Long/unpredictable hours job - can a move to fixed hours work?

[AmIKiddingMyself]

Evening all

I'm thinking of requesting a move to part time after I've had DC.

Ideally I'd like to do shorter, fixed hours. Say, 9.30-4pm 5 days a week, or 9-6pm 3 days a week.

Trouble is, my job right (city lawyer, litigation) now involves a lot of long hours and a fair amount of unpredictability - you never know when you're going to get a client calling or when several deadlines will collide. So, I am not sure how possible it is to switch to fixed hours.

I don't really want to end up taking work home/logging on late at night often as I know some lawyers do - happy to do this occasionally in emergencies, but not regularly. Unfortunately, I will be doing most of the childcare/pickups/home admin due to DH's hours.

Has anyone tried an arrangement like this, in a similar "unlimited hours" type of job? Any experiences to share?

I would really love to be able to explain to my employer (who says they are receptive ) how it could work.

Thank you in advance.

Hi there

It's a tricky one- I myself have posted a thread as I used to work in the City as an employment lawyer then moved to a local firm to work part-time after my first child was born. I'm now considering whether I move back to my previous firm in the City part-time. If you look it up there are some useful posts from others who were faced with a similar situation to you and saying how they cope.

I think you have to be realistic and accept that being a City lawyer is not a fixed hours job. Clients pay a small fortune in fees, and they expect you to be at their beck and call pretty much around the clock. However, one of the keys to working fixed hours is being organised. At my local firm I probably worked harder than I did at my City firm, albeit during a shorter working day (so a higher 'density' of work if you like). This was because I knew that I had to leave at a particular time. If you can plan your work ahead then this should deal with a lot of the problems you might otherwise come across, but you will need to accpet that there is always an occasion where work to be done at the last minute and you may need to work from home and/or be contactable.

Of the two options you have suggested I would be wary of working 5 days a week and leaving at a fixed time as this could quite easily slide into you staying for an extra half hour, and then an hour. In my view 3 full days in the office is better- you can give your job your all during this time and then have two days when you can switch off a little more (but accpeting that you may need to take calls etc). That said I'm sure your employer's preference would be for you to be in the office five days a week, so that your work doesn't have to be handed over to someone else for two days. Would your employer consider a job share? My husband is a corporate lawyer and he dealt with two lawyers at A&O on the other side of a deal who job shared. I think he found it a little strange that he dealt with two people but once he had worked with them I think he found it worked quite well.

Let us know what you decide to do. There is no right answer and so perhaps you just pick the one that you think would work the best for you and your family (and ignore the work considerations as there are pros and cons to both options) and do that for a trial period. Are you thinking of getting a nanny? That seems to be the way forward as it takes a lot of stress off you if you have to work late and also helps you you are a commuter and at the mercy of the trains.

Good luck.
x

Thanks very much fudge. I'll look up your post and see I can hijack the wisdom from that!

I agree the client expectations are very high (as they should be given the hourly rates they are paying) and that will mean there will be occasions when things simply have to be done outside any fixed hours. I suppose the real question is whether that happens three times a month (fine) or three times a week (not so great). Just hard to tell until I try it.

The real difficulty I foresee is that my work is not independent - I need client input, partner input before sending things out and waiting for that is often what pushes work into the evening. How does that work for you? Do things simply have to wait till the next day, or is it about making sure you give them loads of advance warning that their input will be needed? (or are you a partner )

Interesting what you say about 3 days vs 5. I had thought 5 so as to deal with those items that simply must be done that day (I can't see a job share working tbh) but see what you mean about it being easier for that to creep into a full time job again. I wonder if a middle way might be that I would do 3 days but with a couple of hours officially working from home on the days off.
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Anyway, off to read your thread and gather some more thoughts.

Thanks again

Oh yes - nanny vs nursery - well it really depends on how much I get paid! Wouldn't be a commuter, so that helps.