AIBU to think that, if you work two/three days a week ...

[WhateverHappenedToMe]

... you should try to arrange your doctors' appointments for the days you don't work, and not for 2 p.m. on a day that you do?

YABU. That’s discrimination for part time workers, full time workers are allowed time off for their appointments so part time workers should be too. What they do on their days off is irrelevant.

Well yes, if possible except

1. It’s often a case of taking what you can get even for a non urgent appointment but this one is workable
2. my asthma rarely takes any notice of my work hours if I need and appointment within 24-48 hrs I really do have to take what’s available
3. I waited 5 yrs for a clinical psychology appointment. I’m not turning it down just because it happens to be on a day I work.

There’s probably a whole host of other reasons as well.

I made an appointment to see my doctor back in Feb, the only date I could get was 4th April. It was that or wait another 2 weeks.

With our doctors you have to take what's available, you can't pick and choose.

full time workers are allowed time off for their appointments

Where I work, the policy for everyone is that they should attempt to avoid appointments in working hours - no different for full time workers.

I think it depends. How flexible is your doctor with appointments? Not the same thing, but with my dentist, and because I have special needs and I'm very fearful, I just ask her if she has availability on such and such a day, usually a week before or a few days before and she will make an appointment on that day for me usually. With the GP, I find they can be very full. But they try to help.

I try very hard though to find doctors and dentists can meet my needs though but I realize not everyone can do this. There is a special-needs dentist who I looked into, but she had appointments three months ahead, which simply wouldn't have worked for me.

Yabu - my workplace allows 2 hours off for medical appointments. If full timers can use that, why not part timers?

What I would say is part timers should try (in theory!) to distribute appointments evenly over working and non- working days.

The policy in places where I've worked has always been

• time must be made up for doctors and dentist appointments as these can be scheduled around the working day
• time off is allowed for hospital appointments when there is normally no choice at all about appointment times.

One of my children has multiple medical appointments- I arrange them on my day off as far as I can. However there are some appointments of mine that I can't easily take them to (physio, smear tests etc) so those I arrange for working days (beginning or end of day if possible).

Previous employers have told me I should make appointments on my day off as me not having alternative childcare "is not their problem". But I agree with a pp that this attitude is discriminatory against part time workers.

Within reason yes. But you can’t really dictate when you see a hospital consultant for example a d GP appts are often in short supply. When I didn’t work Mon and Fri, I did arrange appts for those days, except for the midwife, who only comes to our village on Thursdays.

I used to work Wednesday-Sunday and tried to arrange appointments for Monday/Tuesday but this isn't always possible, as sometimes staff only work part time, or are running a specific clinic on a specific day, or all those appointments are booked up and you don't want to wait 3 weeks to see a doctor.

Non-urgent appointments, like the opticians, dentist check up, pill checks- that I could schedule well in advance, I always did on a Monday or a Tuesday.

If it was something like needing a filling, or a non-urgent medical issue, if the only reasonably available appointment was on a work day then I took time off. I worked variable hours anyway, so I never had to make time up as such.

With hospital appointments there is usually no choice on days and times.

Depends. I work for days and will try and see the GP on my day off if I can but sometimes you have to take what you can get. Also you may need to see a particular doctor at a particular time - ie I wanted a Mirena coil, I needed to see a specific doctor at a specific time of the month. I'd have waited forever to have that align with my day off.

Unless this is happening with regularity, it's not worth giving a second thought to. There are several perfectly valid reasons why an appointment in work time was the only option.

I guess a lot depends on what’s wrong with the patient. A painful earache or boil will not wait until a more convenient time.

If you get up in the morning in pain and phone your gp to be told you can call in later today or in ten days time, which appointment would you take?
Do you book all your appointments for after work?

I try to, but it's not always possible as others have said. I must admit I always drop into random chatting with my manager that I had an appointment on my non-working days though. "Oh yes, I saw one of those things we are talking about OUTSIDE MY DENTISTS ON THURSDAY WHEN I WAS AT THE DENTISTS OUTSIDE OF WORKING HOURS BOSS."

I'd agree 10/15 years ago , these days your lucky to even get seen let alone pick a day to suit you .

I strongly expect that it’s not actually any of your business.

In the real world people understand that sometimes you may have urgent need or if not you may be booking and choosing between 3 slots 8 weeks in advance or have to see a HCP that only works on a certain day. It’s called life

I think yabu-it's hardly going to break the economy if people who work part-time have the odd day when they go to the doctors?

WhateverHappenedToMe
This attitude is why some mothers elect not to return to work even when they have school age children. I work 2 days but my colleagues seem oblivious to the fact I only get paid for those days.
The amount of times I’m asked “ what do you do with all your free time”, I never ask my SAHM friends what they do as I respect the choice they’ve made for their family.

I work 3 days a week and will always try to make appointments on my days off however as full timers take time off for appointments part timers have the same rights or at least pro rata the same rights.
Everyone generally tries to organise appointments first or last thing out of courtesy to minimise disruption on the working day although it isn't always possible.

Previously I have sometimes felt that I'm discriminated against for working part time and have received comments in the past. I remind them they can work part time too for less salary, annual leave, pension contributions blah blah blah.

Why should part time workers have to arrange appointments on their 'days off'?! They are get paid for the time they work, the same as full time staff so the policy should be the same for all employees. I always arrange my dentist appointments for during work time as it's down the road from my office but I make the time up or take it during my break. My doctor and nurse appointments are for when the surgery is, or when they can fit me in.

Yes, I work similar and nearly always manage mine and DC's doctors and dentists appointments on my days off. Only exceptions are hospital appointments - really have to take what I'm given with those.

I agree with @37KAT

Full timers get paid for the whole week and they have to routinely take time off for medical appointments.

It's not always possible to get doctors appointments within a month on your days off.
Part timers get paid pro rata so time off for medical appointments is fair imo. You can't discriminate because of someone's working pattern.

You need to butt out tbh.

37KAT In my office, I'm always saying half the hours and half the salary when someone makes a hilarious "part timer" comment. Yawnsville much?