Flexible working straw poll...

[emskaboo]

just interested really, how many of us have applied for flexible working and how many of us got what we asked for/got anything like what we asked for?

Thanks

i asked for 2 days (from full time) and got it. am hopeful that when ds starts school (not for 3 years, lol) I will be able to work term time only, but do more hours in term time IYSWIM. depends what job you're in. My job is quiet in summer, so don't anticiapte a problem needing to be out of the office in July/Aug but i haven't asked yet!

I have applied for and got 3 different flexible working arrangements (so far) - 3 day, week which didn't really work so went to compressed hours - 4.5 days fitted into 4 days which was fine pre-school and now 13 weeks off (ie term time) this doesn't cover the school hols but goes a long way towards it and as I am client facing I work it by doing a 2 day week during the long holdays and take most half terms off - have to cover qtr and yr ends but make sure that I have 5 weeks pure holiday (as this is what everyone else has). I think I am lucky to have this and it is a big plus - personal opinion is that it does have a big impact on career and career choices so I am making a choice - if i wanted this I would IMO need to go back full time - no plans too - as want to spend holidays with the children.

Yep, i was already tto. Fought to keep it (when threatened that i would have to go all year round) and then went pt too

A few years ago, I asked for compressed hours. 39 hours into 3 days Fri/Sat/Sun + every so often paid back the bits I owed on an extra day. Worked fine(was single), I did it for child care and health reasons. The worst of it was/is that we have to apply every six months, three months in advance of it ending which means you have to think about it/remember to sort the application out every three months. PITA, plus always worrying that they wouldn't grant it again...

Wow it looks like almost everyone who asked, got what they wanted or something they were happy with! Except for me and spud, but she sued, and got loads of cash! So just me looking like an arse then.

emskaboo it would be interesting to see what the response was by sector/industry.

hmm not sure I got what I wanted at all. But I got the only situation that worked for both of us without me not being able to have my job (which we can't do without iyswim!).

Hi guys, thanks for all that feedback, very interesting! I did apply for flexible working and got some but not all of what I wanted. I just wondered if this was having an impact on women working in light of recent reports about the number of women in senior positions declining in recent years.

Anyone else? I'll pull it together into a chart by industry if some more peeps add their bits on the bottom!

I work in banking - in management & customer facing if that helps.

It's tricky - I can buy extra hol i week a year and have yet to apply for any of the 13 weeks parental leave which we are entitled to. Any one applied for this ?

I'm in Investment Banking and got what I asked for - 4 days.

I have just done a dissertation on this and reckon that what you get in terms of flexi requests is determined by how important you are to the company, end of. I don't think the sector makes the difference, just the ease of replacement.

Not saying it's right, but it is the way I see it....

I work in Office Management for a media firm & asked for 4 days. They affered 5 days 10 am til 4 pm. I refused as I was very sceptical that i would actually manage to get away by 4 without heaping work on to my colleagues (the very reason they turned down my 4 day week request!) I now work 5 days a week - trialling it till Christmas to see how it goes.

When I applied for a job that was full time (37.5hrs, 5 days) and asked about the possibility of a 4 day week (30 hrs), I got it.

I think that part of the reason they agreed was that I was going in at a more junior level than I had worked at pre-DD, so they were happy that I could manage the role and the workload.

I work in travel marketing and occassionally do a bit of work in the evening or on my day off when there's a big campaign coming up, but generally manage to squeeze everything in to 9-5 on my 4 days in the office.

Many thanks,
Katherine

Oh dear, just realised how I signed off that post - I was reading a work email at the same time as MN-ing.

Deanychip - sorry, but feel the need to disagree with you! Am also an NHS nurse and have found lots of flexibility both with my own jobs (3 since having the dcs) and as a manager with other people's requests for flexible working. It's really down to individual Trusts and departments - my area are not rigid with 'traditional' shift patterns, yes there is a need to cover the 24 hour service, but do you really need 5+ staff on a ward between 7-9am? We've found that using taped/computerised handovers, it's possible to move towards more flexible working.

Have got what I have asked for, always.

At the moment i work a day from home and hope to increase this to two in couple of months. Am very flexible though and will swop days if I need to for meetings etc.

Work in public sector, fairly senior, have team of about 20 people.