To ask if this sounds entitled? (Work/nursery)

[dancinnj]

I generally work from home. I’m going back 3 days a week, single parent. I’m planning on dropping at 8:30, back to start work at 9, finish work at 4, so I can be back at 4:45 latest to do dinner and have some time before bed. My hours are 9-5:30 so I would have to take a half hour lunch and do another in the evening at some point. I’m an accountant so this can typically be ok I think. Would I sound entitled to ask for this?

*some time with dc before they go to bed, that should say

*half hour lunch and do another HOUR in the evening

You mean those hours working from home? Or leaving office early and working the rest at home?

It probably wouldn't working you work in audit, but it should if you work in tax, management accounting etc. No harm in asking.

@Merryoldgoat id be at home 9-4 basically, then back home at 4:45 but would have to do dinner/bed before I could start work again.

Any office days and I will have to pay extra for dc to stay late at nursery, it takes an hour to get in and out of the city on a good day

Yes people in my office do this, even those without children!

I think that sounds perfectly reasonable if you feel it's in line with the culture. I'd express that you really want to make the effort to be present in the office. I wouldn't put a specific time on it, I'd say that you'd grab a quick bite to eat at lunch and hold the tasks you can do independently till evening time.

How would your employer view this if you had a client wanting an in office meeting at 4pm? Or are you asking for a change to your contract of employment - a flexible working request?

I think it's fine to ask. Can your work be easily done in the evenings?

@Parker231 im not sure. I guess on those days I would have to accept a late pick up for dc? Generally though people have ‘keep clear’ space in their diaries so I would hope it wouldn’t come up often… I would be prepared for it though

@margotrose i often worked in the evenings before dc so it can be done then. I’m just nervous of asking

You can ask, its fairly common, but it will depend on the culture of your company.

Given your setup it sounds fine.

I had an accountant who wanted something a bit like this after returning from maternity leave and I couldn’t accommodate it for a variety of reasons but we work on-site.

If you wfh as normal and don’t have lots of client facing meetings it’s less problematic.

Personally I wouldn’t want to as it would make the day bitty and I don’t want to work regularly when my kids are home.

Sounds absolutely fair to me. Juggling kids and/or other family commitments and work is tough so I hope your work are reasonable about it. If covid has taught us anything, it’s that flexibility in the workplace is here to stay in some shape or form and should be encouraged IMO.

I'm not sure about other nurseries but I can't just ask for an extra hour as and when, I need to commit to that every week, so bear that in mind. My DS has 8-6 at nursery to accommodate the days I need to go into London, but in reality I only do it once a month

If they know you're a lone parent especially they should be willing. You can offer to do it as a trial at first or log your hours. But be reassuring that you will be there for clients and internal meetings and will get the job done

The only other suggestion is to drop of and start half an hour earlier

Not entitled in the sense you mean at all but you are absolutely entitled to request flexible working.

Surely if you are finishing 90mins early every day, then you are committing to working 90mins every evening ?

If you are going back off maternity leave, then I'm presuming this is a baby, not a school child. Why not just do normal hours? Far easier for your body to cope with than working every evening.

Or, at least, drop at 8 and not take a lunch break (or just 10mins or so) so you have less to do in the evenings.

Are you committed to the childcare that is 30mins away ? Is there nothing nearer ?

Of course, whether work will be happy depends a lot on what your work actually entails - whether you are expected to be available for client meetings or meeting with colleagues, whether you are expected to mentor or train colleagues, and so forth.

The finance team I am part of do accommodate similar working patterns. We are in house so no client facing. You can but ask.

How old is your child? Do they sleep reliably enough for you to commit to extra work each evening? Regardless of what your employer thinks it sounds like a recipe for not great quality of life to me

I work in tax and do something similar. But nursery opens at 7:30 so I drop him then and at work for 8. Then means I don't need to do extra in the evenings. Could that be an option?

This. I would never have been able to commit to this, because I have never have a child I could just pop in their bed at 7pm and safely get on with my evening. I have known parents of older children do this (although not single parents), but I think it would be very risky to attempt this with a toddler and no back-up.

Why not just drop your child off earlier? And/or pick them up later? I know it's not ideal, but it will save you a lot of stress. Batch-cook dinner at lunchtime rather than attempt to cook from scratch in the evening.

Depends on if you are in house or big 4 type consultancy. In house I think many companies would be ok with this. Not sure about big 4.

Does your nursery offer hours until 6pm? 4pm is an unusual finish time for a nursery that is open all year round. Is it open during half terms?

If I was your boss I would think this was completely fine and I’m sure any one reasonable would too.