To think work is different now I am part time.

[pleasethanks]

I now work 3 days a week in a professional services environment in a managerial position. Previously was full time, but switched to PT after my maternity leave ended.

Since I have been back I have felt that I am treated differently by my more senior work mates. I don't get included in strategic discussions and if there are training opportunities/conferences on the days I don't work they are not even mentioned to me etc. Has anyone else found this sort of thing since they switched to working part time?

I think the pace is much faster now in business so if you're not around when things happen you tend to feel left out. People are just 'too busy' to fill you in.

There is definitely a change when you go back part time. As you are part time, you cant be as involved as you were when you were full time, and I rememeber taking a while to adjust. You also have to be a bit brasen in meetings, with' Im not here then, cant we do XXXXXXX'. But really, there is a reason you do part time- you want to soend time doing other things ( bringing up your children I presume) and this is important to you, so parts of your work have to go on without you being there.
You get used to it!!

YANBU I felt this after returning p/t following my first ML but really felt it the second time which has ultimately ended up with my post (and me) being made redundant.

Talking to friends in similar circumstances there seem to be a number of approaches people take

1. Head down and crack o - it's only work and other things -children, family etc are more important and satisfying

1. Brazen it out so things do work better for you without impacting on others. For example our team meetings were moved to a day I and another p/t colleague weren't in for no real reason, we requested a change of days and this happened .

1. Look at how your job is made up and come up with the ideal job description for a p/t role rather than just doing 2/3rds of a full time job

In some ways pt is best of both worlds but as you have found out it can be the worse of both worlds as well!!

Just get your head down, politely ask if you can be cc-d in on strategy/meetings (specifically as you hear about them, not generally).

I have to be honest I do sometimes forget to include my PT staff in on meetings, simply because I forget or get their days wrong. And they are simply not as visible. It's not intentional.

You need to be politely persistent and muscle yourself back in.

I went from full days to mornings only. All meetings are in an afternoon and nobody tells me what was said. I'm overlooked for further training because I am part time. I have heard every comment under the sun about going home to sun myself to watching Jeremy Kyle. I've always said in appraisals that I appreciate that by being the only part time worker it makes it difficult for the company. I've stopped saying this now I've been part time for five years, if they cant get their head round it now they never will. I am basically treat like the factory slave. No more! My appraisal is in two weeks and I have plenty to say with a manager to back me up. Occasionally you have to make a stand. I'm the same person I was five years ago the only thing I did "wrong" is have a baby !

I know row I get fed up with comments saying how lucky I am when I head out the office on a wed night and know I won't be back till the Monday. I do point out that I don't actually get paid a full time wage!

I found it really hard going back part time. I felt left out of a lot of things I was part of before. I ended up moving jobs to a different team, which helped a lot as things were never going to be the same in my old team.

I found I was treated differently when I went back after Mat leave. I was only PT for 6 months then back to FT and still I got side-lined. My Mat cover loved the job so much she stayed in it, and another person my grade moved to our office while I was off and took over my desk. I got put downstairs with 2 men winding down to retirement and when a temporary promotion came up it wasn't even mentioned to me.

So in my case it wasn't the PT bit but just having had a baby. Stupid thing was I'd been in that job 9 years and had 4 kids when I first started there. Someone from another office told me it's seeing you pregnant that changes people's opinion of you (they see you as mum and not worker). The only cure is to go elsewhere :(

Tell me about it! This is a constant frustration for me, and after 2 children, the elder being nearly 7, it hasn't got much better. I also get irritated that the full timers seem to resent the part timers, and almost forget that we earn less than them. They sometimes behave as if we're just slackers who pop in for 3 days a week.

But I tell myself that it's my choice. I could work full time if I wanted to, be present at all the meetings and so on. But I have other things I'd rather be doing.

It is very different, and it took me by surprise I admit when I went from FT to PT after DS was born. My boss STILL mentions that I am part time in almost every meeting, to the point where I now play 'part time' bingo to amuse myself!

To be honest since going back to work post-DD (just last year) I have managed to change my mindset about it. I am more forceful about things I want to know about/be involved in, but at the same time I accept that my being part time is sometimes difficult in an agency environment. Ultimately my DC are the most important thing in my life and it means I can brush off comments/attitudes from co-workers or bosses.

I also work a bit outside office hours to catch up and that does help to keep me in the loop - even just keeping on top of emails on iPhone while making lunch or wheeling a sleeping baby in the pram. I think you find your own way of getting by on three days - for me it's always being around virtually so I don't miss anything.

Rightly or wrongly, I think a lot of people perceive you as less committed if you go part time, and this does impact on how they respond to you. It isn't necessarily fair, but I think that's how a lot of people see it.

I've always worked full-time, but with an (increasing) number of staff who are part-time, and it sounds like the workplace for so many part-timers needs a kick up the arse:

All staff are on distribution lists for all communications, meetings, etc. so they know what's going on even if they can't make the meeting.

All meetings' notes are sent round the next day to everyone on the DL.

Meetings are held rotationally so part-timers stand a chance of attending one.

Meetings, and their agendas are notified well in advance, so PT staff can get their oar in.

It's very simple, the organisation only has to want to do it, and insist on it being done.

(And please, staff not at meetings, don't stand by my desk asking what happened at meeting X before checking your email):)

Definitely a difference.

When my section moved I got allocated the one crappy desk because I was PT. Since then people have left freeing up the bigger desks but boss always gives them to other people. Even though I've been there longer.
Makes you feel far less important.

You don't get given whole projects because you're only there 60% of the week. You get the periphery bits that you can do in the time available.
You don't get promoted because you haven't got a big project to prove yourself on.

I do think that people see you as less committed though. Fact of life.