I gave my notice at work and my employer begged me to stay. I resisted at first but finally agreed to come the negotiation table and asked for a reduced work week of 32 hours with overtime during busy season. He very generously agreed that I didn’t have to lower my pay even though I assumed I would. I’m ecstatic! But part of me is also worried if my coworkers will have any tension towards me for working a reduced schedule, or getting “special treatment”. Culture involves very little part time work. Most people are working overtime on a regular basis. If you did this how did it go with your coworkers? It’s a small privately held company.
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Not really? At least not that I know of.
Unless your comp structure is public knowledge, I would think most people would assume that you took a salary reduction in exchange for a reduced schedule, not that it’s anyones business!
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I don't know what industry you're in but your work environment sounds very similar to my job when I was working part-time. I was working in public accounting which has very high pressure to work overtime. I found that many of my coworkers and managers were not understanding of my schedule. My biggest piece of advice is just to set boundaries and stick to them - I was a pushover and many weeks I ended up working more than the 32 hours I was scheduled.
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I don’t think a man would even think about this. Good for you for negotiating what you want and getting the pay you deserve.
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@runnerd: I did this! Well not the resigning part but I dropped my hours to 32 from 40 and basically kept the same job. I just set my schedule really clearly and maintained that boundary. In my case I didn’t work Fridays so it was just saying “oh I am not in on Fridays can we look at a different day for that meeting?” Etc and after a while everyone got used to it. I did that for over 4 years.
FWIW I am now back in a full time position but still negotiated to leave early 2 days a week due to the kids schedule. Again these are consistently scheduled so my team knows I leave at this time on these days and if they need me they can call or email but I am not in the building. It has worked better than I had been worried about.
So just own it, be matter of fact about your schedule (and don’t say a word about your pay) and I think people will take their cue from how you handle it. Good for you for making a situation work for you!!
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I did this for 4 years and had very firm boundaries. I also gave up doing the little extras at work. I wasn't involved in committees and all the other fluff that you sometimes get sucked into. This allowed me to consistently out perform full time people while not sliding into working more hours.
I know (behind my back, never to me) there was some rumbling because other non-high performers asked for the same arrangement and were denied. I just had to remind myself that I earned the privilege and not everyone has. That's up to management. The only thing I could control was consistently delivering so I could keep the privilege.
Also I came back full time so my husband could step back at work and focus on our rental business, so I was thankful I kept my foot in the door.
Good luck! And high five on keeping your full compensation, that's amazing.
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In my industry (tech consulting) everyone I know who took a part time role de facto ended up working FT hours for less pay. As a result, I will only take PT roles that are contract or hourly, so incentives are aligned- if you want me to do more hours, you will have to pay for them! It sounds like you negotiated that smartly so maybe it won’t be a problem. Like others have said, my biggest advice is to get comfortable setting and sticking to your boundaries unapologetically. Not as a jerk, but just being clear about what you can and can’t do. People will get used to it, and worst case if they resent you, and it becomes an issue you deal with it then. But give people the chance to be adults! Congratulations on the great opportunity and being such a valuable resource that they will work to give you what you need!
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@runnerd: Good for you! I need to gather up some gumption to ask for what I want - which is a 4 day a week schedule. Thanks for the inspiration!
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@psw27: haha well my advice now is ask! In retrospect I think I could have asked instead of feeling like I was gonna crack and going and getting a job offer that I accepted and had to turn around and retract
lol
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@runnerd: You inspire me! I need to talk to my work about hours when I go back from mat leave and have been dreading it. I just know I don’t have it in me to work 40 hours.
Enjoy your reduced work week!
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Good for you! I am in a similar situation as you describe and for me, it has created team dynamic problems. This all depends on your role and team structure. I had 5 reports and now have a new boss that has since stripped the structure and is trying to demote me.
My previous boss never adjusted my salary and I now have a very awkward situation. I am very clear that my hours are x and that is it. Similar to you the key is to remember you put in your time and they see value in you long term (my current discussion with my new boss) and that is why retaining you is worth it for them. Good luck!
It has not been a year since I am back from my second leave and reduced to 30 hours and I will say it has not gone well. Largely driven by growing pains on my team and management changes above me.
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@runnerd: congrats on the new arrangement! I didn’t find any issues moving down hours but the colleagues who I imagined having issues with it had already left by the time I returned from maternity leave. I miss out on a lot of the banter and fun committee stuff but it’s so worth it. Just own it and be clear to people when your end time is as that’s often when people want to start asking you for things they need
Unless your comp structure is public knowledge, I would think most people would assume that you took a salary reduction in exchange for a reduced schedule, not that it’s anyones business!
lol
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