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.

That is fair at least

I agree with this almost word for word about having the end of the week off when. everyone else is too.

Also if you’re building a business case and your career, asking for Friday off can be a better argument on a 3 day week because it’s a less intense day (often but not always) as you’ve already said so you’re not missing as much. Depends on your role and business and career aspirations

I’ve done most days and combinations over the years. Quite a lot of people take Mondays and Fridays, which means Tuesday/Wed/Thu are the busiest days in terms of commuting. I’d either choose Monday/Tuesday or Monday/Thursday.

I agree Friday is a great day to work. Very good for catching up and getting stuff done that requires focus.

Monday is more advantageous in terms of bank holidays in many work places.

Having Wed or Thu to break up the week is nice but it does mean you have to catch up twice, and are more likely to miss key meetings. I wouldn’t take both of those days - but it does depend on your workplace. Don’t underestimate how annoying it can be to regularly miss key meetings - it would be worth checking what the set up is on your team.

Don’t have Tue/Thu as your non working days as you’ll spend your whole time trying to catch up.

I agree having at least two consecutive days in childcare will help in terms of settling.

On the other hand, the reason I was made to work Fridays in one of my jobs was that if I was never in it affected the ability of others in my small department to take annual leave on Fridays which was the most popular ad-hoc day off.

@ExtraDisorganised also a fair point! There are so many variables for teams and businesses so I think it’s best to have a couple of options on your sleeve that you’re able to do

I would suggest not working the Mondays. I found it all round easier for many of the reasons already given.
Plus, I know Fridays are more relaxed and fun, but from my experience it’s harder to get your work done when everyone else is more relaxed/more likely to have the day off. When you work PT you don’t really have the luxury to have a relaxed fun day unfortunately I found. Depending on what industry you are in, you might find it difficult to complete your work on a Friday because less people are around and every week you’ll be pushing work in to the next week. That’s what I found happened to me.

It makes most sense to have Mondays off.

Think of annual leave and bank holiday leave as one big pot of leave. For every bank holiday which falls on a Monday (the majority), you don't have to take anything out of your leave pot to have that day off as you're off anyway. So in effect, Monday BH leave can be taken whenever you want, in the same way as annual leave.

I guess it depends on your role, and also how useful the Team meetings are, but in my Team (where more people are PT than FT), you can choose which days you want, except that everyone has to be in on a Tuesday. Then managers know that booking in any training, or having important meetings where there are big changes, etc, everyone is in on a normal week (AL and sickness excepting, of course).

That works well in our team, so no-one is having to bring people up to speed all the time. I understand Tuesday was picked, as, at the time they decided to work like that, everyone was in on a Tuesday, and from them on, anyone wanting to work PT can, as long as one of their working days is a Tuesday.

PTs in my workplace are all jobshares though (all with our days dictated to us, noone got to choose their working days). So there is never a day when everyone is in.

Interesting hearing all the different approaches!

I used to have Weds and Thurs off and it was shit. You spend too much of Friday trying to remember where you were on Thurs and catching up.

Have Monday and Friday off. Otherwise you end up having to use your leave to cover bank holidays. You actually end up with less leave if you have Monday as a working day when you are part-time.

Of your given options Monday and Tuesday are definitely the best days to have off.

Interesting hearing all the different approaches!

Indeed, and this is why it depends on the job.

I mean class teachers for example, have to work on different days to make sure the role is covered, but there are many roles where there doesn't need to be 'a face in front of the clients / service users / etc' at all times, but where there does need to be collaboration between colleagues.