Tell me about compressed hours?

[PaulinePetrovaPosey]

I'll be going back to work when DD is 10 months, and I'm working out whether it's feasible to do 5 days compressed into 4.

My job is senior and busy. I need to be responsive to external stakeholders and events (though this can usually be delegated unless there's a crisis), and it's the norm in my industry to work way over our contracted hours.

This isn't a whinge, just setting the scene.

I could easily do my 'official' working hours in 4 days if I worked the sorts of hours I did before mat leave, but of course I'd need strategies in place to make sure I wasn't missed too much on my day off, or people thinking I'm slacking.

Does anyone have any experience of working compressed hours in this sort of job? Tips on how to make it work would be great. Or if you've found it to be impossible please tell me that too so I can stop trying to work out the details!

I have a team member who works a compressed pattern and the result is they don't see their child on their long days as they are out of the house all of the child's awake hours. I don't think seeing the child more on their day 'off' compensates sufficiently for this. I can imagine for some roles you would be in this situation anyway, regardless of the compressed arrangement, in which case it's not a factor.

From a business point of view if staff will work longer hours 'for free' why would I award a free day off every week if long hours are the norm. As a manager I don't think it's a good idea to sanction very long days, especially if the day off is not a rest day. As a colleague I think it's taking the pee if we all have to stay and one person is effectively paid for it and the rest aren't.

Is there someone on your day off who you could handover to?

I have managed people on compressed hours (working 4 days in 5 or 9 days in 10) and will be returning into compressed hours next month following mat leave. I can also do my essentially 'standard' days on the long days and get a whole day off a week. My priority is now my DS, so this is an option I will definitely take. My DH is also doing the same which means DS (who will only be 6 months old) will only be in nursery 3 days a week. Nursery is extortionate and we'd struggle to pay for 5 days a week, and I really want a whole day off with my son each week, as does DH. I've seen other female senior leaders do this successfully, so it was always my plan.

To clarify I can do my 'standard' days as I've always worked 'long' days and well over my contracted hours.

I'm a consultant, and contracted to with 4 instead of 5 days. Day off is fine: you just have to be disciplined about meeting schedule/checking in with your team the afternoon before your day off. But on your contracted days you need to work as long/hard as everyone else.

@MinesAPintOfTea, see your point about 'But on your contracted days you need to work as long/hard as everyone else' is my problem with this. You don't need to work as long/hard as everyone else, you need to do 25% more! I sound as though I'm very against these arrangements, I'm not. They work very well for some team members that throw themselves wholeheartedly into their full days and need a break as a result and will move their day around to meet the needs of the business. I've never seen it work well where the reason for doing it is to spend time as a carer. Whether it is going to work for you will ultimately depend on the culture in your workplace.

I work in a similar type of job (in a very male dominated industry) and work 5 days in 4.

I've been doing it for 2 years and am still viewed as a slacker by the MD - my line manager who approved the flexible working in the first place! It doesn't matter how many hours I work, my day off in the week means I'm seen as "part time".

In terms of managing the workload, I have a very competent assistant manager who deals with things on my day off, and other members of staff and clients are happy to wait for work that only I can deal with. I am strict in that I never work on my day off, because I think that sets a precedent, and also makes you look like you are doing something wrong by working compressed hours.

I'm currently happy to put up with the "stigma" of compressing my hours because I really value my day off with DC, and I'm happy to coast for a few years in my career while they're still young.

On the flip side, DP also works compressed hours (local govt) and has never experienced any issues. I suppose it depends on the culture in your workplace.

[quote Stanleyville]@MinesAPintOfTea, see your point about 'But on your contracted days you need to work as long/hard as everyone else' is my problem with this. You don't need to work as long/hard as everyone else, you need to do 25% more! I sound as though I'm very against these arrangements, I'm not. They work very well for some team members that throw themselves wholeheartedly into their full days and need a break as a result and will move their day around to meet the needs of the business. I've never seen it work well where the reason for doing it is to spend time as a carer. Whether it is going to work for you will ultimately depend on the culture in your workplace.[/quote]
No - I treat it as though I had 1 day/week dedicated to a different work project. I work like everyone else when I'm in.

I'm not advocating compressed hours, sorry that was not clear. I am saying that reduced hours can work in fairly senior roles. I'm fact in some ways I find it easier as my team know that they have to cope 1 day/week so they learn to be more independent then they did when I was always there.

I've never worked somewhere that allowed compressed hours because I've always worked places that expect a lot of unpaid overtime (accountant). If they let anyone do compressed hours, everyone would want to do it and they would end up with a 20% reduction in staffing hours.

For me it's been more effective to try and stick to my hours as much as possible and prioritise my home life more. If I did a compressed week, I would miss 4x tea time and bath time and for me I think being together every day works better than having one longer day together each week.

What I would love is to work only 4 days but never been allowed to do that either!

I'd also choose your day off carefully. Mine ended up being a Thursday because it was the quietest day of the week and going back on a Friday meant nothing last minute was hanging over the weekend.

Compressed hours work well for my family and I. The days are longer but having that extra day makes a massive difference for us.

My DH does them but it is a completely different type of role. The actual working them is easy. He starts at 7 so is up and out of the house before we get up and finishes at 5 so is at home the same time as the rest of us.

I work somewhere where my colleagues are big on presenteism and working unpaid over time. I am working from home currently and am getting snide comments from colleagues about skiving and slacking. If I worked part time it would be a million times worse.

I work compressed hours in a senior position and most of my team do. We also started working at home 1 day a week. Luckily we have 1 day a week we are all in.

It worked well with social distancing. We went from 3 to an office to 2. We are I. A job we need to be present. We had to be strict with static days off and wfh (previously we were flexiblr), but in a routine.

It’s hard coordinating and communicating, but we all ensure that 2 day we have a team meeting. Use emails a lot and have a WhatsApp group. We are getting there.

For us it’s life balance. I have a static day a week to Relax, life admin etc do can enjoy the weekend. Team are happier. Just a bit of organisation.

I do 10 days in 9. I think that's a good compromise.

I have a colleague who dropped her hours from FT (35hrs) to 30 hrs and does them all in 3 days. It works for her as her DH does most of the care during her working days and her daughter goes to nursery then too.

Thanks all. Lots to think about.

It was suggested by my boss, which surprised me. No one else at my level does this (nor are there any women with kids), so I think they said it off the top of their head rather than thinking it through first.

I feel a bit at sea going back after Covid because so much has changed (we never had a WFH culture before this, for instance) so it feels like I'm trying to find a new working pattern without knowing what the baseline is.

If its possible, could you have an honest chat and maybe agree to try some different options to see what works for everyone involved?

I am on 2nd mat leave now and in a different dept, baby born a week in to lockdown. At the place where I work- the demands on staff and the way everyone works will have changed so much that I think I am going to take this kind of approach.

I’m a senior lawyer, and typically work extremely long hours. I don’t think compressed hours would even be an option because we don’t have set working hours really, we just do what we need to do each day to get the job done. I did however consider going part time to 4 days a week, but decided against it because I didn’t think it would be compatible with my career ambitions. In fact, going back full time has been great and I think much better than doing 4 days. I see my son for a significant chunk every morning and evening (I leave the office early to be home for 5.45 and put him to bed every day) then log on and finish off my work in the evening. If I’d gone down to 4 days I think I would have struggled to do this, and would likely have ended up doing 4 long days and not seeing him at all on those days. As a pp says, I don’t think having an extra day a week with him would have compensated for that as he would have missed me terribly for the majority of the week.

I used to have a job like this and loved it. My day off meant I could take the kids to nursery and catch up on chores, shopping and get some me time. I left two hours before the kids woke up and was home an hour after they got home. It's the only part I miss about my last job!

Will you be able to work from home one day per week? This means you can still see your kids briefly in the morning and afternoon (definitely pay for wrap around care!).

I don’t think compressed hours would even be an option because we don’t have set working hours really, we just do what we need to do each day to get the job done.

That's exactly why I opted for compressed hours. I work extra hours almost every day, and overtime payment isn't an option. I was able to demonstrate that I would be able to do the same amount of work, over the same number of hours, just spread over 9 days instead of 10.

Given that they know I am over worked (aren't we all?), management didn't really have any option other than to agree to my request.

I'm pretty good at swapping my non-working day when work schedules demand, but work are pretty good at allowing me to swap for my own reasons too, within reason, and as long as I'm not bailing on an important meeting or something.

It's great. It makes your holidays last longer too, as you no longer need to book a few odd days as holidays, leaving you with incomplete weeks. I get 25 days hols, so can take 5 full weeks off, plus an extra 24 days (one every other week) as a non-working day.

It's always worth asking if you think you'd benefit from this kind of arrangement. You have the right to ask, they have the right to say now - but if you can demonstrate how you can organise things so work wouldn't suffer, it's difficult for management to come up with a reason not to say yes.

Thanks @JaJaDingDong, appreciate it but it wouldn’t work in my job for lots of reasons. What do you do out of interest?

We do a flexible working hours thing which involves LO at nursery 3 days per week. On those days, I work 8am-4pm and then from bedtime (7pm) until whenever I have caught up. One day per week, I look after her and work when she's napping. And on the final day, DH looks after her and I work a normal day.

Property Services - project management. Involves a lot of out of hours working, which I'm not paid for.