I’m looking for some advice. I took voluntary redundancy from my 17 year NHS career whilst coming to the end of my maternity leave. I found the culture to be toxic in most places I worked in the NHS which is a great shame. I had reached the top of my structure anyhow and maternity gave me the time to think about things.
I am a quite risk adverse, have never been out of work and always had permanent positions. I was lucky to find some highly paid locum interim work and they waited until my settlement had been paid. I’ve just completed my first week. I’ve started working 4 days a week as wanted to see how my twins transitioned into nursery. They have been unwell since their settling in sessions (which I know is to be expected but it’s been hard!). I’ve also felt a lot of guilt around them going even though I know how good it will be for them.
My query is this. The role I’m in is for 6 months but likely to be extended. I have the option of working 4 days per week (29 hours), or 5 days (36.5), but I can’t condense the hours. Am I better to work the 4 days, or shall I do the 5 knowing it’s not permanent and I can save extra money? Is this fair on my twins? At some point I will look for a permanent role but I do like the flexibility of interim work (so far). Something that does worry me though is there’s no sick/carers leave which could be difficult. What would you do?