If you work FT did you work PT first when kids were young?

[Whoopstheregoesmyshoulder]

Or have you always worked Ft? I'm 4 days but debating going 5 days again as my job never changed from when I went "part time" and I'm knackered so wondered about going 5 days again as I may as well get paid for all the extras I do during my 4 days. Early starts and late finishes, evening emails. I'm doing the full time hours but equally would miss taking my youngest to school on my day off as he does after and before clubs every other day and I hate putting him in there. Gah! What to do?

I do think 4 days is often a rip off - you end up doing the same work.

Could you negotiate a day wfh to do the pick up - or just leave early one day and make it up Sunday evening?

Anecdotally it seems to be that if you want part time 3 days is best as it clearly delineates that you are part time and work seems to understand that. Anyone I know who tried to work 4 days ends up just having to manage a full time workload on less pay and in less time.

I know a lot of people are moving to compressed hours, so doing 37 hours over 4 days, would that be an option for you? Especially now COVID has made a lot of companies more open to the idea of working flexibly.

If you're already working the equivalent of 5 days in 4, can you ask to condense hours, so that's what you're getting paid for? Then you're getting the full pay but still have your day off. Or would it take much more on top of what you're doing now to achieve 5 in 4?

I did it for a while and it was a killer, but I liked the day off it gave me.

I've always been FT, my job doesn't lend itself to PT as, like you, I'd end up with the same amount of work to do in less time!

Worked 19 hours a week when dd was at nursery and her first few years at school. Then upped my hours during term time to around 25 so I could have more holidays.

When dd went to secondary school I went to 4 days a week and then full time within about 9 months.

I was lucky in that all my part time roles were just that and I wasn't expected to do extra hours.

I’ve always worked FT and had resigned myself to breakfast and after school clubs but then my company had an overhaul and with flexible working I can drop off at school now so we only use after school club. I consider myself quite lucky tbh, I looked at changing jobs a while ago where they didn’t do flexible hours and they wouldn’t consider letting me shift my start time by half an hour.

As others have said, have you considered condensed hours? So FT hours over 4 days? Or would that not solve the issue of your work being left for you?

I'm in this dilemma.

I work 6 hours a day so 30 hrs a week I stead of 35 hrs which is full time.

I can drop and pick the children up and I am really reluctant to go full time as the expectation will be that I have to be at work into 5:15 everyday where as now I don't have a lunch break and finish at.2:30. I start at 8:30.

The money annoys me as that 1 hr less works out quite a lot over the year but while DD still wants to go to dancing etc it's worth the sacrifice so I can take her to clubs etc.

I worked full time and part time simultaneously. I had a full time job but also worked three nights in a youth club fir the local authority for many years. I gave that up and my role changed so that I was working with NEET kids. That gave me more flexibility but meant I went on two residentials between September and March.

I'm currently part time 3 days a week and just recently taken on a second 1 day a week role (which is actually more full on than the 3 day a week one!) I'm now in a quandary as the 1 day a week will be increasing to 3 days and I'm not sure what to do!

Four children, and I worked full time. They all went to nursery.

Other way round for me. Well I actually worked 4 days a week until DS was 2, then full-time when I changed jobs and stayed full-time until he was 9, although for the last four years of that I could work one day a week at home.

Since he was 9 I have always worked part-time except for one year when I was FT again (when he was 15 so it didn't matter by then).

People always go on about how awful it is for kids to go to nursery etc but actually I think they need you more as they get older and it's easier to deal with school hours when you are PT and it's easier to work FT with full-time care and no school holidays.

When I worked 4 days it was 4 days, I didn't work on my day off. But there was no home-working at that point so when you weren't there you weren't there. Now it would be different (and in fact it is as I work part-time hours but often work outside my actual hours).

You need to set boundaries. When I worked PT I set up a recurring message on my emails stating my hours and for anyone needing a reply to contact my manager. I also turned off my work mobile.