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).

I have Fridays off as I regularly have appointments on a Friday and don't feel I can do a four day week and be gone for half the day for one of them.
But if I could choose it would be Wednesday. Mondays are good to work for me because they set the pace for the week and anything that arose Friday and wasn't dealt with is covered then.
If I come in Tuesday having missed discussions/decisions made on Monday it's on me to seek out the information and my very valuable contribution will be missed
Also on bank holiday weeks I work the four days left so it doesn't impact leave that way.
I don't know if you would have the flexibility for that though all employers are different.

I had Monday as my non working day. Better for me having a long weekend rather than a day mid week and felt like a bonus day as rest of family returning to work/school. Pro rata bank hol entitlement added to my leave so didn't miss out and could use more flexibly.

100% Monday. I never want to work on Monday ever again. It makes your whole week so much better in loads of ways. Failing that Friday. Wouldn't like a mid-week day off as would feel very bitty to me.

I have Wednesdays off too. I didn't realise it was so popular. It is good knowing that you only have to work 2 days in a row.

Good for the DC too to have a break mid week.

Don’t do Mondays. I did that and missed out on bank holidays each year. A day mid week is good for shopping and housework and catch up with friends or hobby.

My son is now Year 8.

When he was at primary Fridays were special Assemblies for parents to attend.

All nativities and parents evenings were either on a Wednesday or Thursday, sports day a Friday.

One he is at secondary nothing to attend except parents evenings - this has been a Thursday - but actually in the evening (rather than 3:15 onwards) albeit via zoom

Depends on childcare availability and also your role/workload - my neighbour has Weds off as where she works Monday is very busy after weekend and most of staff are off . I can see advantages to Wed off , obviously Monday gives you the nice long weekend and you will only need to use a proportion of your holiday allowance against your normal workdays which fall on a Bank Holiday - normally Good Friday and the odd Christmas and New Year ones when they occur.

I used to have Mondays off which I loved as it was a busy day in the office (happy not to be there!) and I didn't get that 'Sunday feeling' with everyone else at the weekend.

Then I had Fridays off which is nice but TBH working a Friday is ok as the traffic is half what it is for the rest of the week and loads of people take Friday off so the office is always quieter.

I'd choose a Monday off over a Friday any time. Even after reading posts on here, I've no idea why people would ever choose Wednesday as their non-working day!

Most of my friends who work four days have Wednesdays off as it works well to split the week up for both their team and children that are in childcare.

Unfortunately that doesn't work for me so I have Friday's off which has the least impact on everyone else and means I can 90% of the time actually have the day off without checking emails etc. I love the long weekend but my DD is pretty exhausted after 4 days in nursery so we just have a quiet day ready for the weekend!

I have Monday off, mainly to give myself a long weekend, if I had children in childcare I’d have Wednesday as it breaks the week up. Why not see if there are any toddler groups or classes you’d fancy and then base your decision on those?

I'd say Fridays because (looking forward) in my experience lots of schools events are on a Friday - church services, sports days etc. Also I like to know I'm 'off' rather than just a days break in the week then back to work again.

@M0v1ngH0use luckily the company is pretty big so it won't actually be an issue which day in terms of staffing, I just want and need to be able give my project teams the right support and direction.

@grafittiartist

I always ask for a midweek day. Wednesday is the best! I like Fridays at work- everyone is in a better mood! Midweek gives you chance to catch up, and a "pretend Friday feeling" in the middle of the week. Two days on, then a break.

Exactly this.

Fridays are a vegetarian day to be at work, I don’t know why anyone would want them off. Mondays are the worst to work, but I would never have them as days off as then you miss all the bank holiday perks.

Monday.

I'm surprised by so many people saying Wednesday. I hated working jobs where I just had one day off in a row before going back.

If you don't get the back to work dread, I'd take Wednesdays off so that you only work 2 days in a row and get that Friday feeling twice a week.

I you do get the back to work dread, taking Wednesdays off could either lessen the dread, because you know your only going back for 2 days, or could double the number of days per week that you experience it.

If you choose a day which isn't likely to be a bank holiday, although holiday is still pro-ratered accordingly so that there is no pay or holiday benefit, you have more holiday days that you can choose yourself rather than having to book off as BH

Monday

I know what you mean about bank holidays and nursery, so that could work. Nurseries tend to be quieter on Monday, so you might get a space at a more popular nursery if one day you need is Monday and on Mondays the kids get a slightly calmer day, so there are pros and cons.

Ha! An *excellent day to be at work. Not sure about the vegetarian thing. Depends on the person I suppose

Wednesday for me. It was a little more disruptive to work in the beginning than a Monday or Friday would have been but people got used to me working this pattern quite quickly and it’s never been a significant issue. Means I’m only ever working 2 days in a row which is great, and gives my DC a bit of a rest day in the middle of the week when we don’t do much after the business of nursery.

I have requested to drop a day at work, from 5 days to 4.
I work in a school, so will need to see what works best for them with timetabling. However I'm reeeeaaaaally hoping it will be a Wednesday. I like the thought of breaking the week up in the middle like this. I'd rather not have a Monday or Friday off, because then the rest of the working week still seems quite long!

I'd go Wednesdays. If you have Fridays off lots of people wind down on Fridays you'll miss out on social/networking events after work etc. If you have Mondays off then everyone else won't be as sympathetic if you have that Monday feeling on a Tuesday as they will have gotten over it and into the swing of the working week.

I've tried various options. By far the best is having Wednesday off. Love never working more than 2 days in a row.

Wednesday. It's like having an extra weekend.
Both I and my employer are flexible though - I'm happy to change my day to accommodate work. They are happy for me to change it for a king weekend, for example.
In reality though, I don't swap days very often. I like Wednesdays.

Thursday here too - also work for a consulting firm. My day off was mainly driven by childcare availability but my company also generally prefer people not to have Mondays or Fridays as their NWD. It suits me though - I like having a chunk of three days when I can really get a lot of stuff done and then having one day before the weekend means I can clear a lot on Friday. I have found it means that my Fridays get quite busy meeting-wise because things that would otherwise happen on a Thursday often get shunted to accommodate me but it's fine.

I have Fridays off, I think it all comes down to your personal preferences and how you work.

For me, each Monday Bank Holiday throws me off the curve, the whole week feels strange so a free Monday is out.

Having a mid-week break means my colleagues just don't cover my work, they leave it for me to catch up the next day. Fine for the odd day off but not every week. On Fridays they cover as people want answers/finish off their own work before the weekend.

Your work's procedure. We had one colleague who tried for 3 days but only every other day. Too much chaos and disruption for the other team members. If you don't have to hand over work you don't finish on your work day, fine though.

I know lots of people say Monday as you will get additional days off, This may mean you already have a number of colleagues off on Mondays which may mean you don't get your wish. I have luckily a decent holiday allowance anyway, I am not too fussed about missing time off. But it also depends on your contract.