Returning to work

[PlanBea]

Hi all,

I'm approaching the end of my maternity leave, and need to pick what hours to return to work. My boss has said they're happy to accommodate what days but the minimum hours they want for my role is 30/week. I can work from home or the office and considering any hours up to 37.5.

DS will be 1, his nursery is 10 minutes from home and right beside my work. They're open 7:30am-6:30pm.

DH works 9:30-5:30 from home Mon, Tue and Fri and from the office Wed & Thu. His commute is 40 minutes with nursery on the way, and he's happy to share the nursery run.

What days/hours would you pick in this scenario?

I would go as close to full time as possible for the full time salary.

Does your DH have any flexibility?

DH and I both do compressed hours - 10 days in 9 so we have alternate Fridays off. We save a day a week of nursery fees but still get a full salary. We also then get individual 1 on 1 time every other Friday (or 1 on 2 when I go back after second mat leave!)

I'd do mon-thursday 8.30-4.30

Do you have a full time place for your DS? Childcare often dictates work.

@BendingSpoons

Do you have a full time place for your DS? Childcare often dictates work.

Yes, nursery has space for full time. DH's salary covers all the mortgage/bills/routine expenses except nursery, and 14 hours of my take home pay will cover full-time nursery. There's a full time discount so the difference between 4 days and 5 is about £20 a week.

@Lockdownmummy

Does your DH have any flexibility?

DH and I both do compressed hours - 10 days in 9 so we have alternate Fridays off. We save a day a week of nursery fees but still get a full salary. We also then get individual 1 on 1 time every other Friday (or 1 on 2 when I go back after second mat leave!)

DH has flexibility in which hours he starts but needs to do 5 days per week. Where he works most his colleagues work later (almost all starting 9:30/10) so working 9:30 has the advantage he can collaborate easier than if he was doing say 7:30 start.

@Lazypuppy full time salary does sound good! And I'm worried doing 34 hours a week would just mean a full time workload shoved into fewer hours. But it also feels like a big change from being round DS 22 hours a day to suddenly not seeing him much!

@Russell19 any reason for Friday off? I was wondering if Monday off would be better as I have to pay for bank holidays at the nursery even though it's closed 🙄

I would do 30 hours over either three long days or four not-as-long days. I'd also have DH do nursery drop off and you do pick up as that's the nicer part for you

So say you start work at 7, DH drops off 9:30, you pick up at 5 pm - leaves you with 2 days per week with your DS

Or you work 9.30 - 4.30/ 5 pm, four days a week.

I myself have Mondays off and I absolutely love it, all I will say is if you're having your dc at home with you, make sure your dh has a proper office to work in that he can shut off from the kids. My husband works from home and sometimes sets up in the kitchen which is really annoying when I'm home 🤣

If part time, definetly take Mondays off as nursery fees will still exist plus you will need to use some AL to cover the Banks which aren't in your entitlement at work.

If it were me I'd do 3x 10h days Tues, Weds and Thurs.

What kind of job do you do? Is it the kind of job that you can just drop something when it's time to leave and not worry about it until your back in, even if that's not for a few days? Or would you still be expected to do 40 hours worth of work in 30 hours and for less pay if you went part time. IME not all jobs are compatible with part time working.

Do you plan on having more DC anytime soon? I'd be tempted to stay full time if you're planning on having anymore kids in the next three years and save like mad.

@CadburyCazza I can see the job being 37.5 hours of work in 30 hours. Before mat leave I was working an extra hour or two each day. I'm not sure on a second DC (maybe once this one starts sleeping I'll be more on board 😂) but I imagine it would be a few years away.

Is 3 long days better than 4 regular days? I worry about not seeing DS on work days and missing him, especially if they're 3 in a row!

I did find that I became better at setting boundaries and not doing extra when I went back after mat leave as I had the nursery run to do and I wanted to spend some time with DS. For anything really important I would pick it up after DS had gone to bed if needed.

It does depend on your job and your workplace. A colleague who went down to four days found she ended up doing five days worth of work in four days for less pay so was looking to change to compressed hours to get her full salary back!

I went back full time because I knew otherwise I would be doing the same work for less pay. Absolutely no regrets, she does so much fun stuff at nursery and I can relax at weekends without worrying about my job not being done. Everyone’s situation is different though so decide what works for you and don’t waste time on guilt!

It's not long before they go to school and it sounds like you want to spend as much time with your baby as possible. Your boss has told you what he wants, but that doesn't stop you going back and requesting what you want. You are entitled to request what you want. Of course they can come back and deny it, but they have to consider it. So perhaps consider going back and say what you want to do, ask for it to be a trial period over perhaps 6 months.

I did 4 days and loved the extra time together.

If you go to 4 days I would make the non working day one of dhs office days as presumably those mornings Will be a little more stressful trying to get 3 out of the house. Plus it means you can make loads of noise in the house without disturbing DH.

I have had both Weds and Thurs as non working days, Weds a little better as it breaks up the week - can be hard to get motivated for the odd Friday.

Yes I did 5 days work for 4 days salary but you have mum superpowers now and will fit it all in.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. My current plan is to go back 30 hours over 4 days temporarily until April 2023 (my annual leave year), at which point I will plan on going back full time. I'll likely be able to extend it if it's working but I like the guarantee of getting my hours back, especially if I end up doing full time work for a part time salary!

With all the carry over leave I'll have enough days to do a phased return until September so DS can ease into nursery a bit (nursery are ok with this as long as it's a month at a time, which is not a problem) and I can ease back into work. Thanks again for all the help!

I'm going to mull it over for a few more days before I propose it to my boss, but I think she will be happy with the balance.