I'm so happy, I've got my compressed working hours agreed...thanks to bossykate especially

[WideWebWitch]

It's been agreed that I'll work 8am - 5.45pm Mon-Thurs and have Friday (I hope, tbc) off but will still be paid a full time salary since I'm spreading my working hours over 4 days. AND I still get my full holiday allowance AND I will save c£200 a month in childcare costs, god it's wonderful.

It's on a trial basis but I will make it work and my team have told me they'll do whatever it takes to make sure it's ok and we succeed in the trial period.

Thanks to bossykate especially for her comments about women needing to stick their heads above the parapets and ask for it in order to get what they want and to change things.

So I get to spend one day a week with dd (who is 3) and being able to collect ds from school and let him have friends to tea etc. grin]grin]

yes, I do mostly take an hour for lunch and so do my team. I walk for half an hour every lunch hour and then might go and have a coffee or chat with someone for the other half an hour.

Sounds fab - but I can't do it I don't think. 99% of the time I have to do both school drop off and school pick up ! She can't go in until 8.30 and the I have an hours commute to work - and after school clubs end at 5pm - so I struggle to do my hours at work anyway but fortunately my boss is lovely and judges by results not hours worked ! (I work from home one day a week - so catch up a bit that day !)

There is just one childminder who picks up form dd's school and we used her for a little while, but she only does pck-ups not drop-offs and finishes at 5.30pm so it was hardly any better - and I prefer dd to stay at school really !

However - I am able to take unpaid extra leave - and took two extra weeks last summer - this summer I'll be looking at about 5 weeks unpaid I think !

If anyone has any clever ideas as to how I can keep pay level up (pittance anyway as civil servant !) and have hols off - please let me know !!!

As you've already been able to work efectively from home, could you work in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed? Or does all your work involve liaising with other people?

Whilst dh doesn't have a set number of hours (he can easily do 35 in 3 days) he has arranged his day so he does meetings/presentations all day, leaves at 5 (unless he is entertaining) and then catches up with admin stuff at home after bedtime.

And Well done WWW, and well inspired bk.

Thanls Prufrock - that might be possible - but I think I would be so knackered and have no life through term-time that I'd end up a worse wreck than I am now !

It's not so bad really -we have a playscheme during hols so I just take her with me to work through the summer - but it just feels like she isn't getting a proper holiday/rest really !!

Must do sums again and see if I could afford to drop salary !

Oh, well done www and bk.

A word of warning to those wanting term-time only - you have both of the downsides of being a woth mother and a sahm. Of course, you may view these as upsides. But, I do long, sometimes, to just take a day's leave for me, on my own.

But Tinker if you don't work term-times, you still don't get any time for yourself (or at least I don't really) as all leave has to be saved up for the school holidays....

Have to agree there Elliott! Me time, schmee time
Still, I'm glad I have the option (I work longer hours in term-time scatterbrain and batters and although it means I don't get the whole of the school hols off, I do get most of them).
Fab news www, really pleased for you all . Every wohm should have a bk at their elbow IMO, and a sis on the end of their phone.

Oh, I know elliott, but sometimes you can, in theory, have an odd day off just for yourself, when working full-time.

Still wouldn't go back to f-t, even when kids have left hoem.