Flexibility and life balance, or £20k payrise?

[QforCucumber]

I have today been put forward for a very similar role to my own, in a larger, more corporate firm who are offering £20k a year more than I earn now - however I know the company, they don't offer much in the way of flexibility and advertised hours are usually an 'advisory' and the expectation is to work over. it is around a 15/20 min commute.

My current role, is 34 hours a week (the new is a base of 40 but I have asked if they'd consider fewer) 1.5 miles from home, flexible so I can do school drop offs and a pick up once a week, wfh once a week, I like coming to work basically, low staff turnover but small first = lower wage.

20k a year would make a huge difference to our lives.

Home life - DH and I both working 5 days, 5 yr old and 1 yr old at home. currently, due to FT nursery fees cannot afford 2nd car/cleaner etc. Living month to month for another 2 years until free hours kick in and if anything goes wrong it'll be credit cards.

Any outsider, balanced views?
(I'm aware I've not been offered the job yet, but now it's in my head I need to figure out what do do if I am)

**Small Firm, Not First

How much flex does DH have? Could he negotiate more? Personally I'd take it - you're already working full time so you aren't losing any part time arrangements. The step up in opportunity to a more corporate firm could well put you in a position to get a more senior job in a more flexible firm in,, say, 3 years, when youngest

No point asking for a lower baseline hours unless you use it to do a 9 day fortnight as all it will end up being is unpaid overtime.

I'm always a little suspicious of 40 hour baselines as by the time you've then done the inevitable hour a day of unpaid overtime on top you're into a pretty long week.

I think I'd want to understand how much over: I regularly work above my hours but if I have a quiet well there's no problem at all with knocking off early sometimes etc. There has to be give as well as take.

goes into school.

Take the new job if offered, that sort of financial security is not to be sneezed at especially if you are paying nursery fees anyway.
So you'll have a few tougher years while
you put in the hours but generally when you've built up a reputation and trust comes flexibility.
If offered you should also give your current employer a chance to counteroffer. Unlikely to be anywhere near £20k but potentially you might be pleasantly surprised. Small businesses tend to want bang for their buck just as much as big ones though and you are not really comparing like for like between jobs at the moment. Of course you will have to work harder for £40k.

I may be an outlier here but I reckon the financial freedom is worth a punt. Even for 2 years if it is awful to get you to finding and easier activities for the older one.
What the extra money needs to buy though is help with childcare/logistics, cleaner/ironing service/gardening/car washing/meal boxes or takeaways......basically outsourcing as much as possible as your work commitment increases.
Beware not outsourcing enough, easy to cut back of needs be but don't end up cleaning the bathroom at the weekend and ironing shirts in your longed for 90 minute kid free time in the evening!

@WineIsMyCarb DH works in local government - so salaries are set and no flex, annoyingly. He does a day pick up at school too though and the benefits well outweigh the negatives with his role.

My current 35 hours is a 9-5 with 30 min lunch 4 days (then early finish one day for school pick up) the 40 is a 9-5:30 (8 hr days) 5 days a week.

@Gladioli23 I think that's definitely something to check, current role I have the autonomy to manage my own hours and workload, which I do well, but If I need to leave early for any reason one day I can and it is not questioned. DH and I have so far always been able to manage kid sickness etc equally too due to both having flexible employers.

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams yes, the new firm is the same as current - but on a much larger scale, team I will manage will be bigger and workload will be too - so aware of the need to push myself, I'm fine with the challenge, I just don't know if its wise when the kids are so young?

I read on here a lot is people who would take pay cuts for a better home/life balance and at the minute we have that sorted - even if nursery fees are high for the next 2 years.

I wouldn’t ask for a lower baseline. You’ll still end up working more hours, just for a lower salary.

Have you worked out your new job hourly rate based on the basic hours increase, plus the hours you’re expected to work extra, after tax and NI deductions, it wouldn’t surprise me if you won’t be on all that much more per hour than you are now.

I took the big job/pay rise in the past, all the extra money went towards e.g. a cleaner, meal prep boxes to make life easier, an ironing service, extra childcare fees, there was hardly any actual spare money left over, we were really no better off than when I’d had the flexible family friendly job.

Sit down with a notepad and calculator, figure out what help you’ll need to buy in to make your life working 40+ hours a week easier, how much that’ll cost you, and see what numbers come up.

Normally I would say the life / work balance thing is the most important. But - and I say this from experience. When you are struggling financially, to the point where you will put expenditure on a credit card, with no way of being able to pay it off in one go, then the extra money would make so much difference. £20k for you would be life changing at this moment. Try to imagine the difference what £1k a month would make to your finances. (Very very approx figure).
The extra experience you will have gained will enable you to make other choices employment wise for the future.

Honestly I think sometimes people play up a work culture to make everyone look terribly important but when you're actually there the reality is a bit different. As an example larger and more corporate firms are often pretty good at making sure people's childcare is sorted even if that means having on-site emergency childcare places. They will also be keen not to discriminate so once you're offered the job you can ask very thoroughly what life is like working there.

Additionally I don't know what 20k is as a percentage of your salary but I think the chances of you having to work 20k's worth harder are pretty slim. In summary I think you should go for it and think hard about whether you want it once offered.

I would definitely go for it, this sort of opportunity may not come along again for a long time. Get yourself established and as a pp said, it may open other doors to more flexible companies. You’ll also be doing your pension pot a massive favour.

I'd go for the new job - that's a significant pay rise and will make a big difference to your financial security. If your dc is in full time childcare anyway, it's not such a massive change.

Will tax make a huge difference? DH had
a considerable pay rise but it turned out much less than it sounded when tax was worked into the equation.

thank you all, some well balanced opinions here - current salary is £27,500, new one is a FT offering of circa 50k, have only spoken to agency so as I say fully aware there's no offering on the cards as yet, but it feels like a whirlwind (as never thought I'd ever be in a position to even be put forward for that kind of a salary , I've worked very hard over the last 4 years to get myself where I am and known around similar firms in the area as being bloody good at what I do :) 'blows trumpet slightly) but now to be recognised and head hunted it feels weird.

Id take the job. You're not comfortable financially so take it, split the difference between what you earn now and what you will earn each month minus any extra childcare and commute costs and save half of it. Stick it out for 12 months and see how you feel. If it isnt working, at least you have money to make the second year easier.

So current salary is say 1250 a month, new is 2500 but extra £50 commute and £100 childcare. So £2500-1250=1250. 1250-150=1100. 1100/2=550. Spend 550 covering life and save 550

I would certainly take it. The commute is fine and it's not too many more hours.

A 2nd car would be immensely helpful for most families.

However be wary of "lifestyle creep". 20k extra a year could fly through your hands if you're not careful. There was a post on here a few weeks ago where someone itemised their outgoings as they never seemed to save anything. They had subscriptions to all the streaming services, they had insurance for about 4 things, they had car repayments, they had a million outgoings a month.

The whole point would be to start a savings account and actually save several thousand a year to generate a buffer if anything goes wrong.

So accept the job, buy a modest second hand car, and see what additional outgoings from then on are actually necessary. And save save save!

Wow congratulations! I definitely think you should go for it if it nearly doubles your salary. You are both working 5 days anyway so it most likely won't make much difference to how much you see the kids -- and in my experience part time work is actually just being paid less to do the same amount of work anyway.

If you’re offered the job, you should discuss what flexibility is available then and remember that flexibility doesn’t always mean reduced hours. DH and I manage to 40-50 hour weeks but still do school pick ups and drop off and have dinner with the kids by a mix of working from home and leaving work early some days and logging in after dinner for a couple of hours. We have a bit of give and take with our employers and both work flexibly. It takes planning and good communication but we manage.

We also spent a lot of money on things to make life easier, especially when they were younger. We had a full time nanny until the youngest started school and now have an after school nanny rather than use clubs. We have a cleaner, a gardener and always pay to have stuff done around the house rather than do any DIY. We also get take aways and eat more ready meals than I would like but it all makes life easier. Sometimes I’m not sure it’s worth it financially but we both have jobs that we enjoy and as the DC have got older, the childcare bill is less so we’re seeing more of what we earn.

I think I’d have to really have a good idea of the “expectation” to work over baseline hours to decide.

Are we talking staying till 6pm instead of 5.30 a couple of nights a week?

Or are they wanting an extra hour or two (or more) each day, which effectively means in terms of hours, you’re working an extra week per month for free.

That's an enormous increase - I think the quality of life difference between those salaries will be pretty significant in terms of ability to save. I wouldn't ruin my life over it if they have a terrible reputation but you're always going to have to do s bit of overtime at that salary.

That's a 13k increase isn't it? (Not to be sniffed at but not quite 20k either.) Do check what the tax cut is, as a pp says.

Forgetting the money, is it a good move for your career long term?

What's the salary as you may lose a fair bit to tax

@morningteaisthebest

That's a 13k increase isn't it? (Not to be sniffed at but not quite 20k either.) Do check what the tax cut is, as a pp says.

Forgetting the money, is it a good move for your career long term?

No, it's 23k

Oh god my brain is not working

What does it work out to after tax?