Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Original poster

Are there any drawbacks to working 4 days?

52 replies

wormybookworm · 01/12/2021 07:01

I'm about to ask my employer to rearrange my working hours so I do 4 longer days rather than 5 slightly shorter ones.

Are there any drawbacks to doing 4 days a week? My current worry is missing out on projects because I'm not there and visible all the time...

On the flip side, I'm really looking forward to an extra day to myself for life admin, seeing retired family more, and whatever else!

OP posts:
strelitzialady · 01/12/2021 19:31

I work a 4 day week (28h) and spend my day off running myself ragged with chores and life admin. My (male) colleague often tells me how lucky I am to work part time and when I ask him what he'd do in the same position he reels off a list of sports and hobbies (we have similar age DC)

Dougieowner · 01/12/2021 19:41

@applespearsbears

Make sure your day off is a Monday otherwise you will use your leave to cover bank holidays, even with the pro rata allocation I still missed out
With my company the day-off moves each week. Week-1 Mon, week-2 Tues, week-3 Wed etc meaning that when you have a Fri off you automatically have the following Mon as well resulting in a lovely 4-day weekend. If for any reason you need to move your day most managers will move it to any day within the same working week (as long as there aren't too many others off on the same day of course). If your day-off falls on a bank-holiday you can either have another day off the same week or the hours can be credited to your leave-card. We never loose out.
Hungry675tf · 01/12/2021 19:48

I do 30 over 4 and it will be a cold day in hell before I ever go back to FT hours.

Very occasionally I will want to be present at something on my NWD, so I might rearrange things so that I can, but the flex works both ways.

Literally no downsides, its amazing.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 01/12/2021 19:49

Main downside is that you can end up working the 5th day for nothing, even tho you are supposed to be off, whilst not being considered 'full time' because you're officially only there 4 days. The fact that you are working longer hours on those 4 days won't count because many people work 12-14 hour days anyway. But depends on your industry and what is expected / accepted.

SSOYS · 01/12/2021 19:55

Agree with @RockingMyFiftiesNot - endless emails and calls beginning “Sorry, I know it’s your day off but would you just mind…” How likely this is to be a problem and the best way to deal with it depends on what you do. A colleague struggling with this has set things up so that all emails and calls direct to her PA on her day off, who can determine whether something is important enough to redirect or whether it can wait.

Dougieowner · 01/12/2021 19:59

@RockingMyFiftiesNot

Main downside is that you can end up working the 5th day for nothing, even tho you are supposed to be off, whilst not being considered 'full time' because you're officially only there 4 days. The fact that you are working longer hours on those 4 days won't count because many people work 12-14 hour days anyway. But depends on your industry and what is expected / accepted.
Must be something specific to your company. While in ours a few people work a 5-day week (a large national institution) most are on some sort of pattern and all are considered FT (unless you actually are PT and work 30Hrs or less).

As for working your day off...... just doesn't happen unless (like me) you work it as OT and are paid accordingly.

SmallestInTheClass · 01/12/2021 20:00

I do 4 days, but for 4 days pay. I love it and wouldn't change it. Yes, I miss out on some things and you have to be disciplined to not work on the day off. My colleagues know that I don't pick up emails on a Monday. Agree with others that having a Monday off gives you more flexibility on your leave as you get days added to your annual leave to make up for the fact bank holidays are mostly Mondays, which you don't get the benefit of. I also find Friday is a good day to be at work, not quite so many meetings and all the nice stuff like after work drinks/lunch. I did try compressed hours but I found the early start and late finish times made it hard for me to do pick ups from the childminder and put a lot of pressure on my DH. It would depend on your arrangements, if you need childcare and if you have a partner or family to help out.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 01/12/2021 20:01

Must be something specific to your company.

No, not just my company. Most performance driven large corporates make it very difficult to keep to reduced hours, whatever the work pattern.

CapBarnacles · 01/12/2021 20:02

My only problem with my full time over 4 (actually over 7) days arrangement is trying to avoid meetings on my 'day off' without giving away that I don't work that day.

rookiemere · 01/12/2021 20:03

For my non working day I put my personal mobile number on my out of office and tell people to text if there is something urgent. To date I think I've had one text in the two years since I started doing it.
Having said that I'll voluntarily log in if there is something urgent or pending.

rookiemere · 01/12/2021 20:04

@CapBarnacles why can't you tell people you're not working ? I'm very clear as I'm not getting paid full time which hours I'm not officially around ( but I do get paid enough to make myself available in an emergency).

CapBarnacles · 01/12/2021 20:06

I am paid full time and work most days. But not on Fridays. That's my day with my daughter (plus the weekend of course!). In my line of work, part time people are taken less seriously. It's really awful but I can't do anything about it.

NotPennysBoat · 01/12/2021 20:06

I do this and my only regret is that I didn't ask for it sooner! I get all my errands done on my day off and then weekends are purely family time.

itssarcasmjoan · 01/12/2021 20:10

Will they work your holidays out in hours? You'll use more hours for one days leave.

LBOCS2 · 01/12/2021 20:12

[quote rookiemere]@CapBarnacles why can't you tell people you're not working ? I'm very clear as I'm not getting paid full time which hours I'm not officially around ( but I do get paid enough to make myself available in an emergency).[/quote]

Likewise. I'm being paid for 4 days, realistically I do 4.5 but I do not log in on my day off. My team have my personal number and know I'm available for emergencies/questions I can answer easily but would take them a long time to figure out.

Although my industry does NOT support part time or flexible working generally, my company does and it's great. The director who is my line manager also does a 4 day week so I know that a) it's not going to impede my progression and b) she's not going to take me any less seriously for doing a 4 day week.

Dougieowner · 01/12/2021 20:13

@RockingMyFiftiesNot

Must be something specific to your company.

No, not just my company. Most performance driven large corporates make it very difficult to keep to reduced hours, whatever the work pattern.

Obviously yours and not mine (although my PLC has 34K employees in the UK). My 4-day week is not PT, I work FT hours over 4-days and when I am not at work I can't be contacted. I don't mind doing a little bit extra at the end of a day if I want to finish a project and if there is a need to work an extra day it is paid as OT but it ends there.
Dougieowner · 01/12/2021 20:16

@itssarcasmjoan

Will they work your holidays out in hours? You'll use more hours for one days leave.
Ours is worked out in hours and yes it does mean you have to take a bit more if you want a day off but the fact I am already only working a 4-day week means it evens out as I don't have to take as many days to get the whole week off. As I say, works for me and most of my colleagues.
Allthesefolks · 01/12/2021 20:16

I think it depends on the job.

I do 30 hours over 4 days, ideally I’d do 22.5 over 4 but it’s not an option for me.

My DC are still quite young so it was good to have a whole day off with DC1 and now some 1:1 time with DC2 although doing the school runs restricts this and it doesn’t really feel like I have a day off anymore.

Work wise it’s generally good and I work in a role that bills by the hour so it’s not really expected that I’ll do extra hours. Although sometimes I check emails on my phone once on my day off. The only things I find tricky is that Monday morning I come into a day’s worth of emails so it feels a bit like starting on the back foot. Also Fridays are usually a slighter quieter day meeting-wise so I miss that time to catch up on more admin tasks and do my timesheet not in a rush.

I never want to go back to full time though.

SSOYS · 01/12/2021 20:27

Must be something specific to your company.

I don’t know what @RockingMyFiftiesNot does but this problem is absolutely standard in my industry (corporate law) due to client service expectations.

I think it’s a lot easier in roles which aren’t client-facing.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 01/12/2021 20:46

@SSOYS

Must be something specific to your company.

I don’t know what @RockingMyFiftiesNot does but this problem is absolutely standard in my industry (corporate law) due to client service expectations.

I think it’s a lot easier in roles which aren’t client-facing.

I can't say as too identifying but yea client facing does make a difference. And no overtime paid, it was expected.
TeenTitan007 · 01/12/2021 22:32

I take Mondays off, way better than Fridays. I tried FT for couple months and it was hell. Happy to have my Mondays back after our busy weekend days.

Simonjt · 02/12/2021 07:08

@applespearsbears

Make sure your day off is a Monday otherwise you will use your leave to cover bank holidays, even with the pro rata allocation I still missed out
It depends on your job, our sector doesn’t operate on bank holidays
RedHot22 · 02/12/2021 07:10

I was going to say the opposite!

Don’t make it a Monday!

NewMum0305 · 02/12/2021 07:13

I do 4.5 days worth of hours over 4, and would never go back to 5!

Simonjt · 02/12/2021 07:16

I work four days and I love it (really I do three days but I’m able to spread them over four shorter days), I have Friday off, this is day most plays, events etc are at my sons primary school so I rarely have to say no to attending them.

There are eight weekends a year where I have a four day weekend, me and my son usually go in a little holiday or we go and stay with Grandma for the long weekend.

I’m very lucky that my husband essentially just has to work x hours a week, so we usually get the friday to spend together child free. So it usually looks like gym after school drop off, late breakfast/early lunch together then we’ll either go somewhere together or spend the day together at home. Then once a month we plan a bigger date day and my friend steps in and babysits so I don’t have to do school pick up.

But its also handy for GP appointments, hair cuts etc.