To take less hours for same pay over payrise?

[LauraFlex]

I’m due off maternity leave in 3 weeks and been notified I’m going to get a 22% pay rise from Jan.

DH and I are currently now in a disagreement regarding what to do.

I want to drop a days worth of hours and send DD into nursery for 4 half days, as this way I will get the same salary I currently do but less hours of work for it, plus I’d then get to spend more time with DD.

DH thinks we should continue with the current plan which is me returning for a 4 day week (condensed hours) and benefit from the pay rise.

DH also does a 4 day week so DD only goes to nursery 3 days at present (she has started before my return to work)

Nursery fees are slightly less with my plan but not enough to make that much of a difference in the decision making process.

So

YABU - take the pay rise

YANBU - work less hours

Could you compromise at compressing 4.5 days into four so you still get some of the extra money but don’t have the same burden of 5 in 4?

@MikeWozniaksMohawk issue with that is we’d still need to pay for full nursery days

as it’s a half day or a full day iyswim

So if the pay rise would keep you just under the 45% tax bracket, that means your salary, after raise, would be just under £125k, which means pre raise is around £100k.

Given these figures I would then say go for the additional time and work 28 hours for the same pay as you're on now.

This will increase your quality of life.

Assuming both you and your husband are both high earners you are probably in fairly busy or high stress roles, having additional time at home will allow you some down time. I'd definitely go for the lower hours.

Ooh wow so you’re a high earner, I’m sure you are completely aware of this but if either you or your partner bring home over 100k you won’t qualify for tax free childcare, or 30 hours childcare (you’ll get the 15 hours for approx 39 weeks or approx 11 stretched), and your tax free allowance decreases 100-125k so it’s an effective 60% tax rate. A lot of people put a lot into their pension via salary sacrifice or reduce hours to get below the 100k mark and get the extra childcare benefits

(If you contribute to your pension via salary sacrifice it will go straight in pre-tax so you don’t have to worry about claiming additional tax relief on it)

Great point @Tryingtokeepcalmandcarryon about keeping below the £100k mark with additional pension contributions etc

Honestly - I'd do the 35 hours over 4 days. Doing 28hrs over 5 days you are in danger if getting a full time work load without the benefit of being paid for it as you will be seen as being full time just by the fact that you are there over 5 days.

@Tryingtokeepcalmandcarryon we’d increase our pension contributions when she is old enough to get the free hours, but for now it’s pointless to do so

Normally I would go with the option of having more time rather than the extra money - but looking at your choices here I would seriously consider the 4 days condensed hours . However, a key question there is how much your DH does at home? I always backed up the fewer hours with the fact that I would have more expenses with working full time (eg child care, cleaning, ready meals/takeaways if I was tired after a long day) - so it's important that after working a 10 hour day you aren't starting again when you get home . I would also question how easy it will be for you to leave work when you are doing the shorter hours over 5 days - if you are due to finish at 3 pm, what happens to any urgent work and will there be pressure for you to stay later ?

Normally I would say drop the hours but if both of you are working 4 days already, and the mortgage has gone up, and you will probably want to have another child in a few years and may need to take more days off then...maybe this isn't the best idea?

Have you got annual leave that accrued when you were off? Or did you use it already to extend mat leave? If you have some annual leave, can you use it to make yourself part-time? That's what I did for a few months when I went back to work. So full time wage for part-time work. As others I would worry about being on a part-time contract and then not able to go back up to full time. You will also get pro rata annual leave allowance which could be an issue depending if it's worked out in hours or days.

I’d always take fewer working hours (assuming that you won’t be expected to do all the work in less time!) But I’d do the hours over 4 days if possible and have a full day off.

. You’ll be less stressed and tired and enjoy your life more. You have plenty of years to earn more money when your kids are older.

The big benefit is you’ll save on the tax, so you could put 25k into your pension in a year but that would only be worth 10k total in your bank account. It’s literally worth 2.5 times the amount if it goes into your pension and 25% can be taken tax free at 57.

We’ve chosen to put into pensions as nearing 40 and our pots too small and making the most of the tax advantages but of course understand if you’d rather have the money to use now.

Definitely 4 days. From experience, working shorter hours over more days just leaves you screwed over. You never get away the the right time, and the hours you gain are a lot less than you think. Stick to more hours on less days and use the extra money to buy help at home so you're not spending your day off cleaning or shopping

I think you should add in weekly total time travelling, dropping at nursery, etc for both of your options because, in a way, those are part of your hours too.. Easier in some ways if you are only doing 3-4 days. from that point of view.

I'd get the pay rise, but can you change your mind later on? then you'd still have a higher hourly rate, and it's a very good rise at 22 percent.

Also, perhaps negotiate to re-start gradually for the first month and build up to give you all a chance to acclimatize more gently or both of you have a few days off set aside for early hiccoughs? to give you a bit of wiggle room.

It seems like a tall order at the start, but if you have a relatively flexible job that you like in a place that you know, with colleagues you know and pays well - its wise if you can to recognise temporary difficulties that can be overcome and hang onto it, but also to recognise when things are just not workable.

See what extra help you can get in, like a cleaner, and a good babysitter, if you can to get you through the early days. Best of luck.

Another poster above me has also made a good point, that you may well just end of working full time anyway but for less money.

Also, if you have another child you will get less mat pay as it's a proportion of your salary

I would not under any circumstances do part time over 5 days. It makes it more difficult when unwell, it eats into the day, it can be hard to get away etc. I would do as many hours in three days as I could and then save a days nursery fees which would help.

I seemed to have completely missed the 28 hours over 5 days suggestion and when I'm suggesting I would do the part time option I would be looking to do the 28 hours over 3 days, max 4.

Others are correct that 28 hours over 5 days will creep up and up as the fact you log on every day means you will absolutely end up doing more!

35 over 4 days in my opinion is much better than 28 over 5 days. You'd feel you have more time with the 4 day option for sure! And the bonus would be more money.

Either 4 days, or do the 28 hours over 3 days to feel the benefit. I definitely wouldn't be taking 5 days over 4, it's way more restricting.