to think I can get by without childcare in August because work is quiet?

[isitPeri1]

Every August, work slows down massively. It has always been this way. There is barely anything coming in, hardly any meetings or deadlines, and most of my team is off. My manager and her manager are both away for the whole of August, so it is very unlikely anything urgent will come up.

I have primary school-aged kids and I am thinking I might skip childcare this year. I usually only have about one to two hours of work a day in August, and some days there is literally nothing to do at all. Anything that does come up, I can usually fit around the kids early in the morning or after they have gone to bed. I have proper annual leave booked for September when they are back at school, so I will get a proper break then.

Has anyone else done this? Just managed without childcare when work was super quiet?

You haven’t “more than earned a proper break” in September at all - you’re doing the bare minimum of work in August, it’s not like you’ve been working 8 hours a day and desperately need the break is it?

I don’t understand jobs like yours. So many school staff are on term time only contracts (despite quite a few of them going in unpaid for a a few days during the holidays to try to catch up on stuff ready for September while the pupils are not there or having to monitor inboxes . The argument for not paying them during school holidays is that there isn’t enough work for them to do during the school holidays, same as with your job, OP. But you’re getting paid for a fulltime wage. I just don’t get why there is no mandatory shutdown when you are expected to take a portion of your paid leave.

... and you don't get to 'set your own boundaries' during time when someone else is paying you. That's literally the definition of paid work - your time belongs to someone else.

Why so shy about telling us just a little bit more about the kind of work you do? Someone is being shafted in this arrangement and I'm interested to know who.

I'm assuming the reason for the quiet summer period is that there's no work. So realistically what would you be doing differently if you were sitting at your desk or out at the park with the kids? If the output is the same, I don't think it matters whether you're in the public or private sector.

So again, nothing like what the OP is describing.

Quiet for me means literally nothing to do. I had such a day yesterday. Nothing to do as all my projects are currently with external suppliers. I was waiting for 3 emails to come in. 2 never appeared and the third arrived just before I finished work.

7 hours sat at my desk. Doing nothing. And yes, I’m paid for that. But I could have gone out with DD instead, and checked my emails (for the emails that never came).

@Dontjumptoconclusions It does matter because if she's in the private sector, her company should be mandating leave during this entirely quiet period and if they aren't, they're losing money.

Same principle if she's in the public sector, but it's taxpayers' money wasted rather than the business's.

People being paid to work whilst on days out with their kids for an entire month and not taking their holiday... is a gigantic waste of someone's money somewhere. And, as other posters have said, the economy and employment market aren't in the best place at the moment so this does matter.

The OP may not care about any of the above of course and just want to wring the max possible out of her employers/client/taxpayers/whoever. That's a position to take, but she did ask if she was being unreasonable, so she's getting her answers!

This made me a bit sad, that you would prefer to take time off not to spend with your children!

But she’s going to be spending lots of time with her children, just not away from home for a week or fortnight!

Why should she take annual leave when she doesn’t need to?

I also cannot believe a job exists where there is literally NOTHING TO DO. No sorting out your emails, filing, preparing for a busier time, some networking with colleagues.

You are just literally sitting there waiting for the phone to ring and you claim that wont happen either very much.

OP - arent you concerned that you will be found out, that this will all come crashing down when it becomes clear to shareholders, tax payers or whomever is paying your salary that this sort of way of working cannot continue.

Or maybe you just dont care and neither does your managment

Still sad IMO! Three weeks of August, but not going away with them,

Holidays away, new experiences are great.

August and January are an extremely quiet time across the board because so many clients, partners, and internal teams are off. We cannot move major pieces of work forward without key people being available, so things naturally slow down. This is not unique to my role.

It is not about avoiding work or getting away with anything. When there is work to do, I do it. When there is not, I am still available, responsive, and I use the time for planning, admin, or development tasks. My managers are doing the same.

I am not being underused or ignored. The workload balances out over the course of the year. It is just not evenly distributed every single month.

Why would it be the taxpayer's/company's money wasted? Either way holiday is paid for right? It's not like someone is not contracted for one month. And I'm going to assume that the same amount of work will get done, however much or little.
For example, if someone has 10 tasks to do over Aug, and it's all done before September. What difference does it make what else is done with the time?

Let's say OP was going by the book, sitting at her desk with all 10 tasks done by 14th Aug - now what? Look for more work? Even if she did additional training, admin etc, there's only so much that you can do to fill up a 40 hour week. That's on the company to provide more work, it's not on OP to 'take leave since it's quiet'. Maybe she is saving her leave for maternity, or a holiday later or she has no leave left (I know she's not but just saying for a bigger picture perspective.)

They’re on holiday at the moment, with their dad.

I have absolutely earned my break in September. Just because August is quieter does not erase the rest of the year, where I work flat out under pressure, meet deadlines, and deliver results. Workload should be judged over time, not by looking at one quiet month in isolation.

I am not doing the “bare minimum.” I am doing what is required of me at a time when the entire operation slows down. I remain available, I respond to what comes in and I use the time productively in ways that suit the rhythm of the job. That is not unusual. It is how many professional roles work, especially in project-based or cyclical environments.

As for comparisons with term-time contracts, they are completely different kinds of roles. I am not a school employee. My job is full-time, year-round, and salaried. I do not get paid just for turning up and filling time. I get paid to deliver work and I do. Quiet periods do not mean the job is not valid. It means the business plans around those cycles rather than forcing activity for the sake of appearances.

I take annual leave when it works for me and the team. That is how leave entitlement works.

The privilege of being able to afford holidays every year!

There is nothing to be found out because nothing is being hidden. It is well known and openly acknowledged within the organisation that August is a quiet period. It is quiet for everyone, not just me. That includes managers, colleagues, and other departments. Clients and external partners are away, meetings are paused, and projects are on hold until things pick back up in September.

This is not some loophole I am exploiting. It is a recognised part of the working rhythm of the year. The business plans for it. My workload is lighter, but I remain available, responsive, and I get through anything that comes in. When things are busy, I more than pull my weight. This is just how the cycle works.

There is no scandal here. The people paying my salary, whether that is clients, stakeholders, or funders, are fully aware of how the work is structured. The idea that it will all “come crashing down” assumes something dishonest is going on.

@Dontjumptoconclusions It's impossible for me to say how the organisation could be better run unless/until OP tells us just something about her business or organisation. But I can guarantee there is a way. For example, if August is dead for her, her leave should be mandated then, so that she can be more productive in September when she's more needed. If other teams in the organisation are busier, she can take work from them and allow them to accomplish/earn more. I can guarantee you that if she told us all more about her work, we would see what was going wrong, what money was being wasted and where. But she is very emphatically not saying anything, and I think there is a reason for that.

And to your post above OP it doesn't 'assume something dishonest is going on' - you may well be telling the truth that you work for a whole team of people who are happy to skive in August whilst working. But then that is a badly run team/organisation/company.

Which the DH and children are going on! But OP is not? Because she prefers a week alone in September, nothing about cost.

How much is the cost of one more person on a family holiday?

My question is why doesn't the business plan round those cycles by arranging either mandatory shutdown or reassessing whether everyone's role should actually even BE fulltime if there is no work every August, for everyone?

No one is skiving. That accusation says more about your assumptions than about how we actually work. The team is not badly run. It is a well-managed organisation that understands how to plan around predictable quiet periods instead of pretending to be busy for the sake of appearances.

August is a known lull across the board. Work naturally slows down because decision-makers are away, projects are paused, and meetings do not go ahead. That is not bad management. That is just how the cycle works in many sectors.

A well-run organisation does not panic when things are quiet. It trusts staff to manage their time, stay available, and pick things up when they ramp back up. That is exactly what we do. Being busy every single day of the year is not the only marker of value. The work still gets done and the business still runs successfully.

I can only speak for myself - I am in a similar position and work for a European company. It's well known that many European countries shut down in Aug. I've received 11 emails since Monday and most of the replies I get are OOOs.

I could take time off - but time off from what? The no work? Let's save the time off for when there's something to take a break from. I'm taking the third week of Sept off.

Importantly - when I take holiday doesn't impact anyone else, as I have set projects to do and no one else does the work except me. Swings and roundabouts, because for example, if I was off on holiday for 2 weeks, the work piles up and I still have to do it when I get back. So there's no impact on the team or delegating. It's just me.

I am also in charge of one specific department for my role - so I wouldn't know what to do for helping a busier department and I'm not trained for anything else. I'm also not paid for anything else(!)

OP isn't alone at all in what she does.

I also don't take time off during Christmas. 😅

You are making a lot of assumptions based on very little understanding of how my role or organisation actually works. The reality is just far less dramatic than you're trying to make it.

I cannot simply “go and help another team”. The work they do is completely different, often requires specific training, access, or subject knowledge, and shifting staff around like that would not be efficient or helpful. This is not a retail shop where people can jump on another till when it's busy. It is specialised work.

As for mandating leave in August, that would not work either. My role is needed at other points in the year when I have specific responsibilities and deadlines. My leave is planned carefully around those. Taking time off when there is less to do, and being fully available when it matters most, is a logical and agreed way of working.

There is no money being wasted and nothing is “going wrong.” The business runs well, the work gets done, and the people in charge are fully aware of how the year is structured. Just because something does not match your view of productivity does not mean it is broken.

You’re poor fucking kids.

You are a parent. Start acting like one. Your children are not an inconvenience to you. You chose to have them. Working parents use annual leave to cover as much of their school holidays as they can. Your annual leave is no longer about you.

I do think some people's idea of work ethic is completely skewed these days because of working from home. DH is WFH today, he'll probably do about 10 hours. I was just sitting in the same room as him and heard a phone call from someone who actually apologised for ringing him unexpectedly. I was thinking "WTF? This is work time, they are both being PAID to speak to each other on the phone to resolve these crises, why would DH need notice that a phone call was going to happen?" I said that to DH who agreed with me, laughing. He said that's what some of the younger colleagues are like these days when they're working from home, they seem to think it's an imposition if they have to make or receive a phone call. It's like some people just can't seem to make that clear boundary between work and home life when they're in their home setting.