Moving to part time - advice on best days to be off

[saltysandy]

Hi, I currently work full time but am struggling to manage doing so. I have two young children and don't want to spend their time before starting school busy and just about keeping my head above water. The move to fewer days would likely only be for a few years. For those who are part time (or would like to be) what would you consider the best two days to take off? I would be going from 5 to 3. Thank you

Monday and Friday, so you don’t have to pay back the bank hols! Imagine they won’t let you do that though.
Are they letting you choose the days yourself?

Friday & Monday

because of Bank Holidays and because most school inset days are on those days. plus either side of the weekend so essentially you always have a long weekend if you want a minibreak

I worked Monday, Wednesday & Friday for a couple of years after my first maternity leave. It meant DS, who was hard to settle into childcare, never got more than two consecutive days away from nursery, so he stayed in the swing of it, IYSWIM. It also had the advantage that I had pretty much alternate days of home and office, which was helpful as I was juggling study and family caring too. Not so good for long weekends, though!

It’s usually a combination of personal choice and the needs of the business. I do Wednesday to Friday, because it helps continuity to do consecutive days. If it was entirely my choice I might be tempted to swap Wednesday for Tuesday to break it up a bit more, but I suspect in reality I might try it and find I prefer to keep the time off as a block.

I like working the end of the week because the traffic is a lot better, and I find the weekends much nicer without the work dread on Sunday evenings.

@RickiTarr

when I could only get 3 days at playgroup for mine I did the same thing, for their sake.
As a SAHM it was fine, because from DS2 onwards I had to do a school run too, but I don't think I would've coped well with working every other day.
how did you find that?
did you just get used to constant on & off easily?
or did it make your head spin?😁

What days are you most likely to want to attend events at school eg assemblies? Take into account inset days and days it is hardest to get childcare. Also take into account what your partner is able to cover.

Then look at your family. I work a short day on Thursday because that’s the day I get most tired and cranky so it works better for the whole family if I am more relaxed. Also take into account after school activities.

Then look at work. Do you have a regular team meeting that you can’t miss on a particular day? Is 3 continuous days better or is it better to split the days up?

What works for me may not work for you.

@Rainbowqueeen

assemblies/sports days/school trips etc are decided by the school and so it's nothing to do with what day the parents want to attend.
so that's not something to go by as you can't predict them way ahead (especially as some are weather dependent).

start end end of term dates are more likely to be Tue-Thu (especially because of inset days, but again that's not a hard rule - this summer 3 of mine (college & high school) break up on a Friday and another 3 break up on the following Wednesday (junior & infant).

*start AND

[quote ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba]@RickiTarr

when I could only get 3 days at playgroup for mine I did the same thing, for their sake.
As a SAHM it was fine, because from DS2 onwards I had to do a school run too, but I don't think I would've coped well with working every other day.
how did you find that?
did you just get used to constant on & off easily?
or did it make your head spin?😁[/quote]
I’m not sure if I took me a while but I really liked it. There was a rhythm to it. Even now, self-employed FT without childcare to worry about, I schedule personal/medical stuff for Tues and Thurs if possible.

Thanks everyone for these answers. You raised great points that I hadn't thought of. I'm not sure how flexible they would be but am going to have the conversation next week. I'm the first woman in my company to have taken mat leave (twice) and they have 80 staff and have been going for 10 years. Suffice to say, there aren't many women! It means there is no precedent for it but on the flip side no trailblazers to follow. It's financial services so there isn't necessarily a busier day of the week. My DH says to demand same salary as my output won't be down by the equivalent of 2 days, but that feels just so cheeky. Right...?

He is right. this is definitely a time to do what he says.😉

Bank holidays are pro ratad though. I am part time and work Mondays but 40 percent of the bank hols are taken from my leave allowance in hours as I am only 60 percent FTE.

I have Thursday afternoons and Fridays off and love it. Super long weekend every week.

@garlictwist a long weekend every single week sounds like heaven!

This is naive but assume that holiday is pro rated to 3/5 too? If a public holiday falls on your day off do they pay you for that day or do you just take a different day off that week?

My DH says to demand same salary as my output won't be down by the equivalent of 2 days, but that feels just so cheeky. Right...?

Gosh, that’s really quite bold.

I don't know what legal rights are but I assume they either have a policy of one or the other (no doubt whatever is beneficial to employer) or maybe you can choose?

hopefully others will know. or employer can answer you.

@saltysandy

Yes, annual leave is also pro ratad. And it doesn't matter if you work Mondays or not, bank holidays are too regardless to make it fair for full timers.

So I work 21 hours a week which is 60 percent of the full time equivalent at my work place.

Let's say annual leave is 30 days and there are 8 bank holidays.

I get 60 percent of the 30 day leave allowance (18 days) and 60 percent of the bank holidays (4.8 days). The remaining 40 percent of the bank hols are taken from my leave allowance.

This is done in hours, rather than days (a full working day is classed as 7.5 hours). It will vary depending on where you work.

So yes, annual leave is less but personally because I stop work at noon on a Thursday it doesn't really matter.

@garlictwist thanks that's very clear and does sound like a fair arrangement. I am going to have the conversation next week probably on Thursday.

I know it isn't what you asked, but I now work 3 days but split over 4 days. I work 6 hrs a day which means that I don't have to take a (unpaid) break for lunch, which I did when I worked for more than 6 hrs. I previously worked 3 days (Tues, Thurs, Fri), but now do the hours over 4 days and it works much better for me.

I can do school pick up and drop off and all of their after school activities and still get a day off during the week (Wed is my preference for a day off as it makes the week fly).

@saltysandy

Thanks everyone for these answers. You raised great points that I hadn't thought of. I'm not sure how flexible they would be but am going to have the conversation next week. I'm the first woman in my company to have taken mat leave (twice) and they have 80 staff and have been going for 10 years. Suffice to say, there aren't many women! It means there is no precedent for it but on the flip side no trailblazers to follow. It's financial services so there isn't necessarily a busier day of the week. My DH says to demand same salary as my output won't be down by the equivalent of 2 days, but that feels just so cheeky. Right...?

What he’s suggesting is working compacted hours, ie same hours over fewer days. Could you manage to squeeze in the 2 days hours on top of your 3 working days? It’s very hard to do! There’s absolutely no reason why you should have to do the same amount of work as a full timer if you’re only getting paid a part time salary, it’s up to you to be very clear in that matter. Whatever days you choose, get them written into your contract rather than just stating the number of days, unless you’re happy to have your employer change those days at their whim