I keep mulling over doing it now I'm in my 50s, quite a few people do where I work. The main drawback for me is the pension contribution reduction, I could just about afford the 20% salary hit (without drastically cutting back on spending) but not also be able to contribute more to my pension to make up for the shortfall so I'm currently erring on the side of keep paying as much as I can afford into the pension and retire a few years early. That said Trump is doing his best to scupper those plans so a 4 day week is looking more attractive...
I think where I work they do offer compressed hours but I'm not keen on working a couple more hours a day, I do like IHN's 10 in 9 though, hadn't considered that so will ask if it's an option.
My manager is currently working 9 in 10. She tried 4 days compressed hours but it didn't work for her.
The drop in pension thing does nag at me a little, but family finances mean I'm not really in a position to back it up.
A 4 day week has been a saviour for my mental health and caring responsibilities. I'm 56 at the end of this week. At 60 I will need to at least partially retire as there is no real benefit to deferring my old pensions beyond their normal pension age. Whether I can afford to fully retire, or need some part time work to keep me ticking over till 67 we'll have to see.
I did a compressed week (Mon-Thu) for number of years around COVID. It did have career limiting consequences for that role but gave me a very lucrative skillset.
Back to 5 days now and pouring income (which has ballooned due to the lucrative skillset) into pension and investments which will allow us to retire very comfortably.
Planning for retirement is a long game so consider implications on career or loss of income.
I’ve been 4 days a week for a couple of years. Highly recommended. I have Weds off so am never in the office more than two days in a row. There is an element of being expected to do five days worth of work in four. You just need to be firm but fair about what you’re prepared to do.
I have reduced my working hours. My contract has always been for thirty hours per week, but with an option to work more if I wanted to and the hours were available. I work in social care where wages are are poor. Most people agree that they will work an unspecified amount of extra hours. I stopped doing that ten years ago as I was finding that I got too little time off , My health was being affected. Going down to thirty hours per week has not necessarily always meant working fewer days it's sometimes meant shorter shifts on the same or even more days per week. The positive from this is that my health is better than it otherwise would have been and when retirement comes along I'll probably still be able to work on for a while to augment what is going to be a pretty low pension.
I'm in the incredibly fortunate position of working for an organisation that is formally trialling a 4 day week. So we went down to 32hrs without loss of pay, everyone then has either Friday or Monday off. It is, obviously, brilliant. Aside from the obvious benefits, it also feels like you have more annual leave as you don't need to take random days off for long weekends, or getting the car serviced and other life admin, you just plan them into your already scheduled day off. The four days are slightly more hectic but not problematically so. Just means I don't have time to spend on STW during the work day. Oh...
I have worked different versions of compressed hours for years. This work depending on what your core hours are. So it is easy to compress 35 hours into 4 days, not so much so if you work many more hours.
I’ve been working compressed hours (4.5 days in 4) for around 7 years now. It was hard to start with and I started with Mondays off for childcare then moved to Wednesdays when I realised stuff like museums don’t open around here on Mondays. Yes there was a pay cut and yes the first 6 months were hard to get around balancing things. I work in public sector and pay is consistently below average (ca.£25k take home pa) but made it work. Mortgage was paid off around 4 years back. Still not exactly rolling in it but I get to have Wednesdays to do what I want. Like today I’m still in my pyjamas writing this and contemplating another coffee before breakfast.
I am flexible with my non/working day; if there’s business critical stuff happening I will move it but otherwise it is not an issue aside from occasionally grumpy boss, but he has control issues.
I have ADD, GAD and PTSD (all the D’s!) along with a minor brain injury and find the mid week day off helps me reset before the next two days of work.
I would recommend it.
My sister used to do a 4 days week to look after her kids but has just gone back to full time as she found that she was expected to do 5 days of work in 4 with a 20% reduction in pay.
I am considering applying for 4 days a week or 9 in 10 but am weary after the above.
again, thanks to everyone for sharing.
I currently do 42.5 hours a week, so to compress that into 4 would mean 10.5 hours for days a week, which would then impact on after work stuff a touch. Ideally i want to work less in total, rather than less days.
I appreciate the subject of pensions being raised. I dont have a massive pot, despite paying in for many years, but am hoping certain things happen before i get there to allow me to be comfortable enough. But certainly worth looking into further.
I dont think i would have an issue with doing 4 days work in 4 days, rather than be expected to do 5 in 4.
Although maybe a good stepping stone would be the 9 in 10 that a few have mentioned. Could be the perfect compromise for now of work vs wages.
Is there a government or similar website that outlines what constitutes to a valid reason for a company to deny this request? As mentioned before, my employers are a bit old school... and such a request might blow their minds!!
Thread revival!!!
So i haven't approached work for less hours... yet.... but as a stepping stone, i am thinking of asking for a half day Friday. Which due to my hours means i would finish at 11:30am. Plenty of time to do something with the day (ride, run, fannyabout).
I have googled and seen suggestions to write out a proposal, and how it would benefit both parties. Which makes sense.
Although I have thought, do i just lie and make it a childcare requirement or similar?
I am usually an 'honesty is the best policy' sort of guy, but on this occasion, I am looking for the most direct path to the answer 'yes'!!
What say you?
A few colleagues work a 9 day fortnight, so take every othe friday off in its entirety.
A Half a day wont go far, by the time youve logged on, stayed on a bit longer till that one thing is finished, etc etc.
dont faff about with half days.
I work a 4 day week (as per the original), but my company were totally supportive of it, and loads of people in the company are part time. (civil engineering consultancy)
No one works 5 days in 4 days if theyre not paid to, but again the company dont expect you to.
"Your lack of planning does not constitue my emergency"
I dont see why you would need to fib. youre not asking them to pay you when youre not there. I do realise some companies feel then need you 5 days.
Just ask your line manager.
"I want every other friday off cause i want to ride my bike."
If they turn around and say its a five day role, then i dont think theres much you can do, other than suck it up or try and negotiate an arrangement to suit you both.
I dont see why any company should be compelled by the government to reduce the required hours for a contract, but if theyre generally on good terms they should at least try and be accomodating?
Under the 'right to ask' for flexible working requests, you don't have to state a reason. Any employee has the right to ask for flexible working, and you employer should consider the request reasonably, and state the reason for refusal (if that's the answer), based on one of eight business related reasons. I'm sure being honest will go further than a refusal to give any reason though 🤣
A couple of my team have flexible agreements in place, it suits the team so there was no good reason to refuse (it actually increased hours coverage of the department!).
I'm going for a compressed pattern myself in the new year dropping Fridays. I only do a half day anyway so only 1hr extra per day to fit it in, but with all the turmoil outside work atm the effective extra day to get shit done will be invaluable.
I used to work at an american company that had the 9 day fortnight scheme, you basically worked 10 days in 9. 8-5 mon - thu, 3pm finish one friday, 8-5 mon - thu and off all day friday. Every other friday you were off work basically.
Was great, loved it, shame the company was terrible to work for
I'm also doing the compressed hours thing (10 days in 9 for same salary) and it's great! Not much more on a working day as I was doing pretty much the same time anyway, so it has zero impact on me that way.
The day off every fortnight is brilliant!
Half a day won't be enough, as others have said.
I have colleagues who do a 9 day fortnight and love it. Same salary, no real impact on those 9 days in return for the day off.
If your reason to request the new work pattern is to improve your work life balance, that's the only justification you need. You'll be happier, healthier and more productive at work.
I have googled and seen suggestions to write out a proposal
We have a form to complete, your employer may have similar before you get too carried away with a big document on it. In my experience it helps gather consistent information from people requesting adjusted hours/working patterns.
For a while I did 90% so have every other Friday off for a 10% reduction (but in that bit of the tax bracket where you only get 60% of your income anyway) so it was a marginal difference. I went back to 100% just in time to be made redundant - and got my 3 months notice paid. But then my dog spent it all at the vets :'(
Depending on the job of course, but 4 days can often mean 5 days of work crammed into 4.
My sister was given the option recently of doing a 4 day week. It meant losing the one day a week salary of course, but also the pension and holiday/Flexi entitlement too. For her it just wasn't a beneficial option.
I went down to 4 days a week 2 years ago and yes its less money but i worked out with me not driving to work there and back it actually worked out to be a few quid less.
oh and I don't work mondays and not sure if it's a public sector thing but I get 1/2 day annual leave (officially BH) back to have when I want as long as its within a week of the normal bank holiday. I didn't realise this until HR contacted me and asked why i hadn't taken the statutory holiday I was entitled to. I've not had to suffer a monday for 18 months!
the plus points - all the trails are quiet on a monday, the downsides are most of the cafes are shut on a monday!
Although I have thought, do i just lie and make it a childcare requirement or similar?
I am usually an 'honesty is the best policy' sort of guy, but on this occasion, I am looking for the most direct path to the answer 'yes'!!
What say you?
Just go with honesty unless you're expecting them to say no for some reason. As others have posted, flexible working requests shouldn't be refused automatically even without you giving them a reason.
I reduced from F/T 37hr to 32hrs worked over 4.5days when Mrs a11y returned to work 6mths post baby. Mini-a11y got a morning in nursery while I worked my half day before some daddy/daughter time. I increased to 34hrs (0.92 FTE) worked as 8.5hrs/day x 4 days when mini-a11y #2 arrived to avoid further childcare costs. It was initially a temporary change to my contracted hours but became a permanent change after 2 years.
Despite them both being in school I've continued non-work Fridays ever since. A small hit financially (which I appreciate we're very fortunate to be able to do) but the non-financial rewards are worth it a thousand times over.
It's very common at my work for compressed hours or people working 4 days. I'm WFH two days a week so it's less of an issue, but it's something I've thought about. Both adult kids still at home though, and wife isn't working currently.
Started working 4 days per week in January 2025. Mondays off, working 29.5 hours Tuesday to Friday. Marvellous.
Pro rata pay reduction meant putting less in net pay savings and bumping up AVCs to balance % change in salary-based % contribution. Employer contribution isn’t as generous with AVCs but ‘4-day working week’! Pro rata holiday reduction has made no real difference.
Had I thought harder I’d have started from May 1. Dropping a day from January 1 meant that my (modest) bonus was calculated based on salary in April. Still, 80% of a bonus is still a bonus. I’ll schedule things better this year when I propose 3 days per week.
edit part time friends warned me of the ‘5’ days in 4 challenge. I track my reduced hours rigorously ensuring that I stop when they run out a contrast to common 40-60 hour weeks as a ‘full time’ 37.5 hours per week person. As I recognised over 30 years ago: there’s always more work to do. At least these days no one dies if I stop part way.
would recommend to anyone who can do it.
My job is too busy at the moment to go to 80%, and take an extra day off every single week. However, at the start of this year, I went to 90% pay and I take an extra day off every 10 days. But I’m allowed to flex it. So sometimes it’s a Friday, sometimes I add a day or two onto my holiday. And sometimes, like tomorrow, I don’t have many meetings, and the sun is shining (or at least, less rain) so I’m going biking.
On the downside, I don’t deny that im probably doing the same 100% of the work. But the extra day off in 10 really helps me feel that im getting more life in my work/life balance.
Also a point is that I’ve stopped complaining if staff or customers call me on my day off. It used to irritate me more, but now that I have more days off, it’s not such a big issue anymore more to be honest. If you were really precious about taking calls on your day off, then I didn’t think the arrangement would work, either for my employer or me.
After being furloughed during the pandemic, I realised 80% salary was fine, so I dropped Fridays shortly after that (not immediately, maybe a year later).
OK, sometimes I did longer days than before, but only rarely, and not enough to bother me, no problem jumping on an email occasionally on a Friday. Worked fine for me and the company, and hybrid working with 3 days WFH & 1 day in the office each week meant commuting costs & time were vastly reduced anyway. It worked well as a 'lead in' to retiring in spring just gone.
A 9 in 10 pattern sounds like a great idea. Not sure why i didnt clock this before!
Thanks all.
I moved to a 4 day week 3 months ago. 20% pay reduction which was manageable and I did it at the same time as changing teams where the new team needed the help so I had some leverage to dictate the terms. I've found my managers are really supportive and actively protect my time to ensure I don't get invited to meetings on Friday.
The biggest challenge for me has been personal. I've been working in the same industry for over 20 years and realised as I got older, had a kid etc that a lot of my social circle and identity revolved around work and being the person that people turn to for help. I'm sure there is a therapist who could dig into that one! I wanted the extra time off to create more balance and reset to focus on the local community I live in, make it easier for school holidays and more time on the bike. However, there is still an internal struggle going on that I'm working on where I feel like I'm missing out or falling behind at work by taking the extra time off. I know looking back I'll never think "I wished I spent more time at work", but I'm grateful to mostly enjoy what I do and I expect the more focus put on other areas of life, the less likely this is going to be a thought. Anyway, this might not apply to you OP, but others may relate.
