Help me decide my working days PT

[moise]

Contemplating asking for one of the below after maternity leave. I’ve done a pros and cons list but can’t decide. Currently my baby is very young so I can’t imagine what combination of days off is going to work best with a toddler.

Monday & Tuesday (4 day weekend)
Monday & Thursday (never working more than 2 days in a row)
Tuesday & Thursday (the next day is always a day off)
Wednesday & Thursday (two weekends)

DM works part time and has Mon/Tue off, so she has suggested I ask for other days. She wouldn’t be regular childcare for both these days but she would likely do two half days, or one of the days, whenever not on holiday. It would also be good contingency in case DD couldn’t attend the childminder for whatever reason.

I think having a Monday off is advantageous for bank holidays which is what I am keeping in mind.

I wouldn’t want to ask for a Friday off, as it is a more relaxed, fun day in my office and everyone is in good spirits- the work socials also occur almost entirely on Fridays.

It should be quite flexible tbh. I do know someone who has different days off every week (agreed 6 weeks in advance)

Thank you! I bet a Monday is lovely and quiet

I have monday and friday off. Means works done in one go and a 4 day weekend every weekend. Also find people don't worry too much about cover or me not responding as lot of people have a friday off anyway. Also means only bank holidays i ever have to use leave for are christmas and new year. So i get the remainder pro rata to use whenever i want.

When I first went back after having my two I had Mondays and Thursdays off. Mondays made sense with the bank holidays. Initially I did want Fridays off as most friends who were also part time with young kids had Fridays off but over time everyone has gone back to work more full time. I loved having Mondays and Thursdays off as I never got that Sunday night feeling and Thursday meant I had a day to catch up with life admin/spend with my kids plus the bonus of never working more than 2 days in a row. I have gone back to 4 days a week now my kids are both at school but still have Mondays off and I love them

Good point

Thank you, Monday and Thursday certainly doesn’t seem the most popular choice but I can see the benefit to a 3 day weekend and then a extra day to mop up any chores that have accumulated mid week, before the weekend

That makes sense. What do you do if you don’t mind me asking?

Sorry, didnt word well. You will get them off but you will have to use some of your annual leave, which will leave you short when you want to book holidays.

Agree if Monday is non working day.

Monday is the best day off for BH at my work - there’s more than one way to work it out so check with your HR.

not working on Mondays does mean you’re not paying for childcare that you can’t use on those bank holiday days.

for me they say FT is 26 days plus 8 bank holidays = 34 days x 0.6 = 20.4. You then book off bank hols that fall on your working days… so 4 this year on a Monday.

ETA for me I have Mondays off at 0.8. 34*0.8 = 27.2 - 4 = 23.2 or 5.8 weeks that I can book. A FT at 26 days gets 5.2 weeks they can book.

NYD - Wednesday
18 April
Friday
Good Friday
21 April
Monday
Easter Monday
5 May
Monday
Early May bank holiday
26 May
Monday
Spring bank holiday
25 August
Monday
Summer bank holiday
25 December
Thursday
Christmas Day
26 December
Friday
Boxing Day

Seems Monday is best all roads round!

I do wonder about Fridays and think in the ideal it would be nice to have a 5 day weekend but also then it’s quite a while away from my desk

I see thank you. I suppose with two days off a week anyway you’d only need 3 days annual leave for a week off

We get all BH off. You offer to work it and get a lot more money. Limited shifts available. We do not use leave for it. So I get 30 days leave + BH and I can buy a week.

PT's get the day added to their leave in lieu, if their RD falls on a BH.

I know how generous it is. Private company, not public.

Depends on whether your company does holiday in days or hours but at mine it is much better to not work a Monday as you say, you get a pro rata allowance to use but have to take any bank holidays that fall on your working days out of that allowance.

E.g for me I work three days per week so get 60% of the 8 bank holidays (5 days to use). If I worked a Monday, most bank holidays are on Mondays so would have to take every bank holiday Monday out of those 5 days.... usually leaving me short and having to dip into annual leave. If I didn't work Mondays I don't have to take bank holidays that fall on a Monday out of that allowance.

Obviously it changes a bit each year, depending when Christmas and New year fall for example but it's been much more advantageous for me to have Mondays off.

Thank you! That’s really well explained

I went down to 2 days a week.
My employer told me which 2 days I would be working, I didn't get to choose.

But my contract is 0.4 contract, not a 'Wed and Thurs' contract, so they can change the days with one month's written notice (this is also in my contract). They haven't done yet, in 3 years, but they have suggested they might need to (for business needs) from September this year. That will be an absolute ball ache.

That’s so frustrating. Why couldn’t you pick your days?

Don’t do Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have that at the moment and it absolutely sucks to be honest!

It didn't fit the business needs. They could accommodate my request for PT working but this was how. 🥴

Yes, you do, but remember you only get
3/5 of the number of AL days you get now

So, if you currently have 25 days AL, and you drop to 3 days a week, yes, you will only need 3 days to get a week away but that is 3 days from your allowance of 15 days across the year, not what you currently have (25, for example).

Oh no why? The idea of never working more than a day is quite appealing, but maybe it’s disjointed? I don’t know.

Ugh, it feels like there’s always a way to catch people out even when ‘accommodating’ them

I think it depends on your job.

It depends on things like when your team meeting or training are.
It depends on things like people you need to work with (if also PT) - it can be useful to both be in on same day, if you need to collaborate, or if you have same skills, it might be more useful for two people with same skills to work different days, so you cover the week between you.
It depends if you have clients / service users / patients / customers who might reasonably not want to wait 5 days for the answer to a simple query - some people being in across the week that is better.

They did change team meetings to a rolling 2-week timetable, Weds one week, Monday the next e.g , so I don't get stuck going to them all every week!