Working part time

[Greeneggsandham202]

Hello,

posting to is on here as I’ve had no replies on the chat i’m planning to go back part time after mat leave of my first baby.

can I ask those who work part time what days/hours you worked and why?

also did you find it harder to keep up with load or did your employer take it into account?

i was considering doing 4 days but know for a fact that I’d end up doing 5 days work in 4 but with 3 days that wouldn’t be able to happen.

I was thinking 3 days and doing mon, tues, weds.

i think it may work better for bank holidays. Also it’d still give me the ‘Sunday night’ feeling of getting everything ready for the week ahead rather than me unconsciously slipping into having 2 Sunday night feelings as I could picture me telling DP I’d just do my Sunday night things on Monday and spend both Sunday and Monday doing my laundry, lunches etc. DP works mon-fri and usually makes our lunches so would be easier to just get it all done together?

Other options are:

tues, weds and thurs
weds thurs fri
mon, weds and fri - but think that maybe to spread out.

I work Weds, Thursday and Friday. I do a normal working day on Weds and then 9.30 to 2.30 on Thursdays and Fridays. It works really well. I can do the school run on Thurs and Friday. I usually do it on Weds too as I work from home so can nip put quickly. Monday to Wednesday would be equally good or Tuesday to Thursday. I think the key thing is to get a long weekend!
As for Bank Holidays, the vast majority of organisations add them to your annual leave allowance if you don't work Mondays. So I don't work Mondays but get the days as extra holiday.

I work Tuesdays and Wednesdays with a reduced workload. It's a nice amount to work - I wouldn't have gone back at all actually but it's a good workplace and houses are friggin expensive

I have done a few combinations.
Mon, tue full days and Wed half day.

Mon, tue, wed all full days.

Wed full day, Thursday half day and Fri fullday.

Wed Thursday Fri all full days.

This is because im a locum so I fit my days around permanent staff and needs of the team etc...

Honestly it doesn't matter as long as you get a long weekend so eith mon or Fri off.
You just get used to whatever daysvyou do. I have not found anything wrong with any combination or any benefits to any. The long weekend makes the difference in my opinion.

If you are not married going part time is a risky business. Read far too many stories on here of women doing that and then getting utterly shafted a few years down the line. Trying to cobble a career back together and earn enough to support themselves and DC after boyfriend walks out.

I worked Mondays and Thursdays after my first which was fantastic (full days). It meant I had a break and could keep up on housework etc in between.

Now my oldest is in school I’ve managed to drop to term time only during weekdays by working 1 in 4 weekends (all year round). It gives Hubby one on one time with the kids and gives me lots of time with them too :)

I do 4 days and have Thursdays off. I was worried I'd end up doing 5 days work in 4 days but I'm pretty good at boundaries (partly because having a child forced you to to a certain extent). 3 days wasn't an option at my previous employer and I don't think it would be enough for me. One day off with DS is plenty!

Work mid week and get long weekends but be prepared to be slightly flexible.

I worked W/Th/F - it minimised the number of bank holidays I’d be due to work, as for me they were days I’d have to pay for childcare even though nursery was closed and I might still have to work.
Where I worked though, I still got bank holidays included in my holiday allowance even though I never worked Mondays so that worked best for me.

Most nurseries and CM close on Bank Holidays but still charge you for them. Just keep that in mind.

Everything else depends on the job. I did 17.5 hours a week across a 2 week pattern. I worked 5 hours in the evenings. It was a call centre job, so i could literally pack up at the end of the night and walk out without worrying about it. As for why? Childcare costs for 2 preschoolers.

I worked 37.5 before DS. Now I work 22, 8-5 Tues and Wed and 9.30-2.30 on a Thurs.

Pros
• my company delegate work based on hours worked so when I went back part time I was allocated work that could be theoretically be done within those part time hours.
• it feels like a working week doing days consecutively and then having a "weekend" (for me working every other day would feel like I never got a break from work)
• I am able to take and pick up my son once a week from pre school. He goes 2 days, on the other my sister does the school runs as it's next to her DC school. He spends every other Wednesday with my mum/my MIL.

Cons:
•sometimes I feel like I need more time to complete something at work and I have to carry it into the next week, or I miss out on meetings that happen on each end of the week and don't always get updated.
•it can be long days for my DS as he's out from early until quite late and doesn't nap unless at home/in the car.

I've tried a few different working patterns but I now do 3 days a week and I have a jobshare partner which works really well. In my job (public sector) doing Mondays doesn't mean you get more bank holidays, your bank holiday entitlement is worked out pro rata and added to your annual leave.

I work Monday to Wednesday. It’s absolutely perfect. I hope it never changes!

I do Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and have done for the 10 years since having DC1.

I love having a "double weekend", especially on a Sunday night!

I like working a Friday as the atmosphere can often be a bit lighter. My children's school often have their inset days on a Monday so it makes childcare easier.

I do 3 days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. These were the days fitted best with my work with hot dealing. I like doing a Friday and getting that ‘Friday feeling’. Also don’t get the Sunday night dread. My work is quite flexible so I swap my days if I need.

My work are really good so I get given the right work load, if anything not enough so I have to keep asking for more. Most of the mums here work 3 days however I am going up to four days soon to get a bit more money. I also want to develop my career than my children are getting older.

I worked M T & W and really loved that. I felt it was important to have a good run of days together so colleagues could find me and for the work to be completed without too much stop start. I also felt it important to be in at the start of the week when a lot of people were around and meetings fixed etc. I now work 4 days as I couldn’t really justify being that part-time once DD started school and my pension was taking a hit.

I work Mon, Tues and Thurs (full days) and it's like a mini-weekend in the middle. It also means that I only have one day for emails to build up or for my team to have to wait for me to reply to things. Working Monday means I get the majority of the bank holidays off, it's only Good Friday that I don't benefit from. Our inset days are usually Fridays too so I'm off anyway and don't need to use my leave for most of them. I love it!

Three days from home, 21 hours, Sunday, Monday and Friday. Sunday means no childcare needs so we save money there and the other days were because we could get a nursery place on those days as less popular (our nursery is very oversubscribed!) I love the Tues, Weds, Thu stretch though, and then Fri feels like almost a fun/novelty day as I'm off again the next day.

I do Monday Tuesday and Thursdays 8am til 3.30pm, partner does same days but doesn't start till a lot later, works perfectly as one of is us always around to do drop offs/pick ups from childcare (family member does childcare atm but when dc starts school the hours will work pretty well with afterschool clubs)

A colleague did mon wed Fri and she changed her hours to tue wed thur after a few months as there was no consecutive time to do something tomorrow as she was off. It made it confusing for other agencies too as it meant she'd often not reply for 3 days and putting an out of office on didn't make sense every other day.

I do four days, Wednesdays off: I didn’t choose the day as I think I’d have gone for a Monday or a Friday but now I have It i can’t imagine my week without my little island in the middle!

I work Mondays and Fridays, or 0.4 of a full time contract hours (and pay!).

I started a new job with a new employer after my mat leave and the days were part of the contract unfortunately I couldn't change them, which means I get hammered for bank holiday costs (nursery charges when they are closed for bank holidays) as they are always on a Monday or Friday!

My role is a job-share so we share the workload between us, proportionally.

Part-time working is definitely the best of both worlds!

I have done various days part time, but did end up going back full time as my workload never really changed. Not working a Monday means you should get bank holidays at pro rata, you could end up with nearly an extra weeks leave, to take when you want. If i went back part time now, I would pick Mon, Weds & Friday, meaning when there is a bank holiday you get a good run of days off, but main reason is if little one is poorly and you have to leave work to collect from childcare setting, it takes the stress out of having to either book leave or find alternative emergency childcare for the following day.

I did Monday, Tuesday, Thursday for 10 years. Worked well.
Then did 4 days, Friday off. That was good.

what ever you do work three days in a row so that it’s very clear cut and less disjointed workload wise

I do tues, thur 12 hour shifts. I like that the days are broken up as my head is fried after one shift. Let's me rest before I need to go again.