Has anyone compressed their work hours?
Discussion
Looking to hear experiences of anyone who has asked their employer to compress their full time hours down from 5 days to 4 or similar and how that has played out?
I currently am contracted 35 hours Monday-Friday but typically work longer without overtime which is typical of my line of work (accountant). I’m strongly considering asking my boss to reduce my days to 4 and work 8-6pm Monday-Thursday and then allow me to start doing more enjoyable things on my Friday be it self employed or leisure.
I can’t stand my work but this feels like the only option as doing anything else would be a dramatic pay cut.
I currently am contracted 35 hours Monday-Friday but typically work longer without overtime which is typical of my line of work (accountant). I’m strongly considering asking my boss to reduce my days to 4 and work 8-6pm Monday-Thursday and then allow me to start doing more enjoyable things on my Friday be it self employed or leisure.
I can’t stand my work but this feels like the only option as doing anything else would be a dramatic pay cut.
It’s a very common route; as ever, company culture dictates how it’s received.
I know many friends and family who have done this or variations of.
Confident managers who have trust in their employees will most likely not see this as much of an issue. As ever, if KPIs or other outputs are easily trackable, then ensuring outputs don’t dip can be more easily managed.
Less confident managers can find it a challenge to conceive.
I know many friends and family who have done this or variations of.
Confident managers who have trust in their employees will most likely not see this as much of an issue. As ever, if KPIs or other outputs are easily trackable, then ensuring outputs don’t dip can be more easily managed.
Less confident managers can find it a challenge to conceive.
pb8g09 said:
Looking to hear experiences of anyone who has asked their employer to compress their full time hours down from 5 days to 4 or similar and how that has played out?
I currently am contracted 35 hours Monday-Friday but typically work longer without overtime which is typical of my line of work (accountant). I’m strongly considering asking my boss to reduce my days to 4 and work 8-6pm Monday-Thursday and then allow me to start doing more enjoyable things on my Friday be it self employed or leisure.
I can’t stand my work but this feels like the only option as doing anything else would be a dramatic pay cut.
Are you in Practice or Industry? If the former then as long as you hit your billing targets I can't see why it would be an issue. If the latter (and your Employer is getting extra unpaid hours out of you) then I don't see what's in it for them.....I currently am contracted 35 hours Monday-Friday but typically work longer without overtime which is typical of my line of work (accountant). I’m strongly considering asking my boss to reduce my days to 4 and work 8-6pm Monday-Thursday and then allow me to start doing more enjoyable things on my Friday be it self employed or leisure.
I can’t stand my work but this feels like the only option as doing anything else would be a dramatic pay cut.
People always think they would be just as productive if they do compressed hours. IME that's not the case - in a way it's no different to going to the gym for 8 hours, and thinking that replaces 4 x 2 hour sessions. The brain gets tired and easily distracted and if you're working on complicated spreadsheets your Employer probably doesn't want to risk you making mistakes.
Countdown said:
Are you in Practice or Industry? If the former then as long as you hit your billing targets I can't see why it would be an issue. If the latter (and your Employer is getting extra unpaid hours out of you) then I don't see what's in it for them.....
People always think they would be just as productive if they do compressed hours. IME that's not the case - in a way it's no different to going to the gym for 8 hours, and thinking that replaces 4 x 2 hour sessions. The brain gets tired and easily distracted and if you're working on complicated spreadsheets your Employer probably doesn't want to risk you making mistakes.
Industry.People always think they would be just as productive if they do compressed hours. IME that's not the case - in a way it's no different to going to the gym for 8 hours, and thinking that replaces 4 x 2 hour sessions. The brain gets tired and easily distracted and if you're working on complicated spreadsheets your Employer probably doesn't want to risk you making mistakes.
On the contrary, working from home I naturally am online at 8am going through emails and stay online until 6pm as I wind down so these are hours I would have been giving to work anyway unofficially. Making them official wouldn’t require any extra effort on my part.
pb8g09 said:
Industry.
On the contrary, working from home I naturally am online at 8am going through emails and stay online until 6pm as I wind down so these are hours I would have been giving to work anyway unofficially. Making them official wouldn’t require any extra effort on my part.
Sorry I perhaps didn#t make myself clear.On the contrary, working from home I naturally am online at 8am going through emails and stay online until 6pm as I wind down so these are hours I would have been giving to work anyway unofficially. Making them official wouldn’t require any extra effort on my part.
Do you think you're as sharp/focussed after 10 hours as you were after 8 hours?
pb8g09 said:
Industry.
On the contrary, working from home I naturally am online at 8am going through emails and stay online until 6pm as I wind down so these are hours I would have been giving to work anyway unofficially. Making them official wouldn’t require any extra effort on my part.
So you‘re being paid for 35 hours a week, but are working 45 (assuming 1 hour lunch break and you work 8-6 5 days a week). You instead want to work 36 hours a week. What‘s in it for your employer? They are losing 9 hours of labour per week and the flexibility of you working earlier or later if business demands necessitate it. On the contrary, working from home I naturally am online at 8am going through emails and stay online until 6pm as I wind down so these are hours I would have been giving to work anyway unofficially. Making them official wouldn’t require any extra effort on my part.
My experience from working in financial roles for getting on for 20 years (mainly in banking, but also business services and public housing) is that you work until the job is done, are paid adequately for it and the number of hours in the contract is a starting point. That said there has always been a blind eye turned to occasional early finishes or late starts as part of the quid pro quo.
I also know people who have reduced their hours or work on a part-time contract and very few of them don‘t end up „just logging in to check a few emails“ on their days off.
I currently work compressed hours.
Tuesday to Friday 8am - 6pm. Three day weekends every weekend.
In reality I work longer hours than 8-6, but I did that previously anyhow so now I just have Mondays off as a bonus. I have also offered that I am available via phone if required or can attend work in the case of an unforeseen issue on a monday .
Makes a big difference to my overall wellbeing and stress levels.
Tuesday to Friday 8am - 6pm. Three day weekends every weekend.
In reality I work longer hours than 8-6, but I did that previously anyhow so now I just have Mondays off as a bonus. I have also offered that I am available via phone if required or can attend work in the case of an unforeseen issue on a monday .
Makes a big difference to my overall wellbeing and stress levels.
eyebeebe said:
My experience from working in financial roles for getting on for 20 years (mainly in banking, but also business services and public housing) is that you work until the job is done, are paid adequately for it and the number of hours in the contract is a starting point. That said there has always been a blind eye turned to occasional early finishes or late starts as part of the quid pro quo.
.
Yep this is basically how it is for me. I'm not really paid for my quantity of work rather the quality..
My argument therefore is that I can do my job with compressed hours.
I guess I'm less interested in arguing with people about whether I'll be allowed to - only I really know that relationship with my employers.
What I'm really asking is that for those who have done it, have they been able to really take advantage personally from a work/life balance or is there regrets from the compression of the hours and ultimately just wasting that extra day 'off'.
CTO said:
I currently work compressed hours.
Tuesday to Friday 8am - 6pm. Three day weekends every weekend.
In reality I work longer hours than 8-6, but I did that previously anyhow so now I just have Mondays off as a bonus. I have also offered that I am available via phone if required or can attend work in the case of an unforeseen issue on a monday .
Makes a big difference to my overall wellbeing and stress levels.
That's exactly what I was asking. Thanks for the response. Given you're always 'on call' if you like on your Monday, are you really actually getting any benefit or really are you just increasing the time you are working as you're now dialling in 'out of hours'?Tuesday to Friday 8am - 6pm. Three day weekends every weekend.
In reality I work longer hours than 8-6, but I did that previously anyhow so now I just have Mondays off as a bonus. I have also offered that I am available via phone if required or can attend work in the case of an unforeseen issue on a monday .
Makes a big difference to my overall wellbeing and stress levels.
I’ve been doing it since November (37.5 hours in 4 days).
Pretty exhausting really. Typically my day is 5am to 6 pm.
Though I don’t get to recharge on my day off as I’m looking after 2 small children instead of sending them to nursery thus saving £10k a year.
I don’t know whether I’ll continue afterwards, it does seem to be pretty all-consuming and even on those days off I’ll either check my emails or catch up on hours missed earlier in the week (COVID and childcare are not happy bed fellows).
Pretty exhausting really. Typically my day is 5am to 6 pm.
Though I don’t get to recharge on my day off as I’m looking after 2 small children instead of sending them to nursery thus saving £10k a year.
I don’t know whether I’ll continue afterwards, it does seem to be pretty all-consuming and even on those days off I’ll either check my emails or catch up on hours missed earlier in the week (COVID and childcare are not happy bed fellows).
Bebop Beru said:
I’ve been doing it since November (37.5 hours in 4 days).
Pretty exhausting really. Typically my day is 5am to 6 pm.
Though I don’t get to recharge on my day off as I’m looking after 2 small children instead of sending them to nursery thus saving £10k a year.
I don’t know whether I’ll continue afterwards, it does seem to be pretty all-consuming and even on those days off I’ll either check my emails or catch up on hours missed earlier in the week (COVID and childcare are not happy bed fellows).
Thanks that's an interesting viewpoint, sorry to hear of your struggles!Pretty exhausting really. Typically my day is 5am to 6 pm.
Though I don’t get to recharge on my day off as I’m looking after 2 small children instead of sending them to nursery thus saving £10k a year.
I don’t know whether I’ll continue afterwards, it does seem to be pretty all-consuming and even on those days off I’ll either check my emails or catch up on hours missed earlier in the week (COVID and childcare are not happy bed fellows).
For me, I'd be looking to use the extra day initially as a recharge/leisure but then progress to perhaps taking up a new hobby that would require a lot of time I wouldn't normally have. I quite fancy the idea of brewing my own beer...
Typical UK attitude to working hours, hours on seat as opposed to productive output, archaic and counter-productive.
I do 4 days per week (Mon - Thu), middle management role, 35 hours, 7:45-17:00.
I love it, no way I’d go back to a 5 day week, I have rearranged my diary to suit.
In the UK we work 7:45-11:45 on a Friday, as our continental colleagues work a full day there were always meetings, etc, being planned so it actually saves a fair bit of time.
I’m not adverse to working over hours, I used to do 50-60 sometimes, but in reality it isn’t needed, you either need to look at your own efficiency, workload or capacity.
I work because I have to, not because I want to, I don’t need more money but more time to enjoy it.
I feel sorry for people who think they ‘need’ to work 70/80 hour weeks (unless they own the business), normally people who can’t / don’t know how to delegate and trust others, with a self inflated sense of importance.
I do 4 days per week (Mon - Thu), middle management role, 35 hours, 7:45-17:00.
I love it, no way I’d go back to a 5 day week, I have rearranged my diary to suit.
In the UK we work 7:45-11:45 on a Friday, as our continental colleagues work a full day there were always meetings, etc, being planned so it actually saves a fair bit of time.
I’m not adverse to working over hours, I used to do 50-60 sometimes, but in reality it isn’t needed, you either need to look at your own efficiency, workload or capacity.
I work because I have to, not because I want to, I don’t need more money but more time to enjoy it.
I feel sorry for people who think they ‘need’ to work 70/80 hour weeks (unless they own the business), normally people who can’t / don’t know how to delegate and trust others, with a self inflated sense of importance.
I used to work compressed hours when I was fully self employed. It worked well most of the time. A firm rule needs to be that you don't check your emails on your time off. If its important they will call you.
I apply a lot of this to my current job; I am productive during my work hours and hardly ever work outside of my contracted hours unless its for overtime or time in lieu.
It hasn't been a problem, and it has highlighted that a lot of my colleague's are wedded to their teams and email; one chap will do easy/quick tasks at 10pm if his phone pings. This is all stuff that could be done in the work day.
I apply a lot of this to my current job; I am productive during my work hours and hardly ever work outside of my contracted hours unless its for overtime or time in lieu.
It hasn't been a problem, and it has highlighted that a lot of my colleague's are wedded to their teams and email; one chap will do easy/quick tasks at 10pm if his phone pings. This is all stuff that could be done in the work day.
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
I used to work compressed hours when I was fully self employed. It worked well most of the time. A firm rule needs to be that you don't check your emails on your time off. If its important they will call you.
I apply a lot of this to my current job; I am productive during my work hours and hardly ever work outside of my contracted hours unless its for overtime or time in lieu.
It hasn't been a problem, and it has highlighted that a lot of my colleague's are wedded to their teams and email; one chap will do easy/quick tasks at 10pm if his phone pings. This is all stuff that could be done in the work day.
+1 agreed, see this too oftenI apply a lot of this to my current job; I am productive during my work hours and hardly ever work outside of my contracted hours unless its for overtime or time in lieu.
It hasn't been a problem, and it has highlighted that a lot of my colleague's are wedded to their teams and email; one chap will do easy/quick tasks at 10pm if his phone pings. This is all stuff that could be done in the work day.
Lord.Vader said:
Typical UK attitude to working hours, hours on seat as opposed to productive output, archaic and counter-productive.
I do 4 days per week (Mon - Thu), middle management role, 35 hours, 7:45-17:00.
I love it, no way I’d go back to a 5 day week, I have rearranged my diary to suit.
In the UK we work 7:45-11:45 on a Friday, as our continental colleagues work a full day there were always meetings, etc, being planned so it actually saves a fair bit of time.
I’m not adverse to working over hours, I used to do 50-60 sometimes, but in reality it isn’t needed, you either need to look at your own efficiency, workload or capacity.
I work because I have to, not because I want to, I don’t need more money but more time to enjoy it.
I feel sorry for people who think they ‘need’ to work 70/80 hour weeks (unless they own the business), normally people who can’t / don’t know how to delegate and trust others, with a self inflated sense of importance.
Great, this is the kind of encouragement I was hoping to read!I do 4 days per week (Mon - Thu), middle management role, 35 hours, 7:45-17:00.
I love it, no way I’d go back to a 5 day week, I have rearranged my diary to suit.
In the UK we work 7:45-11:45 on a Friday, as our continental colleagues work a full day there were always meetings, etc, being planned so it actually saves a fair bit of time.
I’m not adverse to working over hours, I used to do 50-60 sometimes, but in reality it isn’t needed, you either need to look at your own efficiency, workload or capacity.
I work because I have to, not because I want to, I don’t need more money but more time to enjoy it.
I feel sorry for people who think they ‘need’ to work 70/80 hour weeks (unless they own the business), normally people who can’t / don’t know how to delegate and trust others, with a self inflated sense of importance.
I'm middle management I guess you'd say - leadership team for the department and report into a Director. It's more about being 'available' 35 hours a week rather than physically doing processes for all that time. There's a lot of thinking time in those hours where I'm expected to create value in my time - which I do- or look for work. It means I'm not hammering away like a dog for every hour I'm working but more a case of investigating theories and searching for better financial performance.
I therefore believe I can do this in 10 hour (including 1hr break for lunch) over 4 days just as well as 5 days.
I guess one might argue my job is a 'bulls
t job' as it isn't creating value to society and is merely making shareholders richer. I'd like to use that extra day to actually do something that creates personal value - if not financial.pb8g09 said:
Looking to hear experiences of anyone who has asked their employer to compress their full time hours down from 5 days to 4 or similar and how that has played out?
I currently am contracted 35 hours Monday-Friday but typically work longer without overtime which is typical of my line of work (accountant). I’m strongly considering asking my boss to reduce my days to 4 and work 8-6pm Monday-Thursday and then allow me to start doing more enjoyable things on my Friday be it self employed or leisure.
I can’t stand my work but this feels like the only option as doing anything else would be a dramatic pay cut.
Can you commit to delivering your current workload within the compressed hours version of your role?I currently am contracted 35 hours Monday-Friday but typically work longer without overtime which is typical of my line of work (accountant). I’m strongly considering asking my boss to reduce my days to 4 and work 8-6pm Monday-Thursday and then allow me to start doing more enjoyable things on my Friday be it self employed or leisure.
I can’t stand my work but this feels like the only option as doing anything else would be a dramatic pay cut.
It does not sound like you can
You aren’t compressing your hours though are you?
You are reducing your working days, with the same amount of hours; which inadvertently should reduce your actual ‘time in work’.
Businesses have processes to enable continuity during maternity, parental, grievance, holidays, sabbatical, etc, so dropping one day a week, with the caveat you have your phone for urgent or critical issues should be acceptable.
It took appx 4-6 weeks for people to get the message that I don’t work Fridays and adjust agendas to suit.
You are reducing your working days, with the same amount of hours; which inadvertently should reduce your actual ‘time in work’.
Businesses have processes to enable continuity during maternity, parental, grievance, holidays, sabbatical, etc, so dropping one day a week, with the caveat you have your phone for urgent or critical issues should be acceptable.
It took appx 4-6 weeks for people to get the message that I don’t work Fridays and adjust agendas to suit.
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