Best days for working a 3 day week?

[Poppins2016]

I'm in the process of negotiating part time days for a new job...

If you work a 3 day week, which days do you take/prefer and why?

How do you feel it works out with bank holidays?

Tues - Thurs. Just don’t take a Monday, you lose out on leave because of the bank holidays at most places I know of.

*sorry! Don’t work a Monday that should say!

At our place, and most places I know, you get your annual leave prorated, and then additionally, you get your Bank holidays prorated. So if you work a Monday, you then need to use the prorated bank holiday leave to cover those days off you have to take as bank hols. When you work a Monday, because most bank hols fall on a Monday, you end up having to use your annual leave to cover the shortfall.

So it’s better to have Monday as a non working day. I actually gain leave because I barely use any of my prorated bank holiday leave for bank holidays, so it gets added to my annual leave allowance to take as I please!

I've done all sorts of patterns for the last 20yrs - currently full time again now my DS is older. I did Mon-Wed for the longest time (only a half day Wed)- this worked out best for childcare. If I was to go PT now - 3 days would do Wed- Friday. Friday is always a 'good day' as everyone is looking forward to the weekend.
Mondays suck so always avoid if you can. My other choice would be Tues/Wed /Thurs- nice long weekends and no Sunday night 'dread'. At my work Mondays are the day the whole town decides to call us! They have usually been stewing all weekend over a bill/letter and let rip from 8.30am. Also a popular day for people to call in sick- so you are covering for others as well. I can't wait to retire

Although you'd get the same number of days leave as someone working 3 days not including a Monday you get less choice of when to take your leave as some days are pre-allocated for the Monday Bank holidays.

Also your pro rata bank holidays are ⅗ of full time so you may have to use some of your annual leave days to cover the full number of bank holiday days.

You get all bank holidays off.
You have a 3 day weekend .
You get a Wednesday off for life admin .
By Tuesday night you know you have only one more day at work .
Working a Monday means you are informed about the whole week and feel in the loop . Would hate to come in midweek !

My job share misses all the bank holidays . I’d be gutted if I was here , especially in May. We are on a salary so she doesn’t get paid for the bank holidays. I believe she loses out a good 7 days this year .

Imagine full timers work Mon-Thurs, 10 hour days, 40 hrs weeks.

Part timers do 2x 10 hour days. Mon and Tues.

Full timers get 20 days of annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays.

Therefore those working 50% of the time get 50% of this - 10 holidays and 4 Bank Holidays.

When a Bank Holiday comes around, full timers get it off no hassle as they get all BHs so it comes off their BH allowance.

Part timers cannot work either - so they have to use one of their 4 BH days allowance. Once the 4 BH allowance runs out, they need to use annual leave allowance to cover the other BHs.

So if you do not work ft Monday to Friday, Monday should always be your normal day off!

She should get a pro rata amount of bank holidays so even though she doesn't work a bank holiday her entitlement will include some. She then has more choice about when to take those holidays

I used to work Mon, wed and Fri. Only because I had been offered childcare by family on certain days and work didn't want me having 2 days off together!
It was actually really gs for when the kids were young I was only away a day at a time.

When I came bk from second May leave they asked me to change days to do a bit of a job share. They wanted me to do wed-Fri but I had childcare for the Monday sorted so I did Mon, Thurs and Fri. It was quite nice getting 2 days off in a row though a wee break from work.

I have just recently changed again and now doing tues, thur, Fri and I love it! I love getting Mondays off no Sunday blues. Also means I get extra holidays for the bank holidays which gives me over an extra weeks holiday. I also like when I come bk on a Thursday it's nearly the wkend.

If I cld choose though I think I wld pick tues-thu and have 4days off together like a wee mini break every week 😃

No, she doesn’t . She was complaining to me . We work in a private school and the only option she is given is to have some extra PPA which has never materialized. I’m not saying all companies work this way .

We recently had to undertake a First Aid course on a Saturday . Unpaid. Told it was part of our job as we are on a salary.

Sounds illegal then if she is being penalised for bring part time

I quite liked doing Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday. I do get the point about bank holiday Mondays but it tends to be a really good day for getting hairdressing and dentist appointments etc, shopping or going to attractions and cafes when it’s quiet, plus no Sunday evening blues, plus long weekends if you want to go away without the Sunday evening traffic.

Friday is a good day for part-timers to work, as there will be less people in the office to distract you and you can get more done undisturbed.

I also liked the pattern of only 2 work days, then a day off, rather than 3 days in a row.

We also don’t get sick pay ! Yet all we
hear is that we have to do x and y as we are on a salary ! But….. Makes you realize how protected you are in a government school. So that will be my next move . This role was temporary after baby but has lasted longer than anticipated .

I work Mon-Thu, 6 hours a day, 24 hours a week. My annual leave is pro rated, but I get all bank holidays off at no extra cost. I get to enjoy bank holidays as the full timers do. Your place might be the same, so it's worth asking. Bank holidays still count towards my weekly hours so it's win win for me. 🙌

Round here the nurseries also all charge for a bank holiday even though they are closed. So double reason not to work Monday!

Depending on your job though think about how your work falls. I used to do a big day on a Monday and then not work Tuesday but this was actually quite stressful because I’d generate more stuff on a Monday than I could action but then be off on Tuesday and then come in to a busy Wednesday morning so it would be Wednesday afternoon until I could catch a bit of time to sit down and catch up with everything from Tuesday but that would be all I’d manage before the next big meeting. I had Friday as admin time but Friday was really too late to do Monday’s leftover admin! I also found that taking a Friday for a long weekend when that was my admin day really screwed me over as my admin didn’t actually go away. Changed to being off on a Friday and found less stuff came in on a Friday.

I do Monday, Tuesday, Friday. I love it. I don't get bank holidays where I work so can't speak to that, but I love having a break in the middle of the week.

Absolutely this! Do not work Mondays!!!

Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. No matter how shit Monday is I get the next day off. If I have a big project I can book out Wednesdays and Thursdays. From a customer point of view I am never out if the office for more than one working day.

I've done Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the past - no Sunday night feeling but I didn't want to go to work after 4 days off!

Re bank holidays - in this job I do have the issues mentioned. In my last job if a bank holiday was a working day I just got the whole day off!

This sounds fair to me. Thanks.

I work 4 days and have a Wednesday off but the nhs pay you
X days holiday (depending on years service)
Plus 8 bank holidays
If your regular working day falls on one of these bank holidays eg Monday and (good) Friday they pay them as you would ordinarily be in so it's actually better for me to work a Monday!
This year in May I get 3 Mondays off with the extra bank holiday which is amazing for me

I work Monday because we get annual leave plus bank holidays as extra days off! So I’d lose out if I didn’t work Monday?

Those that don't work a Monday should get a pro rata amount of bank holidays that they can take at another time. This gives them more choice of when to take their holidays whereas you need to take a Monday off.

Yes, they pay you but they take away a days (bank) holiday at the same time. If you don't work a Monday you get a pro rata amount of bank holidays added to your entitlement for you to take when you choose. Someone working the same number of days as you but not a Monday should get the same number of paid holidays/bank holidays but more choice of when to take them.