To ask what flexible working looks like for you?

[flexiwork]

Thinking about what I will do re my hours after mat leave - almost looking for inspiration, what request did you put in and does it work well?

I do compressed hours, so 10 days hours in 9 days means I get every other Friday off -
although my kids are teenagers and I haven’t done it for childcare reasons etc, I have done it so i have one day a fortnight for me to sort stuff out and get stuff done, as weekends are taken up with ferrying kids to various sports activities etc.
have done it for about 18 months and works well for me / us

I work full time hours over four days. In reality I do 9-5 ish, the log on after bed time/ at weekends etc to get things done.

I'm in an industry that judges output not hours, and as I'm good at my job and work efficiently, I can produce better outcomes without anyone worrying about the Timings too much.

My kids are grown but when they were small, I went on mat leave with no intention of returning but then (bored) I asked if I could do 2 days pw. They accommodated this and it was perfect. 16 years later, I went to 4 days compressed. I’m now back to 5 days on. Full time contract, as no childcare needs, but we’ve moved on as a organisation and have a flexible working policy so I work the hours that suit me and in the office or home as I choose.

I do 2 longer days where I use after school clubs, and 2 shorter days within school hours where i can do pick up. My DH does drop off 4 days per week, I do 1 drop off and all pick ups. I do 4 days during termtime and 2 days a week in school holidays.
It's worth thinking what will work best with your childcare. If for example you are paying for a full days nursery it's usually 7.30/8 to 6pm, so maximise your hours by working compressed hours, that can save you a days nursery costs. And that's for both of you, DH and I have both adjusted pur working pattern - he wfh 4 days a week with starts at 9 so can do school drop offs.

My hours are completely flexible - as long as I get my tasks done, I can do them whenever.

I work between 20-40 hrs a week, it works brilliantly well for me.

It's high pressure but I love my job.

How many hours are you contracted for/paid for?

I've just dropped to 4 days a week (Wednesdays off 😉) but I'm still doing 36 hours a week plus overtime as needed. I'm just trying to get some balance back in my life and have time for admin etc (working hours preclude doing many things otherwise) and claw back some of the weekend for downtime with DH

My contract is 37 hours but very flexible how I do them. This week I'll end up having done 45 so I will take that extra back when I need to.

My kids go to wrap around clubs and I'm a lone parent with no support. I have a pressured job in the next city and I just make it work for us as best as I can.

I pick the kids up straight from school 1 day a week and do a few drop offs which means starting work at home at 9am or city 9.30am.

I work 3 days a week Tuesday-Thursday which I like as it gives me a long weekend, I don't get stung for the bank holidays ( have to take leave if they fall on my working day, by not working Mondays this works in my favour) and now kids are at school I get time to do housework etc. I did consider moving to 5 short days to fit in school hours but work weren't keen and a friend who does that feels like she never gets any downtime.
Obviously I only get paid two thirds of my full time salary but luckily we can afford that with DH working full time.

I'm WFH most of the time

We're in the office one day every other week i.e. two days per month. This is flexible too, however.

I cannot praise WFH enough, especially with small kids. Total lifesaver

Similar to @Bushmillsbabe

Initially I did 24 hours - 2 full days 2 half days
When dd1 started school I extended the half days to finish at 2.30pm so 28 hours per week
After COVID I got a promotion and really needed to work 5 days so I now do another short day on Fridays and do 33 hours per week.

For me, it is a good balance of being at work enough so I'm not always playing catch up and being at home enough so the kids can do clubs etc.

I do 80% FTE over five days, which means I do 8am to 2.30pm 3 days a week, and on the other 2 days a week I start at 9.30 and work until about 6.30pm. This means I can do either school drop-off or pick-up every day.

I do often log on again for an hour or two after the DC are asleep, sometimes for longer, but in my industry long hours are the norm and so if I was working full time I would in reality be working much more than 35 hours (probably 50+).

It is a bit of a juggle, but on 80% FTE my salary is still really decent and I still have good career/promotion prospects, so it's a good balance for now.

I work 3 days a week like a PP Tuesday- Thursday did this as we have no help for childcare so had to use nurseries and did not want to pay more or send them in for more than 3 days a week. I like it as you get a long weekend. Inset days in our school tend to always fall on a Monday or Friday which always helps!
Done this for 5 years my youngest due to start full time school this September so will have to re-assess finances & see whether I can bring myself to work more hours 😂
After pandemic we lost our own desks so i work from home, on site (i have to do site visits as part of my job) & we have an office we can hot desk at which i also use. We also became fully flexible which is great need to take an hour off for the nativity, sports day etc no problem! This is particularly handy for me as my husbands job is totally inflexible.

I start work at 6.30 and finish at 2.30. I WFH so I get up at 6.15. Husband does the drop offs and I do pick ups.
People wince at me when I say the hours but works amazing for me I get loads of work done in the morning while it’s quiet and I am always around for the kids. I feel like I work part time because of the early finish.

It also means the 30 hours childcare actually covers all the hours we need as DD is in a preschool instead of a nursery so has saved us so much money

I work compressed hours over four days which works brilliantly for me.

Dropped 1 day and have Mondays off with DS which is working well for me. Work wouldn't have gone for a compressed hours situation as give and take is expected in my role anyway so would have been difficult to enforce/judge longer days. I usually work roughly 8 until 4.30 and take an hour for lunch on 2 of those days (to exercise) other days shorter break. I do most of the pick ups unless I need to work late as DH works longer hours than me usually, and he does most of the drop offs so I can make sure I've started by 8, but we've both got some flexibility with that.

I'd find it really tiring to work longer days and this way I still feel like I get time with DS after nursery as I pick him up and get home for 5 so we still have a couple of hours for play, tea, bath and bed. If i picked him up at 6 it would be quite a rush.

To make 4 days work you'd need to be able to afford the drop in pay and make sure you can give up some of your role. I spent ages doing a full task list and itemised which things I'd need to delegate or reduce frequency and although it hasn't worked out exactly like this in reality it meant my boss had an idea of how many things I'd need to stop doing and there was no surprises when I said I'd delegated something.

Also just to add I suggested Mondays as my non working day as I knew there were no key meetings, in an ideal world I think I'd have asked for Fridays and I'm hindsight find Mondays work well as it's still long weekend but usually any requests that come in on a Monday can often wait to Tuesday however people tend to try and get stuff finished end of week so would be a pain not being in after Thursday and can see id have more likely done work on my day off in this instance.

Sorry this is long hope it helps

I work 3 days a week but I have an annualised hours contract, so I work my hours over the year. I do a few extra hours from home and bank the time to take off in the school holidays.

It works well for me. I love working part time, even now my children are older. I feel grateful to have such a good work-life balance.

Mine are both in primary and I started a new job 6 months ago, fully WFH and 9-3. The job isn’t very exciting but the timings are amazing with school a minute’s walk away - I’m never leaving it. My previous job (same institution) was 9-5 and 3 days in the office, 2 WFH. I miss the social aspect of being in the office but the convenience of my current role outweighs that.

I've done a few things.

Straight after mat leave I did four days but found out I was working five days work in four. That pissed me off.

I am now FT but WFH and compress my hours so I finish early twice a week to do school pick up and hang out with the kids. I do longer hours on the other days and don't take lunch.

I’m nhs clinical community …..staff in my team do various including….9 day fortnight…..full time hours compressed into 4 days a week…..9am to 3pm Monday to Friday…..on top of this we can take time out of the working day and finish off in the evenings ( eg to see kids in school assembly, pick up from school, take kids to appointments, or whatever really )

I do three days a week, with half from home and half in the office (I do one day a week of each and then alternate for the other day). They say I'm on flexible working because I do 9-5 with a half hour lunch, whereas normal hours are 8:30-5 with an hour. I do that because I have to do the nursery drop off so can't 100% guarantee I'd be in for 8:30.

I'm debating whether to ask to do four days when LO starts school. So 4 days of 9-2:30 with no lunch, rather than 3 days of 9-5 with a lunch break. I'm not sure my boss would like the early finishes though. And I'm thinking two days off a week would be handier for our family set up to get stuff done around the house etc.

I'd advise discussing both you and dh tweaking your hours so that he has a day each week/fortnight at home too. Eg if you work 10 days over 9, taking every other Monday off, and he does the same, on opposite Mondays. 4xdays Nursery needed, no bank holidays payments to a closed Nursery, and he will get a day a fortnight with his child too.