Flexible working request

[Janch13]

What would your flexible working request look like if this was your current setup:

• returning to work following maternity leave
• work mostly remotely, with some visits to offices
• part of a global team, reporting into someone on a California time zone (particularly relevant!)

I am thinking about the fact that my “new” manager will be logging in just as I am finishing up for the day. I will have a strict hard stop on my work day due to childcare pickup. I’m not working late (past 5pm) when 5-7pm is pretty much the only time off my day to really see my kids (and it will be chaos with dinner, bath, bed routine) but was considering maybe to request to change my working hours so that I log on for a bit say 7:30-9:30pm and took a could of hours out during the work day.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the above, has anyone done this or similar?

I think if one of my team came to me with this request, I'd be very reluctant to agree to it as a permanent change as I would worry about the impact on your wellbeing. I do generally keep between 6 and 8 clear for similar reasons (my son js 4) and will log on i the evening if I need to but I couldn't do it every night. We also have a member of our team who lives in California and it's not impossible to manage within normal working hours.

What will you do if your child decides he/doesn't go to sleep any more?

My 2nd DC was a dream until he was 17 months slept 7pm-7am even thought I breastfed until 16 months. Now he's 2 and a half I'm finally not bed sharing or sitting on his floor for 2 hours a night...before letting him in bed with me anyway 😂
Just a thought!

If your hours are 9-5 at the moment then I'd keep 9-5

Sorry, not clear what the arrangement is now. There's no need for you to flex for your manager if your previous hours suited you

I tried this for a while (not becasue of time zones, but as part of compressed hours).

It was HARD. I was knackered after I logged off and put the baby to bed (and as PP said, you can’t assume they will always go to bed).

Getting back into the headspace of work when all I wanted to do was veg then sleep was really tough. I lasted about 6 months before switching.

What I do now is have ‘official’ compressed hours of about 8.30-6.30. But in reality outside of 9-5 I’m really flexible about when work gets done. It suits my role (meeting based but all London) , but wouldn’t if I needed to have regular calls / be expected online after the kids were home.

Why do you need to make accommodations because your manager is in California? Have you been asked to do this by your employer? What flexibility do you want in return?

Thanks for the perspectives.

My current hours are 9-5 and yes this does suit me.

I reported into someone based in Europe before I went on maternity leave and so now coming back to a manager on a US time zone I thought there might be a way to use this to my advantage in a flexible working request, but as many of you said before perhaps this wouldn’t suit it anyhow, as I do definitely know how hard it is to peel yourself off the sofa for work once the kids are down.

Yep, as pp said - it doesn't look like this could be a sustainable solution. I'd keep 9-5, at least you know (!) you'll have childcare covered during these hours. That's not the case at 8pm

Keep 9-5 but be flexible with occasionally logging on in the evening to work with your manager, in return for flexibility from them during the day occasionally if your DC is sick, DC appointment or there’s a nursery event to go to. I do this, no formal agreement but an understanding on both sides and it works very well.

And I don’t mean making up the time of you need time off for these things, I willingly agree to work sometimes in the evening if projects or time zones need, and therefore work have never had an issue with whatever I need off during the day as they know I put the effort in to help them.

If you work for a UK company then the manager on the US time zone maybe needs to be the one changing their working hours if they want to talk to you?

It's not your fault they've now given you a manager in the US.

@mynameiscalypso can I ask why? If a member of my team came to me with this and thought it would benefit them and therefore their well being I’d have zero issue with it!

I’m not sure I’m getting this. California is 7 hours behind? So at 4pm our time it’s 9am there and you are 9-5 so if you have to give some sort of report to them sometimes this could easily be done before you finish. Are they not able to link in with you at that time? Are they looking for this to be later? If your contracted hours are 9-5 I’m sorry but it’s not really your problem if they aren’t available for meetings before you finish for the day. Is it written into your contract that you’re expected to be available later sometimes? If that’s the case then your flexible hours should be tailored to suit. It’s hard to say without knowing how often you need to meet with them. But say there are meetings with them twice week and they have to be at like 2pm their time. So on those days you will be need to work 9-10pm your time, you will finish at 4. But that’s not exactly ideal for a parent with a young family. Really they should be making themselves available during your working hours.
I’ve no idea how you word that in flexible working request!

Where’s your downtime at the end of the day ? You’ll never switch off mentally if you work til 9.30 every evening. And that’s a killer over time.

Stick with 9-5 for now.

Do you have another parent in the house who could be there if your child wakes up or doesn’t go down at the usual time. My son sometimes wakes up after a night terror or when he’s sick etc. How will this affect your nights out etc.

I work 8.30-3.30 tues-Thursday and Thursday is a fixed work from home day although I only have to go in 1 day a week.

Don’t forget to factor in that some Americans willingly work to a barking mad schedule so, unless it really is to your advantage, I wouldn’t request different hours.

I work for a US based company and my previous boss was based in California. She used to work to East Coast hours so would start work at 5 am her time which gave her plenty of overlap with me in the UK.

I would suggest that you offer some adhoc flexibility so maybe work the odd evening if it will make your life easier but make sure you get the time back.

I think you can use the time difference to your advantage but I'm not sure what you are suggesting would work. What happens when your child is going through tough sleep times and you've got to log back on? It's hard!

If you have a partner, can you stagger work hours somehow to make the most of the time difference with your boss?

I work with clients in the US, mainland Europe and occasionally elsewhere. I am flexible for when I'm needed for meeting. In return my employer is flexible with me.

On the flip side my UK boss (once removed ) works far into his evening to catch his US meetings

@Janch13 I think you’re thinking too much into this at the moment. Go back, settle in with your new boss then go from there once you see how things are going to work.

I mean I’m guessing your new boss understands there is a significant time zone difference 🤷‍♀️

I'd get out this mindset of fixed hours, Just be prepared to accept the odd evening meeting. That's how most of us manage in a global company., Take the time back informally in the day if you must.

Good luck with that.

I work starting at 6pm with older ones, teens and older primary, and it’s really not an easy time to get going. It would be brutal with littler ones. It still makes me tired, in some ways worse that working through from earlier, it’s a funny time to get going when you’ve been up having a normal day from early morning.

What are you wanting ideally?

From your post the only thing I’ve picked up is that you want a hard stop at 5pm. Sounds like your current working arrangement covers that so there’s no need to adjust.

if there’s something else you’re looking for, then that could complicate things or make offering a bit of evening time worth it.

If not, priority would be working out what your hard lines and flex is ahead of having a return to work meeting with your manager. That’s not just for flexible working requests, that’s about how you work your existing arrangements. Eg. I usually need a hard stop at 5pm every day. If there’s travel to further away event I can occasionally make alternative arrangements but I need at least 3 weeks notice. I’m ok with driving my own car for the travel, and just want to check that you have same view as previous manager - no work calls while driving? Suggest we schedule a regular 1:1 at 4pm UK time at ….. frequency so we stay in touch. I don’t expect responses outside of your normal working hours and assume that goes both ways.

You are massively overthinking here. 9-5 is fine. Fits with standard nursery hours 🤷‍♀️ remember your company isn't your friend, make it work for YOU.

If 9-5 works then stick with 9-5