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November 2011 Moms
Flex Work Schedule Anyone?
I have been thinking more and more about my work schedule after LO arrives... I work full time right now, in a career I love and for a company I love. I want to continue to work after baby is here. But I have been thinking more and more about my hours. I would really love to work some variation of a flex schedule where I am able to work some from home and have flexible hours. I think this would be greatly beneficial when it comes to sick kid(s), snow days, parent-teacher conference days, etc. when there would be a need to have a parent home for one day out of the week. I am also thinking about things like doctor appointments where you have to take an hour or two off during the day. I would like to be able to do these things without burning up PTO.
I am considering proposing this to my boss when I return from maternity leave and I know he will be much more receptive if I have a good, solid plan in place and can give him a run-down of how it would work.
Does anyone here have this sort of arrangement? If so, tell me a bit about it. What hours do you work? How do you handle time off? Are you still considered full time/salary with benefits?
TIA!
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Re: Flex Work Schedule Anyone?
I don't have any advice on the flex time part, as I work a standard 9-5ish schedule, but I do work completely from home. At my company, almost 75% of the employees are remote. So, it is a requirement that we have adequate child care... our handbook states something about working from home not being used as an alternative to child care.
Not saying your company wouldn't allow what you're saying, but I can understand why some employers might be wary at first of letting employees work from home while they also have children in the home.
So, my little piece of advice would be to include in your plan something that addresses how having a LO at home will not interfere with your work - just to be prepared for that concern. Honestly I can completely understand why my job addresses the child care thing. I don't know what field you're in, but in my experience I find it to be very easy to get distracted at home to begin with, then adding a baby or toddler on top of it would make it way more complicated (in my opinion).
ETA: I re-read your original post, and it looks like you'd only have the LO home on rare occasions - not all the time. But, I think my advice would still be valid on to address on those days where you might have a LO home while you're working!
I'm switching to flex hours after the babies come but it's a little easier for me. I'm one of 5 bosses and my income is a direct reflection to the number of hours I work, so if I don't work, I don't get paid.
My plan is to work at the office 3 days each week from 9 to 5 (with an hour break for lunch). This is less than my normal work week because I used to come in at 7:30 am and leave around 6 pm. But, since my income is based on my hours billed, it just hurts me. Then I'll try to work approximately 5 or 6 hours the remaining two days from home.
At my last job I worked a flex schedule for almost six years and loved it. I worked 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and then had every other Friday off. My husband works 4 10-hour days and has every Monday off. With kids, I think this would be even better, because it gives you time to do the dr's appts, spend more time with them and also have more time for yourself. It's really nice to have those 3-day weekends!
I am not proposing I would take care of LO at home at any time while I would be working. I am thinking more along the lines of if I need to take a day off during the week, having the flexibility to make it up on the other days that week.
I like the idea of a 32-40 hour work week with 40 hours being expected when needed. Some combination/variation of this with an expectation of working in the office for a certain number of those hours and the ability to work from home for the rest might work.
Thanks for the input ladies!
ETA: I do plan to have LO in daycare while I work...
I work at a small company (30ppl) partially owned by my family 50/50, so I have all the flexibility in the world. I am very careful not to take advantage of that too much.
My plan is to stay home until the end of the year, as opposed to taking 3 months+ maternity leave. I will slowly come back to work... So for the first month, I may just do three 1/2 days... then increase to an equivalent of 4 days per week by 6 months.
The way I work now, I am online and on email all the time, even when I'm on vacation. I don't ever totally disconnect. I manage 6 people who all have very different roles, so its hard to completely disappear for too long. I will probably be back online and keeping tabs on things within a week of having LO.
The upside to all of this is that I will continue to get my full pay/benefits throughout my leave and afterwards. (This is where I really luck out with the family biz advantage.)
I work at a company that has flex scheduling available. However all of them are set. No one has a if I can't work on Tuesday I will work more on wed-Fri situation. Unless it is set. I work M-Th from X-Y then get all Friday's off. I personally work M-F 8-3 and took a 10% pay cut for the hours. The only thing I have seen is a flexible work from home schedule. So if OK I will work 2 days per week from home the 2 days can be different each week.
You should know that coworker have a very hard time with this. Even thought my salary was cut back and the company approved this (I have it in writing from HR) coworkers always comment on the special treatment they feel I receive. (I also check my blackberry until 7 at night to ensure if anyone needed something I still get it to them)