Should I put a request in to reduce my hours?!

[katiekate5578]

I'm a single mum to 3 daughters who are all in senior school. I've been working full time for 2 years and it's been hard going to juggle work/life balance. Recently my youngest (11) has been struggling with day to day life & getting to school with extreme anxiety & stress that I am dealing with, with help from the school & GP. I've had loads of unpaid time off work because of this and it isn't going to be fixed overnight and I am in a quandary as to what to do workwise, should I reduce my work hours? I 've done the calculations and can afford to cut my hours by half but that's if my work agree. I love my job and do not really want to leave but obviously my children are my priority. Any opinion or advice will be appreciated. tia

What would work best for your DD - having you there in the morning or at the end of the school day? Would you work be amenable to you shortening your working day to accommodate this?
I would try and work as many hours as you can - building up your pension is important as is money for "treats" in life.

I think me being home before and after school will work best. I have to put the request in writing to work before they will agree to anything, they've been accommodating so far but obviously has to work from an operational point of view. My pension is the last thing on my mind but I get what you are saying. Thank you

Are you able to wfh with your job? If you could you probably wouldn't need to reduce your hours as much as if you were going into the office, especially if you could arrange to log off for an hour or so once your dd gets home so you can spend that time with her.

If you can afford to reduce your hours then I would do it whilst your children are still quite young. Nothing to lose by asking.
Good luck 🙂

My job role doesn't allow me to wfh, unfortunately.

I'm definitely going to ask. Now need to work out how to divvy up the hours. 5 short days, 3 longer ones 🤦🏻‍♀️
Thank you for your thoughts

I'd do 5 short days. It gives your DD consistency that you will be home after school, and your workplace consistency that you are in every day.

Why don't you see if you can trial it first and see how it works?