Going from FT to PT at work ramblings

[zarapipe]

This is going to be a huge brain dump, bear with me.

I'm looking for a new job, I graduate in May with my masters. I live in a pretty rural area so job searches can be long and daunting. I am in not a huge rush to find a job and won't settle until I find the right fit. My current job is fine, boring but it offers great flexibility and benefits.

If I don't find a new job by summer I want to approach my boss about going to PT, .80 FTE, which would be 32 hours a week. I'm not sure exactly how to do that or even how to approach it. I'm also undecided about my ideal work schedule. I think ideally I would work 5 shorter days while my kids were in school so I could pick them up from school. During the summer 4 full days would be better so I could get a full day off with them. Money plays into this decision a lot. By working 5 shorter days I wouldn't have to pay for aftercare for my oldest daughter which would make the switch more bearable on our finances. I'm 90% sure DC wouldn't give me a break in tuition by dd2 going 4 days a week vs 5 so working 4 days a week would only save me 1 day of aftercare.

People who have done this- how did you approach your boss? How far in advance did you approach? Did you try out different schedule? What schedule works best for you?

[dancingirl21]

I went from full time 1.0 to 0.9 (every other Friday off). I approached my boss while I was on maternity leave and asked to come back as a 0.8 (1 day per week off) but that would be too much of a burden on them, so I compromised.

In your situation, it sounds like leaving early to get the girls might work out best if your boss will allow that. I would approach with ideas of how this will work and won't interrupt the team if they would need you during those hours.

[nessness]

I work 4 days a week and send DD to daycare 5 days. It's pretty great, as I can do most of my cleaning and errands on Fridays and we get a lot more quality family time in the evenings and on weekends. Also I can WFH for an hour or two on Fridays if I need to make up time that I took off for a doctor's appointment, etc.

I approached my boss about it while I was pregnant with DD. The flexibility of this job was a huge selling point when I was hired, so I was pretty confident he would approve it. I went to 20 hours for a month or two right when I came back from mat leave, then went up to 28 then 32.

When I worked 28 hours I worked 3 9-hour days, plus an extra hour from home at some point during the week. That felt more stressful to me, as by the time I got home I was tired and DD was really cranky. And DD is a really busy toddler so it's hard to get anything done while I'm home with her.

Typing this out, I'm not sure that any of it is really helpful for you. My bad. It sounds like five short days might be the way to go for you. Maybe you could pick up your DD1 from school but leave your DD2 at daycare for a couple hours while you help her with homework or grocery shop or whatever you need to do? (am I remembering correctly that your kids are like 6 and 1?) I would approach your boss maybe 6 weeks out from when you would like to start.

[7costanza]

I work an 80% schedule, with Wednesdays off. Its ideal for me because it means we only have to pay for 3 days of daycare, since my H works 4-10s. My employer offers a good deal of flexibility generally, so getting it approved wasn't an issue. I really struggled when I first returned from leave, and I think I'm actually as productive now at PT as I was at FT before - more focused and motivated.

When you make your proposal, just be sure to include how the company would benefit from your new schedule. In my case, I would have found a new job with a shorter commute if I wasn't approved go PT, but I didn't end up needing to mention that at all.

[kershnic]

I worked 4 days a week for about 2 months when my babies were little before I quit my job. Shorter days weren't really an option at that job, but I probably wouldn't have chosen it at that point anyways. My commute was 60 minutes each direction so saving one day a week of commuting was important to me. With a school age kid I think the shorter days and no afterschool costs would be preferable. Plus sometimes being with my kids all day can be super exhausting, whereas having a few extra hours is fun.

Would you still be expected to get 100% of your current work done? Be cautious of this arrangement. This is what mine was. I found it more stressful than I expected to. I had figured I would just cut out wasting time on things like GBCN or chatting with coworkers, but in practice becoming 20% more efficient was hard.

[countthestars]

I work M-Th. I had the conversation before I went on my first mat leave so that doesn't really help you.

The hardest part for me is that they aren't always good about assigning workload so I am often trying to cram 5 days of work into 4 days. I am also client facing, which can be challenging. I typically still at least check emails most Fridays unless I know there's nothing going on. I don't have a peer assigned to my clients with me and I don't want to pass the burden up to my boss.

[zarapipe]

nessness, yes I live very close to school and DC so going home to start dinner, do homework would be ideal and then I could still pick up DD2 at regular time and have a much easier evening.

@vicmo, I don't have a problem getting out of work during most of the year. May- August is another story and is very difficult. That is why I thought a full day off during that period and school being out would be idea.

kershnic, I know I could get all of my work done. I have plenty of GBCN time Summer is the only time that would be very difficult but I manage employees so if I'm not here they would go to my co-supervisor. We are also anticipating getting about 10% more workload in August. I would hope that that would be given to my co-supervisor if I am approved of this.

[djc315]

I went to 4 days a week when I came back from maternity leave last time. I brought it up before I went out (sorry, not helpful to you).

I used key phrases like "work-life balance", which my company pretends to care about. Thankfully, my manager at the time was fully supportive and even went on to offer it to the rest of my group so it didn't look like I was receiving special treatment due to my pregnancy, so the other working mom was able to do the same schedule.

I did 4 10s and it was a bit rough. But, it was easier getting through 4 slightly longer days knowing I would have 3 full days off at home.

Come up with a plan that lets them know you'll be able to get your work completed in your scheduled time, and decide if you want/need to be available on your "extra" time off.

[countthestars]

I guess I am struggling to see why they would let you have the extra day during their busy months? I knew that I couldn't sell my dropping to 4 days as "good for them" but I do know that they had to see it as "not bad for them" in order to approve. KWIM?

[zarapipe]

Mar 3, 2016 12:04:31 GMT -5 countthestars said:

I guess I am struggling to see why they would let you have the extra day during their busy months? I knew that I couldn't sell my dropping to 4 days as "good for them" but I do know that they had to see it as "not bad for them" in order to approve. KWIM?

I wouldn't propose to start until August or September, so essentially out of busy season. I figure this would give us almost a whole year to sort out busy season. Busy season is doable with one person (again I co-supervise with another person). I did the whole area by myself for almost 2 years while my partner was out on a prolonged medical leave. I think I could pitch that I managed fine during that time and one day a week will be doable. I would suggest that I could come back to FT during those times but once I drop to .8 and change salary along with that I think it would be difficult to do that change again. I work for the state and things are slow.

My boss knows that I'm graduating and has already made remarks that he realizes that I probably wont be here next year. I am a valued employee and I think in his eyes he would see it as keeping me 80% of the time vs loosing me completely.

[zarapipe]

Mar 3, 2016 13:10:00 GMT -5 @mrswindycity said:

Every time I read your work posts it's like reading one of my own, lol.

I am considering reducing my hours next year for similar reasons, but we actually have a program here called voluntary reduced time (if you've worked here x amount of time and obviously there are some restrictions) where you can reduce your hours and still get the same benefits and get paid proportionally to your FT salary. So if I go this route, I basically just plan on talking through this program with my supervisor who I am fairly certain will give zero shits. Probably not super helpful.

It is definitely getting harder as the biggest one gets older. That's a nice perk that you have. I've been here 5 years and I don't see any reason why they would say no other than it's a precedent that they are setting.  I figure if I'm here in a job I don't love I might as well be here as little as possible while still earning my benefits

[Redpoppy]

I went to 35 hours a week when DS started kindergarten. It allowed me to get him off bus two days a week. Those five hours make a huge difference. This year I get him off the bus 3 days a week. The pay difference is offset by not paying after care those days.

In the beginning it took some adjusting by both my coworkers and me. They would book meetings when I needed to leave. I'd feel I needed to keep up. I do my fair share no and have no qualms about getting up and leaving a meeting to go home. At the same time, I know when I need to make arrangements and stay late or work a bit at home. I'm not going wild though, I'm doing my 87.5%. Many don't even know I'm part time. If things are crazy it do a bit more, but they also recognize I'm not paid extra for it.

I approached my supervisor about two month before. I didn't quite ask for permission, it's a benefit for anyone nearing retirement or that needs to work less due to child care/family needs. It helps them keep long term employees. It's intended to be temporary, getting re-evaluated every 5 years. I requested an unusual schedule where I worked different amounts each day. Now I just work shorter 7 hour days.

Eta: I could get DS off the bus every day, but I have him in after care two days a week. This helps with meeting scheduling and working with people that work later hours. Sometimes I just use the time to run errands. It's a good compromise and I don't have to stress those two days about getting to the bus in time.

[wanderlustmom]

I negotiated my previous full time job to 20 hours at first and then bumped it to 32 hours for awhile. It was a social work agency so the pay was low but it was known to be family friendly