Returning to work one day a week after mat leave?

[Mistletoesparkles]

it would be great to hear from anyone who has done this and how it worked out long term for you?

I’m currently on maternity leave with first DC. Before having her I assumed I would want to go back either full time or 4 days a week PT. I’ve now completely changed my mind and just want to make the most of my time with her while she is little. I would like to ideally stay at home with her full time until she is 4 and in school full time (then go back to full time work). Financially this is possible, obviously with some cut backs but compared with cost of full time child care me returning FT wouldn’t make much difference.

The thing is I’m worried that taking 4 years out of work will massively set me back in terms of career progression, salary and also my confidence in returning, feeling out of date etc. I’m considering negotiating with my employer for a return for 1 day a week. This would essentially leave me at home almost full time with DC and avoid a big CV gap. Has anyone done this? Were you able to return to full time eventually? Did you maintain your previous FTE salary, job level etc.? Or did you end up paying a career penalty for the time out anyway? (When you returned FT).

just to add I work in the non profit sector in a relatively senior position and do love my job. I definitely want to return to it eventually but also want to make the most of DCs first years.

Unless you are a receptionist/cleaner/electrician, something with a tangible output, I can’t see how one day a week could give any benefit to the company, the cost to them would far outweigh the benefit. Have you written a business case?

I would say that flexible working is more beneficial once children are IN school. Working with a toddler I think is easier, no home work, no play dates after school, no emotional turmoil to help them through. I would return 4 days and scale back in years to come

I can't see how it would work, 1 day a week you will barely have got on top of your emails and your week is over. People will need to wait too long for your input or for you to meaningfully progress anything. This could maybe work for an entry level admin/assistant role with very defined weekly tasks.

I went back 3 days a week and it was a good balance, I've since increased to 4 days and had a promotion, but that took 10yrs at part time.

I'm also relatively senior in the charity sector. I'm not sure how it would not be worth your time financially to return as you must be on a fairly good salary there is no way that childcare would wipe that out completely, if your husband also contributes his share towards that.

I tend to agree with this. My son is only 2 now and I work full time. It can suck sometimes but the childminder is able to cover the whole time, she's not off multiple weeks a year with 3pm finishes like school. Not looking forward to that. While I'm sure it's nice for the child to have their parents around in the early years (my son does miss us), I think being around in the early years is more for parents benefit. Not that it's a bad thing of course.

Sorry I agree with pretty much everyone else. One day a week is just pointless from the companies point of view.

We have a team member who does two days a week but she is part of a team that has multiple people in the same role and she picks up overflow. I don't think it could work in a senior role.

I know an A&E doctor who does one night a week (heroically, with 4 kids under 7). It works because there’s no continuity to what she’s doing.

Honestly, unless you're in a senior position that has in the moment focus only (nothing before or after shift that needs your input) 1 day a week would be useless to most companies. I'd be surprised if you could negotiate 2 days a week to be honest. That's a lot of invisible investment (pensions, holidays, work related benefits etc) for very little return - frankly for a day a week they'd be better off financially with a contractor.

I understand the desire to keep your iron in the fire and and be as present as possible for your baby - but you need to compromise on one of these things.

Personally I'd accept that you probably cannot be a senior person on a single day of working a week, step down but stay in the industry to keep your hand as close to things as possible...or offer 2 or 3 days a week instead. 3 days a week working still gives you a majority of your week with your child.

Best of luck with your plans - as someone who did the part time, condensed hours working parent thing...it's not as awful as you imagine being away from your children for a small part of their week.

@Mistletoesparkles

I returned from maternity leave 1 day a week successfully. Totally dependent on your organisation / sector but certainly possible! I work in professional consultancy as part of a small team. I don’t do any reactive work but support with projects that my colleagues are working on. I don’t have any line management responsibilities.

I wanted to return as I love my job but also to continue pension payments, NI contributions and be eligible for another maternity leave in the future.

I kept my current rate pay pro rata with a slight increase as this changed to an hourly rate (around £23 per hour). This one day a week keeps my hand in the industry, is a good take home pay for working four days a month, as well as maintaining employment benefits, future mat leave entitlement, holiday pay etc.

The answer can only be no so certainly worth exploring with your employer.

Other options could be suggesting a job share with someone who does four days a week? Could you do two half days?

I do offer flexibility where I can, but generally tend to do 8 hours per week and has been working well with good communication and organisation.

Hope your employer can see the benefits of this for you too & you manage to find a working pattern that works for you.

I'm pretty baffled you're in a senior position and think there is any chance of this happening at all

You will spend more or less your entire time catching up on emails.

You really have to decide what to prioritise, but in my experience as both a manager and working mother, less than 2, preferably 3, days a week is inefficient in an office environment. (Single standalone shifts which don't require extensive handing over such as the A&E example above sound ideal).

1 day a week won't really "keep your oar in".

Would you consider shared parental leave with your partner, to extend your baby's time at home?

That wouldn't work in my organisation. You wouldn't be able to maintain a workload, anything urgent would not wait a week and anything day to day would be diverted to someone available on other days, so there wouldn't be much work 'saved' for you. Your workplace might be different of course, but I'm not sure how connected you would feel to the job being so part time?

Wouldn't you just end up spending your one day catching up on everything that happened during the week and then it would be time to go home.
I mean, that would be a great job but how productive would you be?

Go back

I work a 10 hour a week admin job. It doesn’t really matter when I do it so I mostly do 2.5 hrs a day for four days, but the person before me did all ten hours in one go and I’ve never understood how any body found that a useful way of getting anything done when a relatively simple email conversation could end up taking weeks

The thing is I’m worried that taking 4 years out of work will massively set me back in terms of career progression, salary and also my confidence in returning, feeling out of date etc

It will. But no organisation needs someone to work one day per week

It depends so much on the exact role and industry, but in my experience very few senior roles would be doable by someone working 1 day a week. In my field, it'd be barely enough time to stay up to date with industry/technical developments and wouldn't allow enough time for the person to add real value in the role.

Consulting or specific project work might be possible, depending on the type of work you do.

Someone I know returned to work 2 days a week. She was massively unhappy, didn't feel part of anything and ended up leaving.

I think 3 days - particularly in a senior role - is the minimum in terms of sweet spot of actually feeling part of work and being able to offer continuity to the organisation.

There's a bigger picture do you plan to have more kids? Can you work 2 days a week I think one day a week is a little sparse.

You can ask but I would be surprised if your work agreed.

Me too, although the OP might possibly be in an industry where this could work? (I can't think of one other than shift type work, but doesn't mean it's impossible)

I returned 3 days a week and then had a 4 day weekend. I felt it was daunting at first going back, but I really quickly settled in and enjoyed those 3 days and so glad I did.

How old is she?

I think being at home with a toddler is very different to being with a baby - so if you're early on in your mat leave, I wouldn't assume that you'll still feel this way by the end.

I would look at doing 2-3 days in a jobshare if you can

I agree that one day a week would not work in many organisations (it wouldn’t in mine). I’ve only ever known two people who made it work - one was in publishing and one in retail.

3 days a week was difficult enough when I was part time. I can't see how 1 day a week would be worth it for the employer.

I did this. To answer those wondering why you'd employ someone that way, I'm the only one with certain skills within my organisation, and have been able to be useful despite not being there much.

DH did 4 days/week, so it meant we didn't need paid childcare.

My role doesn't have direct progression, and I am happy to have a job rather than a career. I now work 2 days a week (DC are in school), but clock up toil during term time to cover the holidays (DH is still 4 days/week). My employer would like to see more of me, but I'm resisting due to family commitments.

Happy to answer more questions if you have them!