Working 4 days / week - which day off?

[inneedofaholidaybigtime]

Wise mumsnetters, please help me work out what to ask for!

If you work 4 days per week when going back to work after maternity leave which day do you have off and why? What are the considerations when making the decision that I might not have thought of?

Secondary question: if you are also able to WFH one day per week which day would you work from home and why?

Thanks!

Check your annual leave calculations. By choosing not to work Mondays rather than Fridays I generally have about half a day’s extra leave a year to use. It will depend on how leave is calculated for part timers.

I chose a Friday. Love it.

I would choose not to work Monday if you normally have them off as a bank holiday as then you won't need to take those days out of your annual leave entitlement. You then have more freedom of when to take your holidays

@ConstanzaAndSalieri thanks for your reply. My policy isn't very clear on how it is calculated. Why does it work out as extra to have Monday's off? Why does it make a difference?

You won't get more but you won't have to use holiday entitlement to take them off so you have more choice on when to use those days

Definitely a Friday.
Definitely.

Not Monday as they are bank holidays so on those weeks you will online do 3 days a week.

I'm quite tempted to aim for a Wednesday - break up the week a bit!

She may do only 3 days that week but she will lose a days holiday out of it

My jobs have always pro-rated public holidays when part time, meaning it makes no difference which day I have off in terms of leave.
I find Friday works best as non working day and Weds best as WFH day. There are fewer people working on Fridays, so I get less behind and my absence is less noted by clients. It can be tricky with deadlines though which are often the end of a week.
I found a day working at home midweek very useful just so I can get a load or two of washing through during the day or be home to receive an online grocery order.

I agree check your workplace policy re bank holidays. Part timers that work Mondays seem to get screwed in some places

I've had Monday's off, then changed to Friday's and now have Wednesday's off. I prefer Wednesday's to break up the week.

If you work 4 days per week, you will get 4/5 of the annual leave, and 4/5 of the bank holiday entitlements.

If you chose monday, you would never work mondays, and should have extra days added on to your annual leave number to take when you want.

Oh no, you have to work a Friday! Best day of the week. Everyone has the Friday feeling. Have Mondays off. Feel smug on Sunday nights and spend the most depressing day of the week getting your nails done and shopping in peace. Everywhere’s busy on a Friday because all the other part timers are off.

Mondays like others have said, you'll then have the choice to take the BH in lieu.
Plus you avoid the Sunday night feeling, it doesn't seem as bad on a Monday night for some reason. I don't mind working Fridays, maybe because everyone in the Friday mood and we often get an early finish, also the traffic is lighter where I am.

I have Wednesdays off and love having that midweek day off

I work a 4 day week (term time only). I didn’t get to choose the day, but I get Tuesday off and it is really good. I work o the Monday. Tuesday off (shops not very busy if I need to get things done, gym not busy, most people have later in the week off. Then I start again mid week and after my second day, I have only two more days to go (I hope that makes sense).

I do 4 days with Wednesday off and it breaks the week up nicely. Not sure I would cope with too make consecutive days- getting out in the morning is a nightmare here! Mondays or Fridays weren't an option for me though as they're our busier days.

I also have every Wednesday off. You're always only 2 days from a day off.

Monday as day off, Wednesday as work from home day.

I work in an internal subject matter expert role with tons of meetings. I have done 4 days with fridays off before. However I think actually less meetings are scheduled on a Friday, rarely anything after 4 pm. People do use Fridays to clear emails, produce papers, work on personal development etc. I felt I missed out by not having that quieter time in the office.

with mondays off it depends if your office shuts every bank holiday

so if you get 30 days including BH you now work 4/5 so you now get 24 including BH

of the 8 BH four are always mondays and christmas New year vary but Monday is the BH everytime Christmas? new year is a saturday sunday or Monday so in a year 6 BH could be mondays
if you have wednesdays off in a year you could have 4-6BH falling on working days leaving you 18-20 days free choice
but if you choose Mondays off only 4 BH max and maybe only 2 BH will fall in your normal week so each year you could have 2-4 Bh off and 20-22 days free choice still 24 days off but arranged differently

however if your business normally opens all BH it makes no difference re holidays,
I think a wednesday or thursday is the best though so not 4 days in a row with a new baby them being in nursery 2 days then home then nursery 2 days then home 2 days might be good, while with older children a day tagged onto weekend may work better , do all laundry shopping wtc on Friday so the weekend clear for activities

I have Monday off, because:

• It fitted the days our nursery had available
• Our nursery makes you pay for bank. holidays, when they shut. Having a Monday off avoids this annoyance.
• I get some time back annual-leave wise.
• I didn’t want to have time off mid-week because I thought it would unsettle DS. I wanted him to have a consistent ‘block’ of days at nursery.

Downsides:

• Monday seems to be a popular day for attractions/ services to shut (if they close during the week).
• I’ve had to change the way I work slightly- I used to have lots of meetings on Mondays, but I’ve had to get used to everyone else being in work, getting up to speed without me. It’s generally fine though.

I work four days and have a Wednesday off. It breaks the week up. I love it.

I have Mondays off. I get to clean up after the weekend in peace. Bank holiday mondays get added to my leave card as 'bank holiday credits' to take when i like. The only downside is that hairdressers are closed on mondays so i cant get my hair done!

Check out the school holidays and inset days for your area. Where we are all inset days fall on a Monday or Tuesday. Childcare can be tricky for those days as holiday clubs tend to run for full weeks and not Monday holiday. Also more school holidays fall on a Monday eg Easter Monday and the bank holidays in May and September. I work on a Monday and if I could swap it for any other day of the week I would do so for childcare reasons.