What helps your work/life balance?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My current job isn't working for me anymore now that I have two kids to shuttle to doctors' appointments, want to be able to attend occasional school events, and need to use most of my vacation time to cover their many sick days and days off from school. My supervisor is willing to work with me to possibly make some changes so that I can find a better balance in this job. I have to be at the office 9-5, no telework (even though the job could be done at home), no flexibility on the hours (i.e., I often stay late, come in early, or do work in the evenings or weekends from home, yet have to use vacation time if I'm out between 9-5), not enough vacation time (12 days per year, which includes sick and personal days)...
A few options I'm considering to propose to my supervisor (or possible a combination of the following): Telework one day a week (allowing me to throw in some laundry, save my commute time, be home for repair people) Negotiate more vacation time (with less of a raise this year) Drop to a reduced schedule and salary (75 or 80% so off one day a week) Flexibility on my hours as long as I log the required hours per week (I'm in a billable hour field, so easy to hold me accountable-- so if I need to come in late to cover a doctor's appointment, I can make up the time in the evening or over the weekend) For those of you who have flexibility in your job and/or feel like you have a good work/life balance, what helps? Or, is this just standard and everyone else finds a way to make do? (And, if so, share your tips!) |
Anonymous
|
Both my husband and I have always had flexibility in our hours and that has been the most helpful thing. Of course there are jobs that require one to be physically in place during set hours. But many jobs don't and forcing workers to be there just for face-time is ridiculous.
What keeps me in a job I don't otherwise love is that if the school calls and tells me that my kid just threw up, I can almost always leave right away, and if I'm busy my husband can go (or vice versa.) I can step away for an hour for a dental appointment or take a few hours out of the day to chaperone a field trip or attend a school meeting, and work longer into the evening. Etc. If you otherwise like your job and they seem open to working with you, that is what i would ask for. |
Anonymous
This. Poor management and bad for morale. Of course, there are workers who need to be treated like children and watched over. But these workers are usually the ones with all the flexibility while the good, hardworking ones are chained to their desk for mandatory face time. |
Anonymous
|
All of your suggestions seem like reasonable approaches. A few pieces of advice - if this is new territory for your company (sounds like the culture is not flex-friendly), then you need to proactively help this along and make it to be as much (or more) about them as it is about you. Do your supervisor's homework for him/her - likely s/he will have to make a case for this to someone above them, and if you've laid out the pros and cons, you've done the thinking for them. Put it in writing. Come with a proposed memo of understanding about what you promise to do to make this successful.
Also, if you pursue a modified work schedule or telework, suggest that it be tried on a provisional basis for 90 days with a formal review of the arrangement to be scheduled for X date - offer that if it's not working well, you will return your original schedule. But...define what "working well" means (X project completed, Y hours worked, etc.). As you propose your scenario, be sure to outline the benefits for the company (e.g., if you go to 80% schedule, savings of X for company, and explain how the essential elements of the job will get done; if work will need to be moved to others in the company, suggest a solution for this.) If you go for telework, be sure to explain that you have a permanent, safe, quiet, child-free environment from which to work. Explain what technology resources you'll utilize to make this work - make sure they know you have an XYZ internet connection, proper security measures on your computer, auto-forward to your cell phone (if you don't have VoIP that travels with your computer), etc. Emphasize that you will make yourself available for essential meetings if they fall outside of your in-office hours. Confirm that you will have full time child care in place when teleworking, and that at no time will you attempt to watch your young children while "working." If you get approval to try any of this, be sure to knock it out of the park performance-wise. If you telework, make sure you are as or more available by phone, IM, email than you were in the office. (And, it goes without saying if you're in an environment where this isn't done, you can probably only ask for it if you're a very strong performer.) I also wouldn't dwell on the details of your personal life when requesting this - simply state your interest in balancing home and work priorities, and don't make it a complaint about not having enough vacation, or needing to use vacation time for kids dr appts, laundry. being stressed out, etc. Bottom line...come to the table with a plan that maps out the impact on the company (good and bad, including proposed solutions for any negative impacts). if you get the green light, be a model employee and show your manager and the company that this can and does work. Don't give anyone any room to question your work ethic, availability, dependability, etc. I'm part-time, but also a professional, and at the end of the day, getting the job done well trumps my PT schedule. This sometimes means working nights and weekends, just as I would if I were full time. If they say no, then quietly start looking for other options. I know it's not easy to find good flexible employment, but you won't find it if you don't ask/look. Good luck!! |
Anonymous
| Does your husband have more flexibility? That's what's really helped - DH taking on all sick days/doctor's appointments and me having a short commute. I don't see how WAH will help unless you have a long commute right now. |
Anonymous
THIS. |
Anonymous
| Going part-time helped my work-life balance. Whew. I feel like I am "myself" again. . .finally. |
Anonymous
|
I work from home one day a week. It is a sanity saver. Every week I relish the ability to sleep in a little and dress down. They also tend to be busier days, for whatever reason, but it's so much more relaxed being home. If your work is doable from home, I would recommend this. But I also know a lot of people have aversions to WFH because they think it means you'll be goofing around. Emails and calls to show you're around and busy are helpful to fight that perception.
I would not recommend the reduced schedule and reduced pay unless you truly think it would be honored by the management. I have seen too many part-time mom workers who end up with a full-time workload in the end with the part-time pay. It's like the "part-time" status just affords them flexibility with the hours, but they are pulling just as much if not more of a workload than other full-timers. Unless the job is really easily quantifiable and cut-off-able, I would caution that it's hard to remain truly part time. (I'm talking about reduced schedule, like 80%, not 50% or less where the workload capacity is more clear) |
Anonymous
|
I would also push the teleworking idea. If they won't agree to a set schedule, then ask for it in combination with leave so that on days where you have to go to an appointment or want to chaperone that field trip, the rest of the day you can telework. This would help you preserve your leave time.
I would also push for more vacation time. 12 days a year of sick and vacation combined is too litte. To put it in perspective, I am a fed and I get 13 days of sick leave a year. Annual leave is 4 hours/pp for the first 3 years, 6 hours/pp for years 4-15 and then 8 after that. |
Anonymous
|
I have a weekly telework day, which helps (especially for laundry purposes), and we have some flexibility on our hours. Most of the people in my department have kids and houses, so appointments that cut into work hours are no real biggie during the less-busy times. During busy times, we work a lot, both from home and at our desks, so the assumption is that it all works out.
I wouldn't suggest the reduced pay or hours unless you really need the time off. Not all workplaces will actually honor your days or hours off, and you'll end up working the same amount for less money. |
Anonymous
|
13:36 here - we also are pretty flexible about our telework/sick/vacay time in terms of booking an hour or two here and there. So if you have a sick kid and you have to stay home, you book the hours you're offline to sick and the hours you end up working to telework. That can save a few hours of leave here and there.
I work for an association and get 12 sick days (typically take maybe 6) and 3 weeks vacation (typically take 1-1.5.) The vacation rolls over and pays out when you leave. it's a good perk, but no better than most of my friends have. |
Anonymous
| Being able to take leave and to have sufficient leave is key. Honestly, it sounds like you would need all of those things to really have a great situtation- your current situation sounds more inflexible/with fewer vacation days than most professional jobs. |
Anonymous
|
OP here-- this is really helpful. DH is in a job where he has a ton of flexibility for about 4 months of the year, but almost no flexibility at other times. So, it isn't nearly as bad when we are in his down cycle, but a nightmare when he is busy. I really appreciate all the tips on how to frame things. I spend almost 90 minutes a day commuting, so cutting that out would help a lot. Also, since my job is so far from our house, it makes it a huge time suck to need to go into the kids' school for something or take them to the doctor. Being able to work from home on the days I have those things would actually allow me to get more work done. I'm going to work on a proposal based on all of the suggestions here.
One follow up question for those of you who can work from home-- are all employees allowed to do it or only some? Some of the push back to flexibility in the past has been that if they let one person do it, then they have to let everyone. (I'm the only employee with young children.) |
Anonymous
|
You say you spend 90 minutes a day commuting.... would it be feasible to live closer to work? I also have a job where I must be in the office (my company does not do tele-work) but i live less than a mile from my work which REALLY helps. i also purposely chose daycare and drs that are really close to both my work and home (it helps that i live and work in an area with lots of options i suppose... not sure where you are located). dr apts are easy because i can schedule them at the end or beginning of the day and sometimes do not miss work at all (or if so it is maybe 30 minutes). mornings are not too bad because i really only need 5 minutes to get to work. if you are really trying to multi-task you could go home during lunch and throw in some laundry (i tell myself all the time that i will do this but never do haha).
if your company cannot be flexible with your hours this could be something to save your sanity. |
Anonymous
|
You commute 90 hours each way, work well past your normal hours regularly, can't use flex time to cover appointments, can't telework, and only get 12 days TOTAL of PTO a year, sick and vacation?
You need a new job. That's just too much, especially coupled with the spouse job situation you described, to have anything resembling work-life balance. |