Coming back from mat leave and considering 4 days a week

[WorkinLady]

Hi! As the title mentions, I’m coming back from mat leave after being off for 8 months. I’m considering going to 4 days but it will make things a lot tighter financially.

Has anyone ever asked for less of a pay cut than 20%? I’ll have been with the company 2 years this April and obviously off for 8 months of it on mat leave but I’ve never had a pay increase in that time. Would it be a terrible idea to ask to go to 4 days but not have such a significant pay cut because of the lack of pay rise?

Could you negotiate compressed hours instead? Or maybe 4.5 days if you can't take the financial hit of a full day off?

If you've not had a pay rise in two years, just had mat leave and wanting less hours on your return I can't imagine it's a combination that will inspire a pay rise to be forthcoming.

Only you know how your manager is likely to take your request but it wouldn't be something I would do immediately upon return. Maybe 6 months down the line but not straight away.

I’m doing the same and working 4.5 days in 4, so the days are not so long and it’s less of a pay cut.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! I’ve made a request for compressed hours instead and I’ll hold off on any talk of a pay increase for a while at least!

@WorkinLady you could ask for 4 days but longer hours, not compressed e.g. if a standard day is 7.5 hours you could ask to do 8 hours or 8.5 hours.