Compressed hours - anyone with experience of how this works?

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I'd like to do compressed hours after my ML, ideally 35 hours over 4 days rather than 5.

Does anyone have any helpful comments/advice on how they've found this in practice?

I did this for a while - found it better than the three days I did previously it is a full time job but at least you get the financial reward - in my company I think that you are paid for 33 hours a week worked over 4 days - as i recall. I worked Tuesday to Friday - consider your companies bank holiday policy when deciding. I know someone who chooses not to work on a Wednesday as it gives her the chance to unwind mid week and a greater energy for the two day periods.

I do compressed hours. I should warn you that it can be quite tough depending on the nature of the job. I do 35 hours over 4.5 days. Because of bus times it can occasionally be a challenge to get all the hours in. I tend to have the car for one day a week and do a 9 or 10 hour day to help boost up my hours, but circumstances still often intervene.

More of a problem though is that with a very heavy workload I used to do a lot of extra hours. I can't do all those extra hours anymore as there are literally not enough hours in the day. Hence I do find it quite stressful keeping up with my work.

Having said all that, I love having one morning a week with DS. It helps keeps things in balance.

my friend does 35 hrs over 4 days, works 8:45 til 6:00 with 1/2 lunch.

can work very well but only if you have your childcare sorted out to your complete satisfaction..as you wont see LOs as much on the days you work. My cousin did week of work in 3 days but her son was at pre/school and v. close to granny and aunty who did the childcare. It worked really for her.

(my friend has three children btw, aged between 7mths and 3 yrs)

I do 4 and a half days into 4. I couldn't do full time compressed as I have a fairly long commute and just couldn't have managed childcare too. 4 day working is great though, it means that the dcs can have friends to play on the day I am off, I can get some jobs done instead of having to fit everything into the w/e, and I am no longer doing loads of unpaid overtime. Downside is that there are occasional weeks where I just can't get everything finished so have to sweet talk my dh into doing extra pick ups so that I can stay a bit later, and I accept that a few times a year I will have to work on my day off and not take that time back elsewhere as part of my side of the bargain for the flexibility I have the rest of the year.

It can work. It's not been something that we were ever able to implement when I was working full time for organisations, simply because although technically contractual hours were 9-5, actual working hours for a large number of staff were more like 8.30 - 6 or 6.30 anyway, and working through lunch often as well. So someone asking to work compressed hours, working 35 hours over 4 days as Elf's friend does, would effectively be working the same hours as everyone else, only getting an extra day off a week ad being paid the same. Not going to happen!

I don't know the working culture where you are, but just bear that in mind, if it's the kind of place where people work long hours anyway, it might not be agreed.

I'm always amazed at how short full time working weeks appear to be in some sectors. I work officially 30 hrs/wk, unofficially probably a bit more, and am paid 75% of a full timer. I don't count my (15 min at the desk) lunchbreak however.

The official full time working week for my job is 40 hours.

Thanks all - your comments are helpful

elliott my full time week is 35 hours, so I'm lucky (I used to work a 40 hour week elsewhere though!)

flowery that's an interesting point. There isn't a general culture of overtime in my department which should hopefully help

Elliott - I don't know anyone who works in my sector (local government) and does only their contracted hours. All my colleagues do a lot of unpaid overtime (as do I when circumstances permit). Before DS I was routinely working 10 hours a week in unpaid overtime. I think the short "official" working week gives an excuse to pay less.

There is a culture of working longer than contracted hours where I am, but also a culture of occasional long lunches/going to the pub after work. I have cut myself out of those "meetings", to the detriment of my work social life, and also at the risk of people thinking I am a bit boring, but it does mean that I also then have a reputation for not skiving and getting on with the job. That reputation may start to slip now I have discovered MN! I think I am really lucky that the compressed hours have actually only added half an hour to an hour of what I was doing anyway, I just get paid for it now. I am flexible and will work extra hours and even days when necessary (the extra days probably happen 3-4 times a year) but overall I definitely benefit more than the employer. If there is no long hours culture where you are, and you are able to be flexible on occasion, I think that compressed hours can work really well. Perhaps you need to have a chat with your boss, identify any potential problems and how you would deal with them, and see what is said. I never thought that my place would agree as no-one at my level did anything but full time (in fact I am the only person with school age children)but once they were made to see how it could work they were happy to give it a trial and here we are 4 years later...

IME - I worked 37 hours in 4 days - still discriminated against cos I wasn't staying on in the evening, and still having to do 99% of the house stuff because I was 'part-time'. Could rant for a long time about that experience. Lasted about a year before I cracked and went to to 3 straight days in 3 - frankly I just made myself ill. LO didn't enjoy it either.