I work in school - a senior admin position but not directly customer facing.
I love the long holidays but alongside that you get no flexibility whatsoever and no opportunity for a long weekend trip.
Since DH died and DC grew up my life has changed dramatically, but I'm living a decent life. As part of this I've become much more involved in a circle of friends through a hobby. They quite often go away for a long weekend, which I can never do. So, I find myself in a situation where I have no one to go away with for a "main" summer holiday but loads of opportunity for shorter trips, which I can never do.
I'm thinking of putting in a flexible working request to have every other Friday off (Friday is my quieter day usually) with a degree of flexibility to move on to a Monday occasionally to facilitate a long weekend. Basically to have 19 days off during term time in a year.
I also thought I could ask to start my day 30 mins early, at 8am, which would mean my average working week would reduce from 37 to 35.75 hours and therefore, my pay would be minimally affected.
So, I know why I want to do it, but I need to show why if would be good (OK?) for the employer too.
Nine one would miss my physical presence on a normal Friday and I'd definitely still be able to get my work done, but there are occasional emergencies I might not be there to deal with.
I'm also not sure if they'd go for the early start, they might accept the reduced days if it saved them money, but not if costs are much the same iyswim.
Any advice on how to approach this?