Part time - best days to take?

[Ohthatwilldo]

I’m a first time Mum. I need to have a conversation with my work about returning from Mat leave. I originally thought I’d go back full time but since having my DD, I can’t bear the thought of putting her in nursery 5 days a week. Our families live in other parts of the country, so nursery is the only option. Think I’m going to ask for 3 days a week. I work in a big office with 9-5.30 hours core hours (in reality do a lot more). These could be slightly amended to, say, 8.30-5. I think my work would be amenable to suggestions. From your experience, which 3 days work best for you? I don’t really have any other commitments. One thing that springs to mind is that I would miss out on bank hols if I took Mondays off. Any other practical considerations would be gratefully received! Thank you x

I looked at which activities I wanted to continue with my baby and picked those days off. You may also find that nursery availability depends on the day as many parents work Mon-Weds or Weds-Fri so getting a nursery place on a Wednesday can be harder.

I work monday tuesday and friday, which i wouldnt recommend because i have to pay back bank holidays

Fridays tend to be worse on roads & public transport. Excellent choice to be at home.

I work Monday, Wednesday & Friday and I LOVE it.

I have 2 DC under 3, and was really dreading going back and being apart from them, so from a "mum" perspective, when I pick them up from nursery in the evening and they are grumpy and tired and I'm feeling like I'm failing them, I put them to bed and say "but remember it's a mummy day tomorrow!" and I never have to be apart from them for more than one day. I did work tues/weds/thurs for one week when we had an important deadline, and it was horrible. I felt like I saw my kids for an hour in the evening when they were grumpy, and it was too much time apart.

From a work perspective, it's great to be in a Monday (catching up on the weekend, makes you feel part of the team), and great to be in on a Friday (Friday feeling, nice work lunches etc). It also means you are only ever out of the office for one day at a time, so you don't feel like you are missing out on big chunks of things.

Wednesday is also busiest day at my nursery.

I love working Fridays - everyone is in a good mood and there are fewer meetings so easy to get stuff done.

I thought all companies had a pro rata policy for bank holidays - do they not??

I’m going back weds, thur, fri. Judging by the lack of children at nursery on a Friday a lot have this off.

I do Monday Wednesday, Thursday, for me (and my work) I find it the best!
For me, working a Friday was a waste of being in the office. I found I could quite easily "get away" with not working Fridays because often people take Fridays as holidays.
Also it's easier for me not to have 2 consecutive days off.
I also love having a day off after Monday!

I also do tues thurs fri so I'm not away from the dc for a big chunk. It works having Mondays off as would cost my annual leave for bank hols if not (it is pro rata'd but still not enough) and I like having weds off as it splits the week nicely. That said, now dd is 3 I think it's unsettling her having me every other day for the first part of the week and then not seeing me for two days. It'd possibly be better to just have a block of days at work so I would choose tues-thurs in that case.

I used to do tues, weds, thurs. They were easily the best days.

Defo avoid Monday's

I work wed-from. There are 8 bank holidays so I'm entitled to 5 so I get 5 extra days leave. I have to book any Friday bank holidays out if this. This is only good Friday so I actually gain over a weeks leave

When I worked mon-wed, I still only got 5 days entitlement but had to book all 8 off so I actually lost a weeks leave

This for me it's a 2 week difference in leave if I avoid the Monday

No brainier!

Thank you so much for your helpful comments and tales of your experience - so useful! I think I’m going to ask to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday (providing bank hol is pro rated in). Thanks again

You will hey pro rata leave for bank holidays. I work Mondays and some of my annual leave is used up on bank holidays. I find this frustrating as I don't necessarily want to use those as my annual leave.

Monday, Thursday and Friday. It's like having a second weekend in the middle of the week.

The other thing which is nice about working on a Friday which I've just remembered is that when DD1 was at nursery Friday was a much quieter day for her as there were fewer children in nursery so she benefited from that I think.

Do your nursery have every day available? Ours were full on some days so that made the decision.
Other factors are if you have to pay for bank holidays at nursery even if they shut. And busy days for transport. I love commuting on a Friday as it's so quiet compared to the other days!

Before you decide, check what availability there is at nursery. I always had to have Thursday off because of no spaces in childcare options. I personally would opt to work a Monday because everyone is fresher and people are a bit less stressed.