what else can I call my 'day off'?

[JuliaGulia]

Hi,

I'm returning to work in February after a year off with my lovely b/g twins.

I've negotiated that monday will be my day off but I don't really want to go round advertising that it's my 'day off' because it sounds like I could be off having an easy life.

Shall I call it my 'non working day' or does that sound over sensitive?

I just don't want people thinking I don't work as hard as those doing 5 days in the office - because it's much harder being at home with twins and i want some recognition for it!

Any advice appreciated x

I just say that I don't work Thurs/Fri. I am not paid to work those days. Day off suggests a favour or annual leave. It may be a small thing but it does piss me off on a Wednesday evening saying goodbye, someone will always say 'oh you're off till Monday now aren't you?' as if I was going on holiday.

in my Outlook calendar the time I am not there is blocked off as "Out of the office".
I have been doing 4 days for years now, and rarely have to refer to it, but when I do I either say that I work Monday to Thursday 9am - 2pm, or sometimes refer to Friday as being a "non-working day".

I just let people know that I don't work Fridays, in the same way that I tell then that I leave at 3pm Mon-Thurs.

If I ever get the "part-timer" crack (which is rare, but I do get the "is it that time already?" glance at the watch when I put my coat on), I just remind them that when they open their payslip at the end of the month they'll see a bigger number than I do!

My email sig says "please note that I am not in the office on Mondays".

In my electronic calendar, I have a recurring all-day appointment on Mondays, marked "out of office".

When I remember to set up an auto-reply, it says "I am out of the office, returning on Tuesday XXth of XXX".

I started saying I only work for [organisation] on [days], implying that I work for someone else (the small overlord, in my case) on the other days.

We have a lot of people who do that and also ones who work from home and it's vital to know if someone is going to handle a piece of work on a certain day or not.

My Outlook calendar says 'Non-[organisation] day'. I keep forgetting to set up my out of office though.

just say "I work Tuesday to Friday"

there's no need for explanation or justification. With 1yo twins you'll feel liek you're on holiday once you get back to work :)

(anybody who dares question you - just ask them how they'd feel about 2 tiny people waking them up at stupid o clock)

to everybody else in the same situation - set yourself an outlook reminder every week to turn on your out of office :)

I call it my non working day as that is exactly what it is. I also put my working hours on my outlook and put my out of office on when i am not in. Good luck.

I block out my outlook calendar as 'out of office'. My 'out of office assistant' message states that i work flexible hours, giving days/times plus an alternative contact name & number.
I do get light-hearted banter when I leave the office at 2pm but that's par for the course. I just say I'm off to do my 'other job, unpaid - do you want to swap?'.

I work p/t and have "Non work day (part time hours)" in my Outlook calendar on the days I don't work. I also have an Outlook email "out of Office" message that tells people when I work and who to contact in my absence.

I went back to work after DS 15 months ago, and have never had any trouble with people thinking I don;t pull my weight etc.

I just block in the days I work and leave the days I don't mysteriously empty. Unless there is something I really mustn't forget (happens about once a year). "DE in office" or "DE working at home". We use the google calendar so that just appears at the top. Then any appointments just show at the actual time.

Also put on my email signature something like "DE Job Title p/t (usual days in the office Monday and Wednesday)". I'm sure nobody reads it! but it's there to cover my back if I miss something (do usually look at work emails on my non-work days but not always physically possible).

non-employed day