to be on a Friday morning.

Cons: Harder to get part time nursery places on Mondays and Fridays. Can be nice to break up the working week. Commute is noticeably less busy on Fridays as lots of people WFH.

I’ve done a variety of things. Quite enjoyed not working at my paid job Tuesdays and Fridays.

I did W/T/F when ds was at nursery.

4 day weekend, by the time you get in on a Wednesday, everyone is looking forward to the weekend, and it's best not to work Monday if your BH are lumped into your annual leave.

Lots of people said kids settle in childcare best if they do a block rather than random days. I have no idea if that's true.

One of my friends was off mid week and found it difficult to find classes and groups to go to as these are the days most people work.