Lack of progression for part time workers

[kiranhpp]

Women get treated like shit on return to work , going from full time to part time, it's like put up shut up earn your money stop complaining you are not progressing just enjoy being a mum.

I manage a team perfectly well on 4 days a week and I’ve been promoted since maternity leave. If something very urgent happens on my off day then my team can call me but generally speaking nearly everything else can wait. My team are all mature enough to cope with this and don’t need constant guidance. (And my role encompasses managing the credit control function as well with reference to a previous comment)

@PervyMuskrat I was the poster that made that comment and also the poster who made the comment that IME 4 days a week also works

Also some people who are part time (again IME) will absolutely not take calls on their non working day.

It's very difficult to get progress/traction with PT colleagues. On one project I'm working on there are around 3 hours a week when all of those I need on the team are available, and they have many more commitments besides my project. So I've had to replace a few or the project would never get off the ground. PT is a choice, along with having kids

Job share is the way to go but it rarely happens in my organisation

@Ohalrightthen

I'm sorry, that's ridiculous. Of course going part time means you won't progress - if you had a choice over who would get a new role, why would you pick the person who isn't there half the time over the person who is there all the time? Why would you invest money in someone who is only going to use those skills 2 days a week when you could invest the same amount and get a full 5 days of benefit instead? You can't be a manager if you're only available to your team on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can't take on additional responsibilities if you're going to hand them off several days a week. It's a continuity nightmare.

You're not being treated like shit because you're a mum. You're being treated like a part time worker because you only work part time.

I work part time because of health reasons - I am good at my job but can only do it three days a week - does that mean people with disabilities that prevent them working full time should never be allowed to progress?

@Voicesmatter unfortunately its just a fact of life - if you're working part time, regardless of the reason, logistically and economically you will not be as good a candidate for advancement or investment as your fulltime colleagues. It's not discrimination, anymore than not letting people with vision difficulties drive buses would be. If you're not there to do the job every day the job needs doing, then it stands to reason you won't get the job. It can be upsetting and disadvantageous without being discriminatory.

@Ohalrightthen you are so very wrong. I do hope your not employing people and treating them like this.

[quote joyfuldee]@Ohalrightthen you are so very wrong. I do hope your not employing people and treating them like this.[/quote]
Im not going to promote someone to a 5 day a week role if they only work 3 days, regardless of the reasons behind it. It simply doesn't make financial or logistical sense for me to do so. That's not discrimination.

It’s not about employees rights it’s about simple business needs. It doesn’t make sense to spend money on progression training for someone who is only there some of the time when you could spend the same money on someone that’s there all the time and end up with more benefit from said training.

People saying it’s sex discrimination, can you please explain why?

It’s not the employer’s fault that women ask for part-time roles more often than men.

Part-timers already have positive discrimination in their favour when it comes to salary and benefits. Part-timers are generally paid the same as full-timers per hour, despite being slightly less economically valuable per hour (due to needing to cover absences, delay decisions etc), and costing the same in overheads as a whole full-timer.

Men going part-time still face prejudice from society and in the workplace, as it’s seen as out of the norm. Does this discrimination not count?

I work 80% and absolutely love it! Most mums I know who are part-time or not working are very happy and would not want to swap with their full-time partners.

I think sometimes it’s too easy to focus on the negative things in life!

@Ohalrightthen @NailsNeedDoing I have an interview coming up that is a senior role and it's 22.5 hours per week managing a caseload of patients. So it can be done.

[quote joyfuldee]**@Ohalrightthen* @NailsNeedDoing* I have an interview coming up that is a senior role and it's 22.5 hours per week managing a caseload of patients. So it can be done. [/quote]
Good luck, i hope you get it.

@PervyMuskrat

I manage a team perfectly well on 4 days a week and I’ve been promoted since maternity leave. If something very urgent happens on my off day then my team can call me but generally speaking nearly everything else can wait. My team are all mature enough to cope with this and don’t need constant guidance. (And my role encompasses managing the credit control function as well with reference to a previous comment)

That’s clearly because you are a good manager not a “micro manager” if you are so bad at your job that you can’t leave your staff for one day a week you are not a good manager.

Some of the best managers and workers I know work flexible hours.

This post just makes me sad.

One day a week yes. Not working two days a week means you aren’t there 40% of the time.

@BooFuckingHoo2 I get that but I work 2 days a week ( 2 x 12.5 shifts ) my full time colleagues do full time ( 3 x 12.5 shifts ) so it's only one more day

[quote locketpol]@BooFuckingHoo2 I get that but I work 2 days a week ( 2 x 12.5 shifts ) my full time colleagues do full time ( 3 x 12.5 shifts ) so it's only one more day [/quote]
...or half as much again, which is significant.

I manage a team on 0.5 fte. I have to be very organised, and my team are very good. It's not a job share, but another manager works the other half of the week and my team can contact her if needed.

If it wasn't a question of the economics of childcare how many women would work part time?
How many men work part time so that they can help raise children?
Not just a question of choice - women are pigeon-holed.
They should be trained and progressed as their children will be older in a few years and then it would make getting back into career path so much more doable.

why would you pick the person who isn't there half the time over the person who is there all the time?

In my case, because in my 3 days/week I bring in as much business as equivalent 5 day a week employees; if you're focusing your energy on pitching and winning work, in the appropriate sector and type of company, your employer gets a right bargain.

@willloman my manager told me to enjoy these years and pick up my career when DC is older. So I am going to move on elsewhere where there are part time jobs with seniority .

women are pigeon-holed

Who is pigeon-holing women telling them to work part-time? Is it their partners, if so who forced them to have kids with such a partner?

In my experience, most women who work part-time wanted to.

@MoreToExplore but some women want a career and to be there for their children. We should be able to have a decent career part time job

I am on the leadership team of a FTSE100 business. 3 of the 12 on the leadership team work 4 day weeks (including 1 man). It doesn’t have to hold you back in a progressive company who cares about how many hours or days you work, but more about what you deliver. I trust my team to be able to function perfectly well without me being there all the time - one of the reasons why we have managed to adapt so well to all working remotely for the past 6 months!

Look at these for examples of senior people who all work flexibly or part time
timewise.co.uk/power-list/previous-power-50-winners/

It depends on the job. I think if you choose to go part time you have to accept you won't be top of the list for promotion. Less commitment, less chance to use new skills from additional training, harder to back fill someone more senior for the rest of the time.