So i had an older thread about the reality/ practicality of doing 4.5 days in 4. Allowing me to spend less time in the office and more with little ones (who are 6, 4 & almost 2) the boss has agreed and i am actually in a position where due to tax arrangements childcare etc i would not be any worse off in the real world. It is also pay review time in March so can prob grab a few extra quid then to assist and maybe even improve. Its fair to say I currently work about 45-50hrs a week, they have acknowledged that fee target/workload will need reducing.

So far so good, but I HATE MY EMPLOYER! they are awful in every respect and I have no doubt only agreed to this as they have no other option (loads of ppl left) and will try to work me to the bone/get that extra day back at some point.

I also have a job offer with another firm. Normal 5 day week, but less money than my current contract, however, hopefully a nicer place, with better career prospects and improved health and wellbeing.

So do i suck up the shit job for 4 days a week and enjoy the extra day with kids; or do i take the other job maintain status quo but with marginally less cash and hope to be happier in work?

I’d take the other job, if work is that bad happiness outweighs cash.

Only you can know how shit the current place actually is, but it’s also up to you to reduce your working hours down to whatever they are paying you for. There’s always a chance the new place is actually just as bad (or worse).

‘…hopefully a nicer place’ is a concerning phrase to use.
Can you find out what it is really like to work for your prospective new employer?
If you stay where you are, you could continue looking for new opportunities.
If you accept job offer but find it isn’t ‘…a nicer place’ to work, what happens then? Suggest you think long and hard about that.
You have 3 young children – and an other half presumably – so this isn’t just about you.Others will be affected by your decision.
The most important thing is to talk with your other half and for both of you to agree on what decision to take.

Scotroutes, that is a real concern i fear about new place. Is it out of fire into frying pan sort of thing? In areas they are ok, but in many they are terrible.

Should also say i am trying to diversify my job. It is based on uk law derived from eu legislation. Who knows where that is going?! So i am trying to get back into a role i did about 10-12 years ago. New prospectivr employer will actively assist this and has a great programme to build up experience and ultimately becomr chartered. Current firm couldn’t care less about that (although they claim to)

I assume you’ve asked the new place about doing a 4 day week and they’ve knocked it back?

What’s your general tolerance for working in a crap job? How much can you put up with when your home life is generally rosey? It sounds like your current job is really bad, but will the new one be guaranteed to be much better?

Personally I take a traditional view that my role in the family is to earn money to feed the wife and kids. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them happy and can live with poor job satisfaction if everything else in life is going well. Saying that, if you are working such long days that you don’t see the kids on Mon-Thurs and coming home in a grump then maybe it’s not worth it.

I would say the most important thing is happiness and for many thats in their families. Sod the job. However just moving jobs may not change anything much really – out of the frying pan into the fire? Grass is always greener?

My wife negotiated a four day week after we had our first child. The company had changed and she didn’t really like working there anymore.

She has since moved to a new company that she likes much more. Back to five days, she wishes she could do four but working for a better company makes up for it and she wouldn’t go back.

Hmmmm. take money and don’t work for the people paying your salary or work for someone that gets value from you? I guess your choice depends on your morality really doesn’t it?

Not sure what you mean johndoe?

In simplistic terms i almost see it as family (current employer 4.5 days in 4) v career with work/life atatus quo, but better personal career prospects and hopefully happier!

Make sure it’s not a different flavour of the same shit.

Also one the promise of training etc does not come true to the extent promised.