Going down to 4 days - which day off works best?

[Nesski]

I'm about to start mat leave and want to go down to 4 days a week when I go back, however, I'm not sure which day would work best. There will be a trial period to see if it would work for my company, but I'd like some insights. Friday for example is a bad day because it's delivery day (I work for a consulting firm), Wednesday's could work well because I'd start the week off with the team and be able to leave them to get on with it on Wednesday and then pick it up again until the end of the week. Monday because bank holiday usually falls on this day (these days a pro-rated).

[Laserbird16]

Wednesday, you gain momentum of two days in a row to work on things.

Things are quiet on Wednesdays. You can take a super long weekend by taking a Tuesday off if there is a bank holiday. Fridays tend to have a nice atmosphere in the office

[TotorosFurryBehind]

I love having Wednesdays off. I think childcare is a factor, nursery is tiring, so DD also gets a break mid week.

[Scrumbleton]

Monday when I did 4 days - worked well -deadlines don’t tend to fall on Mondays and Fridays are a quieter day in the office as lots of people take Fridays off or WFH making it a great day to catch up.

[Trustisamust]

I'm a teacher and so Mondays don't work for me due the the bank holiday issue. You can't just take another random day off in the school week instead.

[SirB0bby]

In fact it was nearer 6.5 days BH allowance.

[SirB0bby]

Re the bank holidays, my company used to allow 25 days holiday (full time entitlement) plus bank holidays. If you worked part time, your holiday was proRata plus you were given a "bank holiday allowance" calculated according to the number of days you worked.

So in a normal year, there are 8 bank holidays. If you worked 4 days a week, your BH allowance was 4/5 x 8, so you had a bank holiday allowance of 6 days. Any bank holiday that fell on your working day was taken as a day off and deducted from your holiday entitlement.

Therefore, those who normally work on a Monday always had to take 4 more days holiday than those who didn't. Often they had to eat into their normal allowance to cover all of the bank holidays they had off whereas those who didn't work Mondays often ended up with an additional couple of days depending when Christmas and New Year fell as they didn't have to use their allowance for the 4 bank holiday Mondays.

Hope this makes sense!

[mrsbyers]

If office based Weds , at home a Friday

[bruffin]

But you then have to book off you bank holidays out of that .
So i day do 3 days a week and get 25 days + 8 day bank holidays. Which works out 20 day inc bank holidays prorata. I work monday, tuesday and thursday.
This year 7 bh fall on my working days , so i have to deduct 7 days from 20 that leaving me 13 days
If i worked wednesday , thursday and friday, only 2 days a year fall on bh so still get 20 day but only have to deduct 2 days leaving 18 days.
You get the same holiday but more choice when to take

[molojoko]

www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement/y/days-worked-per-week/full-year/4.0

[Kitkat151]

@SpringtimeSummertime

Wednesday or Friday.

Not Monday - you don’t want to lose BHs

🙄 no....she would have the pro rata BH hours added to her leave to take whenever she wanted....that’s the reason I have Mondays off....lots more leave to take when I want it

[molojoko]

You don't lose your holidays if you don't work Mondays.

[SpringtimeSummertime]

Wednesday or Friday.

Not Monday - you don’t want to lose BHs

[molojoko]

You don't lose your bank holidays. If you have lost them you are being screwed.

5.6 weeks is 28 days. To calculate your holiday allowance you do 28 * 4/5 where the 4 is the number of days out of 5 you work. Another way to think of that is working one day a week is working 20%.

So working:

1 day a week: 28 * .2 = 5.6 days holiday a year
2 days a week: 28 * .4 = 11.2 days holiday a year
3 days a week: 28 * .6 = 16.8 days holiday a year
4 days a week: 28 * .8 = 22.4 days holiday a year
5 days a week: 28 * 1 = 28 days holiday a year

[weightedblanketlove]

I've done a few different combinations:

Monday's- love it. No Sunday night feeling, mondays seems a stressful day where i work, feels like you can sort out the house at the beginning of the week, batch cook etc. If bank holidays are pro rata you lose out less. Lots of inset days are Mondays. Down side - cafes, hairdressers and attractions most likely to be closed this day. Also in my role you miss the updates over thevweekend and can feel behind.

Wednesday - mid week break, equal time either side. Can feel a bit frustrating breaking the week up though

Friday : long weekend, lots of people take Friday so people to meet up with. Lots of groups/ classes on a Friday. Downside - Friday seems more relaxed at work - a Shane to miss!

[QueenOfTheDoubleWide]

My DH did a 4 day week for a year or two before retiring.
He initially had Fridays off but always worked late on Thurs trying to get everything finished or passed on so he did almost 5 days work but got paid for 4. Company then had some changes and suggested he had Monday off which was much better as he didn't have to get stuff done before his day off. If work came in on a Monday either someone else did it or it waited.

[Mzy123]

Wednesday for all the reasons previously posted. Also good for your employer if an issue arises. It can wait a day for your return.

[Nesski]

I wish I could do compressed hours, would probably only need to work 2.5 days a week given how some projects have been!

[Kitkat151]

@AnOnly

I can't get my head around the bank holidays, can anyone explain it to me again please? I was working Tuesdays and Wednesdays and get 8 days off a year. I switched to Mondays and Wednesdays and still get 8 days off a year. We are closed on bank holidays.

Am I better off, worse off or the same now I've switched days?

Thanks

Think you being diddled with your leave, even working Tuesdays and wednesdays,.....if I worked 2 days a week I would get 13.2 days AL plus 3.2 days BH , every year ( NHS )

[TheMagicDeckchair]

I work three days and take Wednesdays and Fridays off. Mondays are busy days so no point in having those off. I’m also not away from the office for longer than one working day, so can cover everything.

Wednesday is actually a really good day to take- it breaks up the working week and means you can do a midweek shop, laundry etc rather than cramming it all in at the back end. And you never need to work more than two days in a row, which makes the Monday feeling easier.

[U2HasTheEdge]

I am considering compressing my hours so I can work 4 days a week.

Friday was my original plan, but liking the sound of Wednesday now. Working between 8.00am- 6.00pm seems a nicer thought if I only ever have to do it two days in a row.

[TheHateIsNotGood]

Weds fan here but maybe do a Mon/Weds rotation once a month.

[dementedpixie]

@AnOnly

I can't get my head around the bank holidays, can anyone explain it to me again please? I was working Tuesdays and Wednesdays and get 8 days off a year. I switched to Mondays and Wednesdays and still get 8 days off a year. We are closed on bank holidays.

Am I better off, worse off or the same now I've switched days?

Thanks

If you so the same number of days then you get the same number of holidays. Working Mondays meant that some of your days off were already chosen for you as you had to take them because they were closed. Not working Mondays gave more choice as to when you had to take them.

Although 8 days is below the legal minimum holiday amount as you should have got 5.6 weeks worth of holidays which is 11.2 days.

[Threebecomesfour]

@AnOnly

I can't get my head around the bank holidays, can anyone explain it to me again please? I was working Tuesdays and Wednesdays and get 8 days off a year. I switched to Mondays and Wednesdays and still get 8 days off a year. We are closed on bank holidays.

Am I better off, worse off or the same now I've switched days?

Thanks

I think it's more about the flexibulity it offers you i.e. you will be able to take bank holiday days whenever you want as they've fallen on your day off. You just need to check that your company offers this.

[AnOnly]

I can't get my head around the bank holidays, can anyone explain it to me again please? I was working Tuesdays and Wednesdays and get 8 days off a year. I switched to Mondays and Wednesdays and still get 8 days off a year. We are closed on bank holidays.

Am I better off, worse off or the same now I've switched days?

Thanks

[ChickenNugget86]

It wasn't our plan but my husband had to drop a day to keep his job during covid. So he decided to have Monday off and I then asked my work for Tuesdays. Our son goes to the childminders on Wednesday - Friday.
It's quite odd in my work to have a Tuesday off as many mums who are part time have Mon/Friday. It works well for us.