What's your part-time job like on returning from maternity leave?

[Ccoffee217]

I just wanted to know whether my job is a bit much in comparison to other ladies.

I took a year off after being FT before having DD, I now work 3 full days a week as a finance assistant.
My manager bothers me on most of my days off, if I have a week off on annual leave I'm guaranteed to be bothered once or twice. The 3 days I'm in the office I feel very stressed with the volume of work Ive for to do and find my colleagues not particularly sensitive to my other job (being a mum to a very active young toddler).

Does everyone find working part-time this stressful?
Thanks :-)

Not at all. I'm in the same situation (FT, then 3 days a week after mat leave). I definitely only work 60% of the job I did before. My boss will message me on my days off if something is kicking off and it's workplace gossip. There's also been the odd occasion she'll give me a heads up if she thinks I need to come into Monday morning prepared. I'm not bothered aside from that.

Doesn't sound like they're very respectful at all?!

Similar is was 5 days of work in 3 days, constant messages and requests of meetings on my days off.

After 2-3 months I spoke to management. The conversation was very much 'the work has to be done and there isn't anyone else to do it'. In the end we agreed I'd upped it to 4 days a week, but as 3 set full days and the other day spread out over the week for keeping things ticking over. This actually made it worse and people through the extra day spread over the week meant all my time was 'fair game'.

In the end I quit and went self employed, at least that way I manage my own work load.

Most people i know who have gone back PT basically have to do the same job in fewer hours for fewer pay, one of the reasons i've stuck at full time.

Also OP, your comment about your 'other job' as a parent applies to all parents regardless of how many hours we all work

Thanks all, it's good to know that I'm not alone with feeling like this.

@Lazypuppy I'm not sure I follow you..? Judy because I work part time and consider being a mum my other job; does not been I wouldn't consider it yours too because you work full-time? I think that says more about how you feel yourself about working full-time?

Then why would colleagues be sensitive to your 'other job' when every parent has that.

I love working full time and would never be part time

@Lazypuppy think you're trying to argue a point which is unnecessary in this context. Do you feel your colleagues shouldn't be sensitive to you having DC?

So I've returned twice from mat leave,
Once went well 23.5 hrs over 2 shifts, exhausting but good work life balance.
Second time tried to do 34.5 hrs over 3 shifts and was nuclear for me. In this role and role above lots of contact on days off lots of asking for OT, extra responsibilities etc.
So I changed and now work 25 hrs a week, 4 evenings and one short day shift. My managers really encourage boundaries and wellness. It's changed my life for the better working within a culture that is sp much healthier 🙂 small pay cut, but still get to do something I'm passionate about and gives me the work life balance I need.

In practice most people seem to do full-time work in part-time hours unless you're very part-time or have a job where you can't work outside your hours or up your productivity in any way (e.g. if you work as a cashier in a shop then you can't be expected to do 40 hours of work in 28 hours, because it's physically impossible). It's a little better if your work is very 'modular' so it's easier to measure what x% of full-time looks like - e.g. DH is a teacher and works 0.8 and so has 80% as many classes as his full-time colleagues; he still works a bit more than 80%, though - but for a lot of office jobs it isn't. That's why I chose to work 4.5 days over 4; I knew I'd essentially be working my full job for a proportion of my salary so thought that I wanted that proportion to at least be as large as it could be while still having a day off in the week. Unless there was a clear plan for where the other 40% of your job was going to go, it was probably inevitable that it would end up staying with you.

However, people do respect my day off, and I think that's a more achievable line in the sand to draw and try and enforce, though trickier if the culture at your place is that annual leave also isn't respected. We don't contact people on holiday unless it's an absolute emergency and so it's easier to make it clear that my non-working day is the same deal. I think you can and should speak up, but when you do so don't couch it in terms of 'respecting your other job'. It's of no relevance to your colleagues that the reason you're not there is childcare, the reason they shouldn't disturb you is because you're not working then, not because of the importance of what you're doing instead.

Your reproductive status or ‘other job’ as you’re strangely calling it has nothing to do with the situation. The point is that they’ve agreed to you working PT so they shouldn’t be contacting you on your day off; they are not paying you so they should not be disturbing you. It doesn’t matter one jot whether you’ve got a toddler or whether you’ve gone part time to spend more time basket weaving.

Do you feel comfortable to set boundaries like putting on your OOO, not answering work calls, and essentially ignoring work until you’re back in the office? If you don’t then you need to think about why that is- is it not the done thing in your industry, is your manager a problem, do you need to take it up with HR?

Good luck!

Do you feel your colleagues shouldn't be sensitive to you having DC?

No, why should they? It was my choice to have a child, and has no impact on my work. If you want people to leave you alone on your days off, then as PP said be strict with your line in the sand. The way you phrased your OP makes me think you have made a similar comment about your 'other job' to your colleagues...the comment made me roll my eyes, and probably them the same.

Go in and do you job in your hours, and ignore communication outside of those hours from your manager if that is what you want to do.

Ive increased hours - there was too much work & not enough time
I found i was staying later & then i couldn't get the time back so effectively working for free.
Also now as my manager ages I am worried about expectations when they reach retirement. I have always been very clear in that I am happy to develop but do not & would not be the sort of person that would be a good manager.

[quote Ccoffee217]@Lazypuppy think you're trying to argue a point which is unnecessary in this context. Do you feel your colleagues shouldn't be sensitive to you having DC? [/quote]
What does being sensitive to you being a parent mean?

I work over four days (but full time hours, compressed).

Yes, my colleagues should be sensitive to me having DC. But so should I be to their life outside work whether it's caring responsibilities or wanting to watch football.

Expecting different treatment just because I have DC would not be on.

At the end of the day, you're there to do a job. It doesn't really matter what you do the rest of the time. If you don't want to be interrupted on your days off then don't answer your phone or look at your email. Set a precedent.

If you use language with colleagues like 'being sensitive' to your 'other job' of looking after children then you're not going to be particularly popular. Lots of people have children and manage to work full time.

No. I work 5 mornings a week from home. I can nearly always get my work done within or very close to my contracted hours.

Work were very understanding of the fact I had my DC at home for a long period of time during lockdown and are tolerant of them being here the odd day since then due to self isolating etc.

I have a company mobile which I turn off outside my working hours. 2 directors have my personal number and that's it. One of them does occasionally call me outside of my hours asking for an ad hoc report etc (we're only talking once or twice a month). If I'm home I will usually do it because flexibility works both ways. But I will say "sorry, I can't do that until tomorrow" if I'm out or busy, and that's always respected.

It was miserable. All the fun parts of my job had disappeared/been given to FT staff. I acutely felt the resentment of going PT. My job had changed beyond recognition. I left and took my dd out of nursery to save money. She went one day a week for social skills/my sanity.