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?

I would love to know what these jobs are that require so little input from the people who do them.

🙂

Mind you, I once had a holiday job in a canning factory and the supervisor put me on the end of the line loading the empty cans onto the belt. Nothing was happening so I eventually followed the line through the factory and found there was nothing happening at the other end. She had put me on the wrong line. I went back to my post and waited until my shift ended. I have never been so bored in my life!

It might be a job doing nothing in some cases but most of the time it's a job involving responsibility but less actual labour or time.

So for example- IT. You might not have a lot to do day to day other than tell people to turn it off and on again but if the system crashes or there's a hack, that person's role becomes vital to an entire organisation.

At that point, that's the person propping up an entire system and if that's the person who can solve it, they're worth the money even if they're not busy most of the time.

It's skills and expertise. Not time and labour

Is it written into your contract?

No.

So your manager saying it is fine means feck all.

I'd personally be concerned about how safe my job is, if I can be spared for the whole summer with no consequences.

I am not chained to my desk. I'm free to manage my time as I please and often do. I've recently left 2 hours early for parents evening, had an early lunch to attend a musical concert and there has been plenty of other stuff I've been able to work into my schedule. I'm not suggesting anyone needs to be at their desk every moment. But your proposal is extreme and is definitely CF territory for me.

Do you work for the OPs organisation?

No it don't think you do so you can step down.

I'm.workong about half my contracted hours over the summer holidays and my boss is fine with that, because he knows come September I'll be working way more than my 30 hours without complaint because I'm implementing a big project. It's give and take at my place and although we have some absolute piss takers they are dealt with on an individual basis.

If your manager is fine with it I'd go for it.

I don't think people understand some industries work differently.

Just as an example, most courts close in August and so most barristers take August off. They also take off time over Xmas and into Jan fairly often for the same reason. Not all courts for obvious reasons, and not all barristers, but certainly most.

If you're eg a barristers' clerk (handling lots of barristers) you still need to handle inquiries and book diaries and manage the admin, but the vast bulk of your work falls away completely.

That doesn't stop clerks through the rest of the year from being astonishingly busy, organised, meticulous and frankly (thinking of the one I know) superhumanly detail-oriented professionals. I've been blown away by the one I deal with; I joke that she's the world's most charming robot, she's so scarily efficient and seamlessly organised despite massive demands on her time, and plural barristers and clients to juggle. Which presumably makes their days in August feel empty in a way they wouldn't, to a mere human like me! And almost none of their inquiries then will be urgent, either. I hope she DOES chill out like this in August. God knows she deserves to. (She has no kids, either. I do not suspect this of being her!)

Not saying this has any relevance to the OP - no clue what industry she's in. Just saying that there are careers where things can't operate differently to her description. The work is cyclical. You might as well say the tourist trade shouldn't have down periods and that it's bad management for it to do so. If courts aren't in session and barristers aren't working, what are clerks meant to do? And given the level of skill, experience, training and intelligence needed, nobody's going to suggest losing talent by employing only when there's work, either.

If her professional area is akin to this, then it's completely plausible that the work falls away next month and she has to be around to answer what little comes in (someone must be) but that it's so fallow, it's almost dead.

Quite.

I'm not sure why people keep going on about how unacceptable it would be in their workplaces

Most flexible working arrangements are not spelled out word-for-word in a contract. They are agreed through discussion and based on mutual trust and understanding which is exactly what has happened here. My manager has approved it because they know the nature of the work and the timing. That absolutely does mean something.

You have absolutely no idea whether my job is safe or not, and frankly it’s not your place to speculate. Just because you don’t agree with the setup does not mean I’m at risk or doing something wrong. My manager is fully aware of how I’m working and they’re happy with it because I continue to deliver what’s needed.

The idea that being quiet in August means I’m dispensable shows a real lack of understanding about how different roles and industries work. Quiet periods are normal in a lot of sectors. They are planned for, managed and balanced out across the rest of the year.

It's a weird MN thing.

They want to say MN is a site for witty, wise, sophisticated women who simultaneously apparently can't understand people having other jobs different to their own or even thoughts or opinions.

Which is essentially, very close-minded and unsophisticated.

I don’t agree. I posted about my own flexibility upthread, and have done on a number of other threads in the past, and have nothing but positive reactions to it.

I think the majority of negative comments have been:

(a) because of the very extreme nature of the down time in your industry. People just can’t relate to it. It is practically unique to have just a few minutes of work to do per day for 2 months of the year without there being a shutdown. It’s undoubtedly due to industry, as you have said, but you won’t share the industry to help illustrate, so people still can’t picture it. Probably if you said e.g. its Events and we have intense periods prepping for the Chelsea Flower Show and then Winter Wonderland, people would have an “Ah!” moment. Without that, they can’t relate.

(b) because you were initially actively planning on lying about it. I think you would have had positive reactions from the start if your question had been “shall I ask my employer about this?”

They need this post:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5380000-to-not-understand-how-so-many-people-struggle-with-the-concept-of-others-having-different-experiences-to-them

It’s really not as unique as you’re making it out to be. If you actually read the thread, you’ll see plenty of people saying they also have a quiet period in August. It’s common in a lot of sectors where work naturally slows down because clients, stakeholders, or whole teams are away.

Op I have said before that I am ok with this if your business is, but you have to remember that when you started this thread you were planning on doing this without saying anything. You said “I am not planning to mention it to anyone” and “They are unlikely to find out”. The fact that you booked your leave for September and were only now considering whether this is ok a few days before August, makes it seem like you had already decided to do it. You even mentioned in a post it’s too late to book clubs. So whilst you are now in a position where it’s all ok please don’t forget that impression that was originally given, and can be seen by anyone who reads all your posts. You are now emphasising how it’s an accepted way of working, and how you are not hiding anything, but that’s only because so many people suggested you spoke to your manager. It feels a little like you are lucky it’s all worked out. But that’s definitely a situation that you might as well make the most of. I hope you have an enjoyable August. It’s nice you have a job that allows it, and I am jealous you get to do it.

I haven’t seen one other poster say that they only have a few minutes per day to do for a month so could spend all day every day out with their kids. The one example that comes anywhere close is the barrister’s clerk. Or possibly the teacher, but that’s quite different to what you have outlined.

I have seen plenty (like me) saying yes sure, plenty of industries have quiet times and I might only work 20ish hours per week in August compared to 50+ in busy periods.

So I guess I’d add:

(c) you are quite aggressive to any poster who challenges your own perspective. (Typical AIBU thread to be fair).

And (d) some people might be a little sceptical of the veracity of some of your later updates.

Yes, I completely accept that. You are right. When I first posted, I had not spoken to my manager yet and I was planning to just manage things quietly because it has been so quiet in previous years. But I took on board the advice people gave and I did the right thing by checking in properly. My manager was absolutely fine with it and now it is agreed and transparent.

I have not forgotten how I phrased it at the start. I was testing the water and I can see how it gave a different impression. But I have taken responsibility, I followed the advice, and everything is now above board. I do feel lucky that I work in a job and team where there is that level of trust and understanding, and I absolutely will make the most of it.

Thank you for your honesty and I appreciate you coming back and being fair in your reply.

I did not say other posters only had a few minutes of work per day. What I said was that plenty of people on this thread have confirmed August is quiet for them too, which supports the point I was making about it being a wider pattern across different industries.

My situation happens to be that August is very quiet. I am not claiming that is the same for everyone, but it is the reality in my role and my team, and my manager is fully aware of that.

As for being aggressive, I have responded directly when people have made assumptions or thrown out moral judgments. This is a typical AIBU thread where people challenge hard. That is part of how these threads usually go.

Just because my situation is a bit different does not make it untrue.

Pmsl

you won’t take holiday for your kids but then once back at school want to take a week off

just seems strange

Yes, wild concept — taking time off for myself.

Imagine wanting a bit of rest after summer. Madness.

I have read all the updates, including the fact that you've told your manager which doesn't change my point.

If there are redundancies they may prefer to keep the person who doesn't have their children at home all day in the holidays. And the person who takes their annual leave at slacker times of the year.

Many people don't know that redundancies are in the pipeline, this is normal in most companies and organisations. It may or may not be your manager that would make the redundancy decisions, more likely to be a professional HR person who specialises in this field. Just because your organisation is doing well it doesn't mean that re-structuring won't happen, indeed the most successful organisations keep a watching brief on their structures and don't rest on their laurels. Neither do the best employees.

I think it's a bit cheeky as why not just take leave in August to ring fence spending time with your kids?
If your manager is OK with it then it's no one else's business but I think for most people if they are employed full time they are actually expected to work7-8 hours a day not 2 hours a day and be out at the park, zoo etc
Tbh I'm a bit jealous!!!

Why aren’t you taking a/l in August to look after DC, instead of “getting a proper break” when they go back to school?

Id still like to know the job and industry

Because she doesn't need to.

I wouldn't waste my annual leave either.

You are making a lot of assumptions about how my organisation operates and how decisions are made. Yes, I have told my manager, and yes, they are fine with it because they understand the nature of the work and how quiet this period is. That absolutely does matter.

My work across the rest of the year is consistent, productive, and reliable. That is what people are assessed on, not whether their kids were at home in August when nothing was going on.

Who said I am resting on my laurels? I have won several exceptional performance awards and have a proven track record. I consistently deliver and I am trusted by my team and leadership.

Give it up with the scaremongering. You are spinning hypotheticals that simply do not apply to my situation

Or maybe it's because two of her managers are already off and she wasn't allowed to be as well?