Please help how to disclose to potential job that I can only work a certain amount of hours

[lolit]

I applied today to a job in a nearby school, the role is playworker and the hours are 7.30AM-9AM and 3PM-6PM because I would be providing wrap-around care. I got a response straight away and job interview is tomorrow.

The problem is it's more than 20 hours a week and I am unable to work this much right now because of my mental health, I suffer from depression and while I am getting better and feel capable of work, I feel like I can do max 15h a week right now (hopefully in the future I can do more).

When do I disclose this and what reason do I give? Am I wasting their time by having this interview, should I just leave it and look for jobs that are offering less hours to avoid awkwardness and being told I am wasting their time?

Thank you everyone for your responses. I e-mailed them to let them know and they are still proceeding with the interview. So wish me luck in the interview because I am nervous 😂

And to the people who think I don't want to work because of benefits - it's actually the opposite because I am on lwcra due to my mental health, which means I am not required to work. But I am still trying to work because I want to improve my mental health and be a productive member of society.

Without sounding harsh, you are wasting their time. With things like childcare they need people to work set hours because of ratio’s. I would politely decline their interview. If they have stated their hours required and you are unavailable or not wanting to do those hours, I’m not sure why you’ve applied. As a recruiter (and also currently on the other side looking for work at the moment) it’s frustrating when people don’t read adverts correctly, it wastes everyone’s times and also takes away from people who could do those hours.

🤔

Presumably you’d all be fine with OP saying she has medical treatment twice a week, or physio therapy. nobody has said the OP shouldn’t have a hobby so stop being so obtuse.

With medical treatment you are generally at the mercy of the medical profession to arrange those treatments within their appointment schedules, and so it stands to reason that sometimes those appointments will fall in work hours.

As it happens I have a lot of medical appointments, and some of those are flexible which I arrange to fit around my work hours, and more often than not I use my annual leave to accommodate other medical appointments. But not everyone is always able to do that.

But a hobby is by definition a hobby, a relaxation, something you enjoy doing, and that is something that you have control over.

Put it into perspective, there are 24 hours in a day, that’s 168 hours a week. Take out 40 hours for 8 hours of sleep a day and you’re left with 128 hours. Take off twenty hours for potential work and you’re left with 108 hours. And you honestly think that this hobby can only be fitted into a couple of hours during the explicit 20 hours that OP could be working and not into some of the remaining 108 hours? Get real.

Of course OP should do her hobby. But you work your hobbies around your life, especially when it comes to having to work, not the other way around.

How many posts do we see on here about deadbeat men who do their hobbies every weekend because they don’t want to look after the kids. Presumably you’d say it was ok to opt out of family life to do their hobby if that was done in the name of mental illness, in the same way the OP and others are opting out of work?
Edited to correct the hours calculation, which actually means that the OP has considerably more hours to do her hobby.

But those are the hours that need to be covered, its not a job that can be done with flexible hours.

Yes, but many GPs now do social prescribing. Therapeutic activities are often more effective than drugs, and cheaper and better for you.

I have a relative who was sectioned with bipolar, when he came home a key part of treatment was engaging with a gardening project. It gives confidence, sense of purpose, social connection, time in a green space.

I think that's probably what op means by a hobby - a therapeutic activity.

I hope the interview goes well, OP.

Our breakfast and afterschool club is on a rota each week as we can’t rely on just eg 2 people doing it all as if either is ill, there’s no one to cover who knows the set up. If you can do all the mornings and some afternoons, that might well still be useful for them.

You applied. You shouldn't have done.

what you could have done was to add into your application that it is only M-F, 3pm-6pm that you are interested in.

There is a very good chance the school could find someone to do the mornings.

Well done OP.
You did the right thing
Good luck for your interview. They will be looking for a warm, friendly, smiley personality.

No it’s not!!! She needs to get back to work and those 20 hours are ideal

If your mental health is so fragile that the difference between 15 and 20 hours a week would damage it, it is probably not appropriate for you to be a professional carer of children, sorry. As a parent I’d not be comfortable with this.

😂😂😂

Going to work and holding down a real job that's helping children might be the boost you need - don't assume you can't do it

Wishing you all the very best!

On one hand, I don't want to be too harsh on you as you're clearly motivated to work despite receiving benefits and I wish you well in the interview.

On the other hand, your post demonstrates everything that is wrong with the current benefits system and why serious reform is needed. As a taxpayer I'm absolutely not ok to be paying for you to do your hobby instead of work to your maximum potential, regardless of whether it is helpful or even essential for your mental health. It's a luxury that should not be funded by the state and if generous government support for mental health related illnesses was removed you can be sure the vast majority of claimants would suddenly find themselves able to cope with full time work, as is the case in many/most other countries without such generous sickness benefits.

I just had the interview and they offered me a job. This is a good day! I did not think I will be here just 3 months ago when I couldn't even leave the house due to my MH.

That's fair, but I definitely cannot work full-time and I couldn't do it even if benefits would be taken away from me.

I had mental health issues my entire life due to abuse I suffered as a child and I only managed to work full-time for 4 months of my life before basically burning out.

This thread is about 22h a week vs 15h a week. I could give the 22h a shot, if it didn't clash with my hobby. I know it sounds like a luxury, but for me my mental health is held together by the thread of this hobby and it's like dominos - if the hobby falls, everything else does.

And I receive lwcra due to my MH, which means I get benefits without being required to work. So I genuinely went after this job because I want to work. I want to be a functional human being and most of all, I want to be mentally healthy. But for some of us, that's just not feasible if we try to work full-time. Believe me, I tried.

Well done!! 🎉

Congratulations 🎉

@bandicoot99

Something that is vital to someone's mental health should be prioritised over everything else including paid work. Work should be for the benefit of all including society and keeping people in a state of ill health is incompatible with that

The HEALTH is a key thing and I suspect if it was say physio for a physical problem you would be less keen to say that the OP shouldn't be doing it if it interferes with work

Great post

Congratulations @lolit Well done!
And boo sucks to the naysayers

I applied for a full-time job, told them at first interview ideally I needed part-time. We had a discussion, they offered me the job. All was merry.

Why have you applied for a job where you can’t work the hours they have advertised for? Emailing them prior to starting your application would have been the way to go. Anyway, as that didn’t happen, E mail them before the interview. If the hours aren’t negotiable, you needn’t waste any more of their time.
** have just seen the update - apologies 😂

That's your opinion, which you are entitled to. I completely disagree and I don't think society / taxpayers should be responsible for subsidising the majority of illnesses on a long term basis unless you are physically incapable of any sort of paid work. The current system has led to very little personal accountability and is not sustainable long term.

@lolit congrats on getting the job!