Would you reduce your hours by 4 per week?

[onesadmama]

Im returning to work soon. I wanted to reduce to 30 hours (x3 10 hour days) but my work aren't supportive as resources are too low and projects behind already (despite having 2 staff members with reduced hours in the team and my projects being behind because of poor management of mat replacement)

Instead, I proposed reducing to 33 hours (0.9 FTE) from 37 and condensing over 4 days, so that I have 2 long days and 2 short days (where i do Nursery pick up)

They just said I should keep full hours and work extra 4 hours in the evening once DC has gone to bed as i'm losing £300 per month as a result of those 4 hours but still expected to do the FT position.

However I feel like that's going to be really stressful, working 8 hours, then doing housework, cooking dinner, and actually trying to see my DC for more than 20 minutes a day before the bedtime routine, then log back in at 9pm once all my home jobs are done.

I really don't know what to do. Is losing so much money per month worth the extra 4 hours per week? Or do i just log in per night and do an extra hour before going to bed at 10pm to get up at 5am (when my DC do).

doing 3 long days per week seemed worth it for 2 days with DC in the week, however im not sure if 4 long days for 1 day seems worth it..

Just looking for some external thoughts really.

forgot to add, DP cant do nursery pickups as hes doing all 3 drop offs - so he's helping equally (if not more than me) in that aspect.

My concern would be that they wouldn't reduce your work load so you'd end up doing ft but being paid 0.9. Especially if the expectation of evening work is there

If you can be really firm and stick to your hours then try 0.9.. otherwise you may want to push harder for 0.8.

losing £300 per month as a result of those 4 hours but still expected to do the FT position.

Don't give up salary but keep full time workload/responsibilities. That's the worst of all worlds.

Why can't the job be done in 4 normal days instead of long ones? How will they know you're working exactly the hours you're being paid for? Timesheets?

Your work are telling you that you will end up working FT even if you ostensibly drop to 33 hours, so (whilst agreeing it will be horrible in practice) I think they are being quite reasonable in saying you should stay FT and can work more flexibly round your children.

If you can't drop your hours, I'd personally rather work the 3 10 hour days your originally wanted to and a shorter 7 hour day (allowing you to do both drop off and pick up at nursery). Well, actually I'd probably work 2 longer days and 3 shorter ones, but depends how flexible your nursery is.

If you do officially reduce by 4 hours, are you really confident that will reflect the reality? As a PP has said, it sounds like there is a significant risk that you will end up with the worst of all possible worlds, ie reduced pay, but not reduced hours.

I wouldn't work in the evening, but if they agree to 33 hours a week can't you do 3x10 hour days and then one day when you squeeze the 3 hours around nap time etc. Or just put DC in for half a day.

But you'd have to be strict about sticking to the 33 hours.

It’s good your work are being open and flexible - the work needs doing and if you cut your hours you’ll end up doing it for free. It happens so often. Part time doesn’t equal less work, just less money. Rather than doing an hour each night I would allocate one or who evenings to it. Ask your OH to take over bedtime on those days. Get an easy dinner in. And put some of the £300 towards getting some help at home.

My workload wouldn't decrease - infact we've lost a member of staff (whose not going to be replaced) since I left, so I imagine my workload has increased since leaving.

I'd stick to my hours, however projects would likely get delayed as a result

I just want to be with my baby :( (self pity moment!)

It will be 4 long because I'm compressing - so I've still got to do 37 hours.

It's a trust based system, so no timesheets and i believe no tracking - i don't really want to take the piss though and not do what i say i do.

I could probably be more efficient than i was, and do my job in 34 hours no problem tbf.

It's just frustrating as other members of staff (with nearly adult children) are on 0.8/0.9 hours, and they're in the roles which are really tight on resources and i help pick up the work.

However, they're more senior so it seems they can get away with it.

I could allocate 1 evening to it, though that would mean working 13/14 hours in one day. which sounds AWFUL.

Would you be able to take a shorter lunch break to make up some time and work slightly longer still on those longer days?

I only do a 30-minute lunch anyway - If i could work through I would!

Do you wfh as if so that might make things a little easier. If so would If be possible to do 7-6 or the 2 days your dp does drop off, potentially putting something in a slow cooker at lunch and the 7-4 on the 2 days you do pick up? And as above the extra 300 could go towards something to help like a cleaner/ food delivery/ afterschool club if you have older children.

I think if your role isn't reducing then there's no point reducing your hours.
If you compress, could you work on the 5th evening or sunday afternoon or something. Assuming your baby naps until 2.5 you could even do 1hr/90 mins during the days you are off and take evening burden away?

One of my old managers worked 4 days (plus evenings to keep up) and said she felt like a bit of a mug when she found out another manager was working 5 days over 4 days as she'd essentially been working a 5th day for free.

I'm in a similar position now and opted to increase from 3 long days to 4 long days in the hope that I can keep up with work and still have 3 (including weekends) days a week with my LOs.

Hope you can figure out a good balance to enjoy time with your baby and not be stressed by work.

If they won't reduce your workload there's no point reducing your contracted hours as it just means you get paid less for the same work.

If they don't formally count hours could you quietly work a bit less but be more efficient and do a couple of evening (or early morning) to make up?

Sounds like there's no chance of replacing the missing hours for you and those who work 0.8/0.9? But the circumstances of the others is irrelevant, why should they work FT if they don't need to? If the company forced them back to FT hours they might leave so it could be a staff retention issue.

Could you stay FT and get a cleaner to lighten your workload at home? If dropping 4 hours a week means your pay reduces by £300 a month then you must be quite well paid so this might work out cost effective.

I used to do this. 33.5 in office over 4 days plus 4 hours at home.

Tbh it worked ok. I just kept a tracker of what hours I earned and what was due. I then did it as and when. Some weeks I did more if I had something I was working on that took a lot of time, some I did less if I had commitments. I just made sure overall it balances out.

In your case I would not drop the hours as I suspect you will still get same amount of work and you would just end up doing unpaid overtime.

I understand the question better.. can you do 3 long and a half day? Then you might get more time to hang out with your baby?

I would definitely not go for making up time in the evening. It's crazy enough when you go back to work that you need all the time at home that you can.

Legally you can only apply for flexible working once a year, I would ask that you all reasses the situation after 3 months... 6 at the most

Can you think of your role not as hours, but as tasks? If you are able to get the work done in 34 hours, do you and or your employer really need to dwell or pay attention to the extra hours to make up to 37? Especially if it's a trust based system. My employer always states that it's more interested in the tasks / work being completed than micromanaging everyone's time. It's a fairly new way of working, but works well I'd say.

I would try to out, do the full time hours and work around your schedule. If some weeks you don’t quite do your hours then so be it.

Have you put in a flexible working request? If so you can’t put another one in for 1 year I think so if you do agree to it make sure you have agreed from both sides that you can review this and potentially drop those hours at a 3/6/9 month review mark.

I teach and have to work evenings to keep up with marking & planning. It was hard going when they were tiny & I felt awful rushing bath time & story time so I could get books out again. Realistically it was 8pm before I could start again even if they went on time at 7pm.

So if you can avoid it then I would try not to do evening hours.

It's fine now they're older as I just work early evening.

It's not just the work, it's keeping up with washing, cleaning, keeping on top of food shop.

I wouldn't. I tried this and had to stop. Basically, days looked like this... Got up and sorted lo, worked, picked lo up and looked after them until bedtime, work, bed. There was no downtime and on days lo was out of sorts or unwell, making up hours was impossible. It also affected my sleep as I found it hard to unwind after working in the evening. Wasn't great for my DH either as we couldn't enjoy evenings together.

It doesn't sound like much, an hour a night, but actually it's a lot when you have a child, house to keep on top of etc... That time between your child going to bed and you going to bed is pretty much the only downtime most people get in a day. It soon feels suffocating t give that up. Plus when you're child is young, there is no guarantee you’ll get that time or even a good nights sleep!

I would agree to their proposal, but be clear to them that I can no longer do more than the full time workload and won't overstretch myself to cover the cracks in their recruitment, then try to increase my efficiency rather than clock watch (but do the honest hours, possibly some of it on the sofa with a laptop and a glass of wine while telling other half I can't possibly look after the child right now). I don't think there's a right answer. I was glad when the dc got beyond primary school that I had been able to preserve my career (other people had not and became very low in confidence and doing work well below their qualifications) but I was also really burnt out.

Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like your employer is that supportive- I’m not really sure why your 2 long days 2 short days plan doesn’t fly with them

fwiw I work .8 and have one full day off a week. It probably does make my week a bit more hectic than my colleagues’ but I don’t work more than 30h most weeks. I occasionally do an hour or two on my day off but usually not. Employer is supportive thankfully.

However I feel like that's going to be really stressful, working 8 hours, then doing housework, cooking dinner, and actually trying to see my DC for more than 20 minutes a day before the bedtime routine, then log back in at 9pm once all my home jobs are done

Well plenty of people do manage a schedule like this, but it is a matter of choice.
It's within your employer's rights to refuse any request for flexible working, and it does sound as if they have reasonable grounds to decline.