Has anyone regretted going back to work part time (0.8FTE)?

[wishIwasonholiday10]

I've recently returned to work after maternity leave and have been doing 3 days a week for the first 3 months using annual leave. The annual leave year restarts after that and I had been planning to go back to 5 days. However the 3 days is working quite well at the moment and I'm seriously considering dropping to 0.8 FTE and doing 4 days a week, at least while DD is nursery age. Has anyone regretted doing something like this? I've worked out that we should be able to afford it but would mean a drop in ability to save and maybe less frequent trips to see family abroad. I guess it would also detrimentally affect my pension.

Very difficult to avoid being given a full time workload and expected to do it in part time hours ime. Would depend what your job is though how able your are to avoid it.

I would recommend having the Monday off if you go to 0.8 - you end up with more holiday that way because of how bank holidays work.

I've gone back 4 days and love it. Depends on your workplace as to whether the expectation is to do 5 days work in 4 or they just accept that you're only there 4 days a week and things may take longer than previously. I don't work Wednesdays so the week is broken up nicely and on a bank holiday week I get an even shorter week.

I dropped to 4 days when I went back after maternity leave and it has worked well. The only issue is the possibility of being expected to do five days worth of work in the four days, but I was able to remove a few responsibilities, and can manage my workload within the four days.

The other benefit was that when my daughter started school, I was able to change my working days so I do my hours across five days, meaning I only need after school child care two days a week as I can finish in time for the school run on the other days. Obviously this depends on your employer (I work in local government), but it has made life easier in the long run.

Does your employer offer compressed hours? I used to do 0.8 then moved to full time compressed (5 days in 4) and find it’s the best of both worlds. My employer and nature of my work is very flexible though.

I do this, I don't work on Fridays and I absolutely love it.

Yes, there's a financial impact (but we save on nursery) but I'm a big 'we won't get this time back' person and can always go back to full time once DD1 and DD2 (due later in the year) start school.

What arrangement will be in place to cover the 0.2?

If you are a teacher then a cover teacher would be employed. Outside education you would need to be really sure that you wouldn't just retain the same responsibilities, but be expected to fit everything in to 4 days.

I did it. Really good. Have Wednesday off

I've been doing 0.8 for 10 years, with Fridays off. I love it! No plans to change it.

No problems with my workload as I teach so it's just % of your hours. I would say about half the workforce are part time, anything from 0.4 to 0.9. So they are very used to it.

The only downside is you sometimes miss an easy day when things wind down at the end of a course (uni teacher) or conversely you don't get the information for the next week that is shared on a Friday.

I work 0.8 FTE and it works really well for me. As long as you protect that day off and don't spend it working unpaid!

You probably will not want to revert back to 5 days. Which will have pension implications. As others have said, expect to still do a full-time role.

I do 0.9 in four days meaning in reality I do a full-time job but only lose 10% pay not 20% after tax etc it doesn't mean much less pay. My role is quite senior and not something someone else could easily cover the other hours. So I do occasionally do some evenings to make sure everything gets done.

I have Mondays off and as PP has suggested I get more holiday because of the bank holidays. Very rarely have to work them and always have a day off in lieu elsewhere if I do. DD is off to school next year and I still plan to work the same pattern. Mondays are the only day I can do both school runs so I'm not giving that up. Also, in holidays is 1 less day to cover.

I work .75, have Thursday afternoon and Friday off and it’s fab! Have done it for 7 years since Mat leave and it’s still working great for me. I can do school pick up 2 nights a week, kids do 3 after school sessions and it’s so helpful to have Friday to clean up the house, do some errands and it’s helpful in the school hols as don’t have to take so much time off.

I went back 0.8 but don't do the sort of role where somebody else can really pick up the 0.2, so always felt like I was having to do the full week in 5 days.

I ended up reducing further to 0.5 and now have a job share partner. Obviously it's a big financial hit (although less than I thought because of the reduction in tax) but it's been brilliant and has improved my work life balance so much.

I thought having Fridays off is better because you accrue all the bank holiday Mondays and get them back.

Will your partner be topping up your pension for that drop in hours to reflect the money you'll both be saving on nursery fees.

I love it. I've no intention of working a Friday ever again.

This.

And also you'll probably be doing a full time job for less money. Best approach is to condense full time into 4 days, still get your full salary and a day off!

Yes my friend does this. Full time pay, full holiday/benefits and every Friday off. But the days are long and one days holiday is 9 hours or whatever.

It's great if you can do it though.

@ElizaWinter usually if you work part time (eg 0.8) and do work Mondays, you get all the bank holiday Mondays off (because the office isn't open on bank holidays) but because you're part time you're only entitled to 0.8 of the bank holidays, so you end up owing them some back and it comes out of your holiday entitlement.

Whereas if you work 0.8 but don't work the Monday, you still get all the bank holiday Mondays off (because you don't work Mondays), but they owe you 0.8 of all the bank holiday Mondays, so say there are 6 bank holiday Mondays, they owe you roughly 5 of them, and that gets added on to your leave entitlement, so you get 5 extra days of leave.

Doesn't work like that everywhere but that's how it works where I am.

It will obviously depend on your job, but I think there is a danger with dropping to 4 days / 0.8 of the week is that you will still be expected to get the same amount of work done, but just be paid 4/5 of your salary.

My advice always would be to do 3 days a week.

No, I don't regret it.

I do 0.8 over 5 days so I can be there after school. I definitely don't regret it in terms of parenting. It makes home life manageable. It has killed my career though as I can't progress further as a result.

I went back to 0.8 (4 days a week) when I came back from maternity leave. I really enjoy although my workload didn't reduce. My eldest is going to be starting school September so I will be doing 0.8 over 5 days. I feel like it's going to be a great balance in September with home/work life. In the past year I have also got a promotion and I am currently stepping up into another higher role as well so working part time hasn't killed my career progression.

I have Monday's off and as another poster said it worked out better as I got annual leave for the bank holidays.

I dropped from 39 hours a week to 30 hours a week. Which effectively means that I now work ten 12 hour shifts a month instead of thirteen.

I love it and think it gives me amazing work life balance. I have loads of time at home with my child and we can attend weekday toddler activities together but also still get to work and use my brain outside the house.

It didn't make a big difference to my wages, just a 300-400 a month because the days I dropped were in the higher tax bracket anyway. So worth it.

@Littlefish maybe in primary but not in secondary. Lots of teachers are part time and they don't need a cover teacher on the day off. That's not how it works. Teaching is probably one of the most flexible jobs in terms of going part time.