Is working 4 day week an advantage

Doodlemoll

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Im phasing back to work in public sector having been out on sick leave for 8 months. I'm not keen on the thoughts of working a 5 day week. I had gotten used to being on half pay while I was out sick. The idea of a shorter working week appeals to me but wonder would a 4 day week or a 3 day week be worthwhile from a tax view.Im 56 and need to work 3 full years before I can qualify for full pension. Salary is 45k.
 
I would say a 4 day week purely from a tax perspective as with pension deductions/levy etc. you are probably not paying much more than 1/5 of your salary at the higher rate.

However, the question should probably be which you would feel best / most comfortable with from a health POV?
 
Thanks. I think I will aim for working a pattern of Mon Tue off wed working Thurs and fri which could give me a good balance. A chance to recharge the battery healthwise 1 day midweek.
 
I would take Monday off as you get compensated for public holidays by 1/5 of your week.

You also have a long weekend every week.
 
I would take Monday off as you get compensated for public holidays by 1/5 of your week.

You also have a long weekend every week.
Not sure I follow you on this. Should you not work Mondays as they are when most public holidays are so you benefit most?
 
Not sure I follow you on this. Should you not work Mondays as they are when most public holidays are so you benefit most?

I would agree - then during bank holiday weeks you would have a 3 day week which could be even better! Also if it is from a health perspective breaking up the week with a day's rest might work better as the OP originally suggested.
 
If you take Monday as your day off, you have to be compensated for the public holidays.

So if the standard week is say 25 hours and you work 20 hours from Tuesday to Friday. You have to be compensated 1/5 of your working week which is 4 hours. Most public holidays are a Monday. So say there is 7 public holidays falling on a Monday, that's 28 hours, more than your working week

It's what I would do and you're still off every Monday.
 
If you work a 4 day week will you still get a "paid" stamp in respect of your social welfare contributions?
 
Yes you get a paid contribution for the shorter week, the 'stamp' is minimum wage based rather than time.

I dropped to 4 days per week in my previous employment for about 18 months. I took Wednesday as I like the idea of only having to work 2 days then a break and you still had the advantage of long weekends with bank holidays. There was a drop in money obviously but it was manageable, however it did have a slight effect on my pension as from a service point of view it wasn't full time so lost a few months service or whatever the calculations are, I don't remember at this stage.

But if as the OP says they only need to work 3 full years more to get full pension then if that means they then need to just work 4 years or whatever to still get to full pension that might be ok when you are only doing the 4 day week but check it out. If you only intended working 3 more years regardless then the shortened week would leave you with less service than the 3 yrs needed for full pension.
 
If I were asked what is the greatest change affecting workers/management in the past forty years I would say the amount of people working less than the full amount of weekly hours. Back in the 1960's the vast majority of people working worked a full week (40 hours). Laws about women working changed and they no longer had to give up work on marriage like they did up to the mid 1970's. Maternity/Paternity leaves were introduced giving more time off to deserving applicants. Job Sharing was introduced some years ago where you shared a week's work half/half with somebody else. Special Leave/ForceMajeure became relevant.

Great, if you can get what you want. But, in my last few years working (I'm retired over 12 months) there were petty squabbles from full-time workers taking up the slack from people not working full hours. Holiday dates became a problem. Special Leave applications became a problem.

Another thing to consider if working less than the fulltime hours is the availability of fulltime working later if required. Would your employer employ you for 37 hours if you had been doing the same job in say 30 hours?
 
Would your employer employ you for 37 hours if you had been doing the same job in say 30 hours?
I suspect the OP is a public servant given that they have mention the word full pension in 3 years time so no problems there :rolleyes:.
 
But if they only work 4 days and if Monday isn't the day they work, then they cannot be paid for it or be entitled to holiday for it?

It's surely different to working a full week.
They are not paid for the Monday, just compensated for the public holiday when it falls on a Monday.
 
If I were asked what is the greatest change affecting workers/management in the past forty years I would say the amount of people working less than the full amount of weekly hours. Back in the 1960's the vast majority of people working worked a full week (40 hours). Laws about women working changed and they no longer had to give up work on marriage like they did up to the mid 1970's. Maternity/Paternity leaves were introduced giving more time off to deserving applicants. Job Sharing was introduced some years ago where you shared a week's work half/half with somebody else. Special Leave/ForceMajeure became relevant.

Great, if you can get what you want. But, in my last few years working (I'm retired over 12 months) there were petty squabbles from full-time workers taking up the slack from people not working full hours. Holiday dates became a problem. Special Leave applications became a problem.

Another thing to consider if working less than the fulltime hours is the availability of fulltime working later if required. Would your employer employ you for 37 hours if you had been doing the same job in say 30 hours?
I agree. I remember when i started working in 1989 women going on mat leave for 3 months being delighted with all the time off.

Now most are gone 10 to 11 months, what with pregnancy related sick leave, public holidays and holidays accured while on the mat leave.

I too have had several petty squabbles over the years about time off during the school holidays and Christmas period.
 
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