Working part-time, commitment to the job and the lack of "sisterhood"...

[emkana]

When I had dd1 four years ago I had the intention to go back to work (teaching) after one year. When the year was over I didn't want to go back full-time. The school offered me part-time, but it was so many lessons that I still would have been in school every day from eight till four. I asked for less, but the head of department let it be known to me then through a third party that obviously I wasn't committed enough to the job and should consider resigning - which I did. The head of department was a woman herself, with children, which I found very disappointing - I thought she would be more understanding. I was telling this story to a mum at the school gates today, and she said that she totally agreed with my former boss, that you couldn't work part-time and do your job properly.
What hope is there for things ever changing when even women aren't more supportive of a change in the work-life balance? I really find that quite shocking... please tell me that you all feel differently... don't you?

gingerbear - you can call MY office in Germany, Im there til late most nights!
That is total nonsense about projects being full time. Most of the projects Ive worked on had part time contributions from people who were sometimes working on several projects at once.

at your boss vicki - telling people they shouldn't have babies. what a toss-pot.

exactly nighty-night - it's just ingrained into some people that work comes in ready-made f-t chunks and it is SO not true. How many people dedicate all their working hours to one project? in which case why on earth can't the company's work be divided up differently. It's professional laziness and lack of creativity to say it can't be done.

Of all professions, I would have thought that teaching is one of the most suitable for part-time work. There have always been (mainly women) lots of part-time teachers, particularly at secondary level. The pupils don't even know who's part-time and who's not.
It's an interesting one. I went back to Head of Department job after Maternity in February. Quickly decided I didn't want to be full tiem asked to do my job part-time / job share. The school simply would not hear of it at all. It angered me so much that I applied for another HoD post in another school, having spoken to the Headteacher, stating that I was only interested on a part-time basis. He encouraged me to apply, I went for the interview and was offered the post. But I turned it down (for various reasons). I am now in my old school, part-time, no responsinilities.
And I wish I'd done it sooner.
My priorities have changed and the whole acreer climbing thing just doesn't appeal. Responsibility brings a lot more work, crap stuff to do I'm just not bothered about and money isn't everything.
Having said all that, I'm still annoyed that OPTIONS for women are so limited. It's poo.

You said it hatstand. He bragged to me a couple of months before i went on mat leave that he had made 2 of his underling managers make up extra time because - get this - they had time off work to look after their sick DW's/LO's. Instead of just letting them have unpaid leave. Which of course they are in fact entitled to.

I feel the same way as you Rowley - i cant be doing with the responsibility etc after all this now but its just the principle of it. Plus the assertion that in order to hold a remotely responsible position (which i had been in) you have to work at 36 hours a week. And the assumption that if you are part time you wont ever want to work full time or ever want to be promoted or have a career.

I work part-time, a job-share. 2.5 days per week.

I work for two female lawyers who both work part-time. One three days, one four days.

It works really well and we all work really hard to make sure it works IYSWIM. I work harder than I would if I was full-time because I don't like leaving the crap jobs for my jobshare colleague. The lawyers work harder because every base has to be covered even in their absence.

I do get a few snidey remarks from other girls in the office, "Some of us have been working ALL week" etc. To which I reply, "I work the hours I get paid to work, the same as you do".

It all comes down to your boss and whether they want to make it work too. Whenever I get fed up with my job I remember how convenient it is and what accommodating employers I have - don't tell em I said that!).

There is no doubt that our western essentially calvinist societies are designed for people to work 9-5 Mon-Fri & for some reason that means that it is a real struggle to get employers to think outside that box.
After my first child I returned from mat leave and did 3 days a week. Exactly the same job I had done before but now squeezed into 3 days a week and paid 3/5ths of what I was paid before. Those were the terms: take it or leave it. I happened to like my job & my boss & did it.
Now I am self-employed because I find that as a sort of "consultant" I have better control over the hours I work & what I can expect to be paid for those.
I appreciate that part-time work does require a bit of extra planning, but more often than not, it can be done & it is a shame that it is so undervalued.
As for sisterhood - doesn't exist. I found that childless women were more likely to stab you in the back than men.

Last year my DS's had two teachers, who job shared either end of the week, they also covered for each other when needed.It worked very well, proberbly because both teachers had been together for sometime before the job share, and they were both very committed.
I work only 3 days myself,(there are two other p/t women working with me in a department of 6), but again have worked with most of my colleagues for many years and we understand the way the others work,if anyone needs to cover for each other.
I think Tabitha said that nothing would change until more men do p/t, well DH is p/t and has been very badly treated by his current boss and passed over for promotion a number of times,because he has this "idea" that he isn't as committed as others, just because he leaves early a few days a week to pick the boys up from school.
However,he has been recently promoted and gets to keep his reduced hours!,I think his boss must be getting used to the idea.

I work part-time and have felt for some time that there's a conspiracy not to admit to how difficult it is. In my previous part-time job, my boss just could not bring himself to give me the amount of work equal to the hours I worked, so I was constantly taking work home. When I finally raised it and got it taken seriously by my bosses boss, my workload was only slightly reduced.

I'm lucky enough to have been able to move into another department where all of the bosses have young children, and one has a wife who works part-time, so I think they appreciate my position.

However, it took me a long time before I realised that I do just as much 'admin'(hours sheets and that), team meetings, catching up on legislation as my full time colleagues - so if I am also given a proportionate workload, there is no way I have the time to complete it in the hours I work. Tried talking to my HR dept and professional body, who sounded like they had never come across this view before - yet it seesms so obvious to me. I just feel that all the 'work-life' balance lobby ought to admit this up front. Not to make p/t workers seem less desirable, just so every p/t worker doesn't have to fight the same battle... (rant over)

re the reference to p-t men. I'm very proud of dh. He works in a very male environment in which it is basically assumed that your children are the dw's or nanny's business. He was recently asked by an ex-boss what it would take for him to go back and work for him again and he was absolutely blunt - a 4 day week. and he got it!!! virtually unheard of in his industry. In a sense I think he was almost in a better position to ask than a woman in his shoes - because she would have to "prove" herself, and her commitment. He's also in the lucky position of being able to do it financially. I do a 4 day week now too so we have a 3-day weekend. it's top.

I agree that its crap. I also think the point about 8.30 - 6.30 is important. Both my job an dh jobs are like this and childcare to cover that amount of hours plus travel is a nightmare. I can get some flexibility but dh gets none! he is on a verbal warning because his wokr hasn't been 'up to scratch' and he hasn't been working neough hours (he's in for 8.30 and leaves at 5.30/6)
He did point out that he had a 6 month old baby at home who had been very ill for 2 months and he got precisly no sympathy.
They refuse to even consider p/t hours for him which is mad as he works on a case/project basis as a consultant and therefore he could just do 2-3 days with half the case load and someone else do another 2-3 days - he even knows another parent who would like to go p/t.

Its all very well pointing out legal rights but in reality how many of us are prepared to take it up? to get flexible working hours or your entitlement to unpaid leave you often end up fighting the whole company and even going legal. You can bet you won't have a job for very long after that!