AIBU working pattern

[TotallySuper]

So returning to work in 2022 after mat leave. I need to work 25 hours a week to fit our budget, I'd love to do 21 hours but it makes a difference by several hundred pounds a month which I can't afford.

My options are do 5 hours per days for 5 days a week - 9.30am-2.30pm to enable school runs for my older daughter

Or 3 full days of 9-5pm (7 working hours as we get a 1 hour lunch break) plus a 4 hour day on a separate day to make the total 25. DD would be in after school club on those 3 days but thats ok and affordable etc. I could still do school drop offs before work.

My thoughts are do 3 full days + 4 hours as this will be easier in the school holidays to manage.

My DH thinks 5 hours per day spread over 5 days per week

So those experienced and juggling 2 (or more!) Kids and working around school etc what would be best??

YABU - 5 DAYS PER WEEK FOR 5 HOURS
YANBU - 3 FULL DAYS PLUS 4 HOURS

Thank you

My son LOVES his after school club.
But fir the sake of the holidays id do the 3/4 days. Holiday care is usually all day so if you work 5 days you pay for 5 full days regardless of when you pick up.

Tbh you might as well work full time if you spread your work over five days.

I would do the hours in 3 days; it makes school holiday easier and gives you actual full days to do things with your younger child

@TotallySuper

I am partial to an exceptionally selfish but very much needed spa day every now and then so I guess the day off would give me that. Don't think my DH doesn't step up, he'd love for me to be able to work less or he could do more school runs etc but his job is longer hours and less pay than me as he's not career driven and I'm happy with that as he does love his job and is happy there.

If he is leaving all the school runs to you, in order to work longer hours for less money, then I can't understand why you're worrying what he thinks. Make the decision based on what works for you.

I work similar to the shorter time over 5 days and I’d choose the 3 long days personally.

It’s exhausting running to pick up, you feel you should be on top as you’re part time but you don’t really get any time to do anything in. I would love a full day off. I think knowing you can switch off for one full day would be so valuable!

Thank you everyone !

3 days definitely. I work full time over 4 days and really value my day off to do something for me when my family is at school/work.

I do 5 short days currently. I'd swap for less, longer days if I could. As it is, it means I don't get a proper day off ever, I'm only ever off work when the kids are off school. Which sounds incredibly selfish, but I'm term time only which works wonderfully for childcare, but is completely inflexible so there's not even holidays to be used when they're at school to give me a day off without kids!

I did 27 hours = 8 til 3 3 days a week (half hour lunch) and day 8:30 - 5 (hour break) i used the breakfast club and one day in Afterschool club. - I really value my 1 day off! I’ve recently gone back up to 4 full time days as eldest has moved to secondary school. Financially I probably should work the one day off but it gives me some time to catch up with myself! I also can move the day to cover staff training days.

Oooh, defo option B! Cram all the hours into 3 days, and have 4 off.

I did 4 x 6 hour days (9.30 - 3.30) which worked well as I could do drop offs. Although DC had to go to after school club for an hour 4x per week we still got home by about 4.30/5 so the evening wasn't a mad rush either. 6 hours you don't have to take a break either so can work straight through.

Ask if you can do 5 part days in school and the 3 full and 4 hours in the hols?

Do 4 days. You’ll really appreciate having a weekday off, particularly when your baby starts school.

Also, it’s one less day of fuel/travel, lunch at work, take away coffee to pay for. One less work outfit to buy/wash/iron/replace etc.

3 full days!!

Even better if you can squeeze it into 3 days and definitely do tues, wed, thurs, for bank holiday reasons.

I see you have no commute costs to worry about so that’s good.

Yep I'm definitely swaying towards squeezing 25 hours into 3 full days. I wish I could do term time/holiday time different hours but that's not an option where I work. I would definitely be looking at Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and having nice long weekends!

Are you really able to choose your own pattern to this extent? I am in a very flexible public sector organisation, but we still have to take the needs of the business into account when dealing with flexible working requests, so not all patterns are possible - particularly when they are part time and we need to recruit someone to cover the remaining hours each week. It’s very hard to find people who are willing to work as little as 2 days a week, and even harder to find people to work regular part days, as this makes it hard or impossible for them to find a compatible job to cover the remaining hours they need to make a living.

I’d check carefully what the parameters for you will be before getting into the nuts and bolts of what will work for you.

Longer days. It's easier to arrange wraparound childcare for term time than it is to get it for whole working days in the school holidays.

I would definitely squeeze it into fewer days/longer hours. It gives you time with your baby to do things, much easier in the holidays and to deal with illness too. Plus for people, their work brain doesn't turn on and off the moment they start/leave work so cutting down that time where you're thinking about work but not getting paid for it as much as you can makes sense!

@MrsTulipTattsyrup

Are you really able to choose your own pattern to this extent? I am in a very flexible public sector organisation, but we still have to take the needs of the business into account when dealing with flexible working requests, so not all patterns are possible - particularly when they are part time and we need to recruit someone to cover the remaining hours each week. It’s very hard to find people who are willing to work as little as 2 days a week, and even harder to find people to work regular part days, as this makes it hard or impossible for them to find a compatible job to cover the remaining hours they need to make a living.

I’d check carefully what the parameters for you will be before getting into the nuts and bolts of what will work for you.

Fortunately yes. I work for a massive national private company where hundreds of other people do a similar role to me. Therefore coming back off mat leave we can (almost!) Do what we like. They do consider the needs of the business but where they have so many full timers already they rarely have an argument against someone's requested working pattern. I am lucky I know, it was the same after I came back from my previous mat leave.

Five shorter days is better for the kids if they are doing after school clubs/seeing friends etc.
The longer days with a day off is better for you

@DGFB

Five shorter days is better for the kids if they are doing after school clubs/seeing friends etc. The longer days with a day off is better for you

I think with the excitement of having different people pick my daughter up and the odd after school club she won't mind if I did 3 longer days. It would mean I wouldn't have to have my baby in nursery 5 days a week too. I can see both sides of it really!

One plus of 5 shorter days is you can access cheap 9-3 type holiday clubs not need more expensive 8-6. A day off is great though and a chance to have a day out each school holiday.

Start earlier in the day if you can. Before-school childcare would be a very small chunk of your daughter's day, and you get used to whatever routine you start out with.

If you can, keep some flexibility for school hols. A lot of clubs here run 9-3 or so, especially the more specialist skill based ones like gym, dance, football, so in the longer term it isn't necessarily ideal to make a big commitment to long working days. It's very common for parents at my office to swap their hours around in school hols.

why doesn’t your husband do 4 days and you do 4 days ?