Best day to have off work?

[peachypetite]

I’m on maternity leave and thinking about my return, a little earlier than anticipated, but I need to decide how many days I need to put my baby in nursery etc. I’m probably going to go back for four days so what do you reckon is the best day off? Monday due to bank holidays?

Remember to balance your decision with career aspirations too.

I have a colleague who takes Mondays off and seems constantly pissed off she isn't here for things that happen on a Monday (resolution of major failures/incidents from weekend that can't wait) and it has impacted her experience, knowledge and lowered her profile within the company as she isn't prominent in the recovery of these major incidents.

IME Fridays tend to be the days workplaces are winding down a bit towards the weekend, so while it may be best personal life wise to take a busy Monday off, it might not be for your career.

I tried loads of different options when I was temping. Now I don't work Fridays. Having Wednesday's off was too bitty and I like having a three day weekend. I can get sorted out and do my household jobs and then the weekend is free. Bank holidays are counted separately where I work and don't count as part of the official leave entitlement.

The thing with Mondays is you need to be careful with bank holidays - some places make you take the bank holiday and your day off as one - so you don't really get a day off. Negotiate this so you can flex that day.

I don't think that's legal. I know a relative who is an HR manager (in a huge company) was complaining to me that they aren't allowed to do that any more, whereas they used to save a fortune on paid holidays that way.

@wellthatsunusual plenty of places still think it is legal, including a few of the UKs largest employers!

I'm asking for Friday off. Most people are off or WfH or do a half day Friday so it's no biggy in terms of me being 'unavailable'. Monday-Weds is when most things are going on where I work (hospital).

Many nurseries charge for bank holidays although they are closed. If DC doesn’t go you’ll only be done for Good Friday. Discounting Christmas, Boxing Day and NYD as they move.

Not Mondays - i found loads of things were closed Mondays and all the important things at work happened at the start of the week.

If I had a choice (I don't because of childcare offered) I would have Wednesdays off

When I worked 4 days a week I had Fridays off - partly as I liked a long weekend as partly as it was a quieter day at work so it was easier for work if I wasn't there.

Wednesdays wouldn't have worked well for me. There were quite a few job-sharers where I worked and Wednesdays were the cross over day so often important meetings were scheduled on Wednesdays so that both partners could be there.

Agree that the worst day to work if part time is a
Monday- purely because so much of your pro rated annual leave would get determined by bank holidays.

I have done both Mondays and Fridays off, Monday good for Bank Holidays plus being in office on a Friday is usually a nice atmosphere, however as said for hairdressers etc. Monday off not good. I think I would err slightly toward Monday off but its between Monday and Friday for me, wouldn't fancy Wednesday unless I had a bad commute and wanted to break that up

Glad you're considering Wednesday as an option. Too many people automatically go for Monday or Friday despite many disadvantages, most of which have been mentioned.

While if you don't work Wednesdays, it breaks the week up nicely and you're off mid week, which is useful for getting things done that are busy at the weekend, or Monday or Friday when more people are off.

Monday is often used in workplaces to plan for the week, so you miss out if you're not there. Friday is often more relaxed with lower workload, more social events, so nice not to miss out.

You'll also gain brownie points by working on days that more people want to have off. Our workplace has endless arguments because there's a lot of people working Mon to Thur or Tue to Fri and this can make it impossible for anyone else to have a Monday or a Friday off, so causes bad feeling.

Only downside to Wednesday would be if your workplace has a habit of scheduling meetings or training events midweek and you're unable to go if you can't swap your childcare.

Are you in an office job with regular hours?if so, Mondays are the worst day to take! Bank holidays are prorated, but I'm most offices, you need to log your chosen annual leave, but not public holidays.

This means that if you work Monday, you gets 22.5 days of prorated holiday based on 16.5 'free choice' and 6.5 to cover prorated.public holidays). But if you work Fridays, the office is closed anyway on public holidays, so if you don't need to log them as days off, you will still have ~8 days of public holidays, and your 16.5 free choice days, so you gets 1.5 days more and enjoy a short week/extra long weekend every time.theres a public holiday.

On a practical level, it's also often better to take either Wednesday and have a break (unless your child is very unsettled in nursery, then it's stressful), or take Friday because a lot of people take it easier that day, so you don't end up missing as much or get behind.

In an ideal world I would have Wednesday off - a few of my friends do this and love it. In my work that just doesn't work well for the business though so I have Friday's off and it's great. I get a proper day off, hardly check emails etc whereas any other day I think it would be a different story!

Friday. It's a bit unfair because ore Covid joins actually did any work on a Friday but miss Monday and you're o catch up all week.

Also bank holidays.

Pros and cons of any day!

In practice a lot depends on your job - is every day the same? Do you work to deadlines? Do you have lots of meetings?

Someone I work with doesn’t work Wednesdays and she finds it really tough as a lot of big decision making meetings happen on that day and she misses out.

Fridays tend to be a quieter day for us so it’s a good day to have off if you’re worried about missing out but equally it’s a good day for clearing your to-do list.

If you have ‘end of week’ deadlines having Fridays off can make Thursdays stressful.

Mondays off can mean you spend the week playing ‘catch up’.

I wanted Fridays off, ended up with Mondays as I like not having ‘Sunday night blues’ and on the rare occasion I had a Monday deadline I always had the buffer of the weekend to sort things out.

Generally the hardest thing I found about dropping my hours was that when most people are working a 5 day week the pace of the organisation doesn’t change - I’m in a job with lots of internal deadlines outside my control and it’s constantly hard to manage that, whatever day you take off).

I loved Wednesdays off - only 2 days in nursery for the boys and then a break.

Another benefit of Friday's off are weekend breaks without using annual leave.

I’ve tried various combinations but for the last few years have had Wednesday off. It’s been great for all the previous reasons mentioned and there always seemed to be some sort of activity/class to go to with the children. I found that sort of thing didn’t happen on Friday and the Monday activities often got rearranged due to BH/inset days etc. Also as the DC have got older it seems to be a good day to be at the school gates in terms of hearing what is going on. I’ve now negotiated a 3.5 day week and have Friday pm as well. Work life balance finally properly sorted.

I think you miss stuff in you don't work Monday. I did 3 days , Monday, Tuesday, Thursday- was great. Picked up Wed stuff on Thursday, Friday's were quiet anyway and I picked it up on Monday. Would recommend.

I love having Mondays off - it always feels really indulgent after a busy weekend then when my child and husband go back to school and work on Monday I have a day to myself in peace

I used to have Fridays off. It didn't affect bank holidays, we all get bank holidays off anyway at my work and it didn't come out of my holiday allowance. Mondays were always the busiest day so it always felt like trying to catch up when I had a Monday off. Fridays was a nice day to have off to go away for long weekends and I could get all my work done by Thursday so I wasn't stressing about having loads to do.

I love having Wednesday's off. Only have to plan / pack nursery things etc for 2 days at a time. Work doesn't feel like it gets on top of me either.

I think I need to look into Monday bank holidays a bit more and see if that makes it the best day to take. Otherwise it will be Wednesday. I am happy to work Fridays because it’s a quiet day for meetings and would mean I could get work done that I need to do and finish the week feeling on top of things.

I have Fridays off and very happy with it. It usually means I take less annual leave because I can go away for a long weekend easily and I plan holidays around using Friday to travel. If there's social events, I turn up at 5.30 to join in having had a nice day off before hand.

Banks hols mean I get the occasional long weekend too.

I dont work on Fridays and I love it. Monday’s would be bad as many work meetings I have would be scheduled then and an absence then is much more noticeable. If I want a long weekend away I can head out Thursday evening plus Thursday evenings are great for drinks and going out. ( remember those times?). I don’t work BH so I win on those weeks too.