Anyone here do 5 days in 4?

[richatnort]

Work have agreed to allow me to condense my hours into 4 days rather than 5 days but thought I would see if anyone here already does it and how they've got on with it and any advice they could pass on? Reason for doing it is to spend that day with my daughter and not ship her to nursery saving us costs of nursery fees and gives me chance to bond with my daughter more.

[anxious_ant]

is this on a permanent basis?

[Countdown]

I’d suggest making sure you can demonstrate that you’re working the hours that you’re meant to (eg turning up on time, not taking extended lunch breaks and making sure that your work is of the usual standard).

The problem that you might have is that your colleagues assume you’re really working 4 daysand getting paid for 5

[CubanPete]

My wife and I each do 5 in 4 1/2. The nursery my daughter is in doesn't open on a Friday, so we do opposite 1/2 day shifts.

Take your lunch break, it is a long day, we're lucky we had short commutes.

Not sure what the next six months will bring either of us, but it would be nice for us both to drop down to 4 1/2 in 4.

Edited by CubanPete on Thursday 4th June 21:08

[richatnort]

CubanPete said:

My wife and I each do 5 in 4 1/2. The nursery my daughter is in doesn't open on a Friday, so we do opposite 1/2 day shifts.

Take your lunch break, it is a long day, we're lucky we had short commutes.

Not sure what the next six months will bring either of us, but it would be nice for us both to drop down to 4 1/2 in 4.

Edited by CubanPete on Thursday 4th June 21:08

Thanks for this, a guy a work told me to take a lunch so I will make sure I do! Luckily my manager is great and said that as long as my output is still the same then be flexible with your hours which is a good thing!

[richatnort]

Countdown said:

I’d suggest making sure you can demonstrate that you’re working the hours that you’re meant to (eg turning up on time, not taking extended lunch breaks and making sure that your work is of the usual standard).

The problem that you might have is that your colleagues assume you’re really working 4 daysand getting paid for 5

Good point! We use slack at work so all my comms are on there of when I'm on in the morning of leaving for the day mainly for this reason but also because it's hard right now to know when people are working.

[rfn]

I do, and have done for 2.5 years now. Fortunate in that we "only" have a 35hr working week and I work 07:00 - 17:00 3 days, 07:00 - 16:00 1 day, total, so 3x 9 hour and 1x 8 hour day.

It works for me, significantly improved my mental health, and allowed me "me time". Initially started because I wanted a day a week to do DIY and jobs around the house when we bought our doer-upper, I kept it going permanently.

Do get "some" comments from colleagues, especially whilst we're all WFH as they feel they're working as long hours as I am - but... I love it.

[Lozw86]

The work you deliver is surely more important than the hours worked?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Lozw86 said:

The work you deliver is surely more important than the hours worked?

but not as easy to measure

[cml24]

Large portions of our company work 9 days in 10. As some above, we start from quite a small contracted hours so we usually do about 8:15 to 17:15 ish in the office.

It really helps that every single person will do it around you. So no comments or looks or similar.

We have to be prepared to lose some or all of our day off if something important comes up, like an external meeting with a supplier. However that doesn't happen too often as none of us try and schedule things for those days.

It's really nice to have a weekday off, things are somehow different! Activities with my daughter are much quieter and things like that.

I really missed it when I worked abroad and had to work a full week.

[JapanRed]

I’ve done 5 in 5, 5 in 4 and 5 in 3 in the past.

I’d strongly recommend 5 in 4 or 5 in 3.
I currently do 5 in 4 but would do 5 in 3 again no problem. Massive improvement in work life balance. Even though you are doing same hours it feels less. Less time lost to commuting (mine is an hour each way). More overall time and days with family. Easier to get things done on your midweek day off without town being busy. Less childcare costs.

I would hate to go back to 5 days now.

[richatnort]

Thanks for the advice and views its sounds like I have made the right decision in doing it so far! I've had to take Mondays off which I don't mind and hopefully will mean places are less busy. I reckon a Wednesday would of been good too as I'm basically only working 2 days at a time but I'll take what I can get right now.

Do you feel the longer hours mean you don't get to see your kids on the evenings? I'm thinking of doing 08:30-5:30/6 as I will be doing the nursery drop off in the morning so my wife can get to work and finish earlier to do the pick up. I just feel when I get home at 6:30/7 my daughter will be asleep so won't get any time in the evening and if it's a noticed by others?

[Brads67]

I work 14 days every 5 weeks.

Cannot recommend it enough Mon -Fri 5 day grind is soul sapping.

After going offshore 14 yrs ago (now back onshore) I couldn't work the norm again.

[afterparty]

Cant see any negatives. Less travel time and ''getting ready'' time etc.

[Earthdweller]

Worked 40hr week divided into 4 10hr days for years

It’s ace, much rather that than spread over 5 days

It’s much less travelling, 46 extra days off a year, three day weekends

And you’ll save loads of money

[slow_poke]

I do 37.5 hr weeks Mon-Thurs. 3 day weekends every weekend absolutely rocks!

[airsafari87]

When I was seconded to one of our clients offices it was a 150 mile round trip for me each day so we agreed that I would only be on site Monday to Thursday.

A normal working week for us in 37 hours, but this contract had the option of doing 42 hours per week should I choose to do so.

Normal working hours for us is 8am till 4.30pm Monday till Thursday and 8am till 1pm on a Friday.

I structured my hours so that I worked :-
10 hours (7am till 5.30pm) Mon, Tue and Wed.
7 hours (7am till 2pm) on a Thursday.
And I either had Friday off or worked out of our local office (5 miles from home) for 5 hours to take me up to the 42 hours allocated.

It worked brilliantly for me, and if I could do it again now I would.
It effectively turns every weekend in to a bank holiday weekend. And I'd say that my productivity was as high, if not higher, than working a normal 5 day working week.

The other added benefit is that it frees up Thursday afternoon / Friday to do all those jobs that you would normally have to do during the weekend giving you more time to yourself to do as you please.

[A205GTI]

Interesting, SWMBO works part time, but I reckon does more in 5 Hours a day than when she was full time.

I do wonder how many jobs could have condensed hours, I know one company who wanted you to stay after 5pm despite no work being available nor being paid for it.

[HustleRussell]

I have done 10 in 9 for many years (80hrs per two weeks), its viewed as a good perk- would miss it if I had to do 10 day fortnights. No issues for me, I just keep time and do my job.

[RizzoTheRat]

A205GTI said:

Interesting, SWMBO works part time, but I reckon does more in 5 Hours a day than when she was full time.

I do wonder how many jobs could have condensed hours, I know one company who wanted you to stay after 5pm despite no work being available nor being paid for it.

Far too many companies seem to have an attendee-ism culture rather than focussing on actual work output. Hopefully one thing that will come out of the current situation is more companies realising that "flexible working" or whatever you want to call it is a viable option for many.

I used to work with a guy who did 5 in 4 in a place that already had relatively flexible working hours, so there were generally people that started earlier than him and people who finished later. I can't see it working as well somewhere that has more rigid working hours thought as you'd be the first in and last out every day.