Which three days are best to work?

[EvelynSalt]

I'm going to be asking my boss for a three day week when I return from mat leave. I know they definitely prefer me to have Fridays off but which other day would you choose in addition?

Baby will be in nursery when I'm working so wondered if it's better for her to do a straight run Mon-Wed or if it makes sense for her to have say Wednesdays and Fridays with me.

My company operates a Monday to Friday 8-5 week.

Any opinions welcome!

I used to work Monday, Tuesday and Thursday so it wasn’t a 3 day run. Once the kids were in school I swapped to Monday-Wednesday.

Tues, weds, thurs.
Mondays are often bank holidays and inset days. Also means 4 day weekend.

I did a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday when I worked 3 days a week. Wednesday always felt a mini weekend, with a chance to catch up on housework, etc. It meant my weekends were freed up more.

I work Tues, Wednesday and Thursday and I have Mondays and Fridays off. Long weekend.

my sister had a Wednesday off n she always felt like never got to spend any real time with her youngest coz she would still have to prepare for work or nursery the next day. Or she couldn't really relax as much. Or if she went out to do things she'd have to be back early as she had work the next day.

Tues Wed and Thurs as Mon and Fri have the most BHs.

Childcare is hardest to find on a tuesday or wednesday, easiest on a Friday. Problem with TWT is that you are there for the busiest days of the week both for childcare and work meetings etc. I did Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, worked really well for us ( DH WFH on Tuesdays and Fridays).

Monday, as Bank Holidays lol, Tuesday and Thursday worked well with me. Bit of a (with baby not) break inbetween, then one day and off for early weekend! Now I work Fridays rather than Mondays, not as good!

I work Tue, Wed and Fri. I love it. I think the most important day off is Monday as you never get the Sunday night feeling, it's amazing. You'd think you get it on Monday night but you just don't. I decided to have a gap so work two days in a row, then one day off which I love.

Ps forgot to mention Monday off means you don't have to use your annual leave on a Monday which works in your favour

I do TWTh and love it. I have to say, youd be better looking at childcare first to see whats available though!

Having Mondays and Fridays off is amazing.. Feels like a week off ime.

I did Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I loved having a day off mid week.

Most bank holidays fall on a Monday so you'll be in a better position if Monday is a non working day.

You're only entitled to 0.6 of bank holidays so if you work Mondays you'll have to take the other 0.4 from your general annual leave entitlement, leaving you with less to use on days of your choosing.

So Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Or Tuesday Wednesday Friday

Or Tuesday Thursday Friday

Mon, Weds, Thurs - every time there's a BH Monday, you get 5 days away from work! May 23 was great 😊

I do twt

I returned to work full time on a phased return as I was on sick leave. Over 2 months I increased from 2 days to 4 days and found I couldn't work more than 2 days in a row so I work 4 days and take Wednesdays off. This isn't the preferred day for my work as there are company wide review meetings on a Wednesday and about once on every 6 week I have to work a few hours and get the time back later in the week. If I couldn't take Wednesdays off I would have to drop to 3 days a week doing Tuesday Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday is the main office day and a lot of face to face meetings are scheduled for a Tuesday.

If you're working in a city then avoid Weds as I find in London that it's horrendously busy but the tube on Mondays Is Fridays is blissfully quiet.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. 5 of the 8 bank holidays fall on Monday and Friday so you'll really maximise your annual leave.

Sorry if I'm being a bit dumb - I don't quite understand only being entitled to 0.6 bank holidays? Is that because BH entitlement is pro rata if you cut your contracted hours down? I just assumed that everyone gets bank hols as standard!

Not Monday for the reasons set out by pp - you end up using leave for bank holiday which reduces your other available leave.

Depending on what you do, I wouldn't recommend 3 consecutive days as you then have 2 consecutive non working days. I work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, which means I'm only ever off for one day at a time. Occasionally I switch my days and have two days off in a row - it always feels much more stressful as I feel I'm trying to get ahead of being out of the office and then catching up when I'm back and it's more awkward for client commitments.

I choose to work Fridays as the traffic is quieter and they're generally more relaxed as everyone's looking forward to the weekend.

Surely in that case it’s better to work the days with bank holidays so you get more days off across the year?

I hate not working Mondays, as I feel I miss out on getting caught up after the weekend. Similarly not working Thursday or Friday makes it harder to catch up the next week so I'd spread it out as much as possible. I did Monday, Wednesday, Thursday which worked well and meant only one lot of back to back nursery days.

Yes.

If you are working 0.6 (3/5) then you are only entitled to 0.6 bank holidays, 0.6 annual leave, and 0.6 salary.

On the bank holidays, I get .6 holiday entitlement so 4.8 days to cover 8 bank holidays plus 18 days out of 30 FTE annual leave, so a total of 22.8 days to take across the year.

As I don't work on a Monday, I don't have to take leave to cover the bank holiday, instead I can take the 0.6 day somewhere else, which is great and boosts my general leave.

If I worked Monday, I would have to take 1 whole day of my 22.8 days to cover it.

Over the total bank holiday Mondays (I think there's always at least 4), this means you're using 4 days of 22.8 days leave just to cover those. Basically you're being forced to use a full day of leave to cover the bank holiday, but you only get given 0.6 days for that bank holiday so you're losing out elsewhere.

Someone else might be able to explain it better!