We have plenty of part time workers across outlets network and people can opt for as little as 1 or 2x 4hr shifts per week or if they want more they can but it’s generally the more mundane variety of work at the facilities and whilst the pay is not great it’s still ok.
My side of the business has pretty much zero flexibility and is 5x 10hr days for all including management as a minimum. The pay is better but the inflexibility means that it’s mainly male staff that take up the positions. I sit on on plenty of applications and interviews and despite the hours being clearly stipulated we still get people asking things like “can we finish at 3pm on a certain day so I can pick the kids up from a school but the answer is always a no.
I do enjoy my job most of the time so I’m happy to do 70+ hrs per week but each to their own
If they’ve got any sense they’ll use the formula that best cuts absences and staff turnover.
On the other hand, if paid enough, a worker can afford to pay for after school care . There is a lot available, I know quite a few doing this.
Yeah, many years back I used to work four 10 hour days, Monday to thursday.
It was awesome. Got all my washing / chores done on the Friday and then had a full weekend to do weekend stuff.
The job itself was rubbish, but I stayed there a bit longer than I should have, based purely on this.
She hasnt even had the baby yet.'He should have kept that thought to himself.
lots of women extend their parental leave even after using up maternity leave. depending on their financial situation may not be able to.
For women that are having kids later say 30’s this might be the first time they are having a break from work and are loving it.
Definetley bosses look at it, and try to do the best they can to get them back, and hopefully back to old roles, but need to be flexible enough to cover for them and keep their job open and also cover if they don’t resume their previous hours or what they agreed upon. plus yeh depends on what childcare they can get.
It’s not just the after school care it’s the getting them to soccer/football/netball practice etc. Most junior sports is from about 4pm onwards and games are often from 5pm onwards. In general the women on our side of things are either young and haven’t started a family or are older and their kids can fend for themselves
Lol.
Don’t get me started on middle management.
It’s like the three (four…in some states five) tiers of Australian Parliament Government.
One of them has to go.
My firm, which is a consultancy, has a strong tradition of allowing staff to work 4 day weeks. Quite a few people do it, mostly from middle to top level, men and women. It seen as effectively as just an option that is there. However, we do have to take a cut in pay, and there is an expectation that some roles, in areas with seasonal work, will work 5 days during the busy period.
Next year I’ll have paid off my mortgage, and so plan to join the 4 day worker ranks. Increases my weekends by 50%!
My employer has also trialled this, and found 3 days does seem to cause a drop off compared to the 5 => 4 shift.
The Commonwealth Public Service was way ahead in accomodating career mothers in the workforce, beginning with maternity leave followed by part time, flexible hours.
This in part was driven by necessity, to retain skilled female officers ( with public service salaries generally lower than equivalent jobs in the private sector). But also, to reflect that officers recruited from interstate to Canberra did not have the benefit of extended family, in particular grandmothers to help out.
Me in a convo about an hour ago… “what is the difference in what I am supposed to be doing and accountable for v this person? Why do we need both?”
this is pretty much the case in a lot of places now, given lots cant get rentals / homes near where parents live. some grand parents travel 100km+ just to come up and watch grand kids while parents go to work as well.
Our workplace used to pay for the grandparent air and other travel if that was the only option for a worker who had to occasionally travel for work.
Historically, I think it has worked pretty much like that. The average working week was 10 hours a day, 6 days a week in the 1880’s, and is now 38 hours.
We thought a few decades ago, that factory robots would mean unemployment, but it hasn’t. We thought computers in the workplace would mean unemployment, but it really hasn’t made a difference.
And every trial of a 4 day work week that I’ve seen over the last few decades has said that efficiency goes up, not down. Honestly, office work isn’t half as productive as it used to pre-computers. The average office worker spends so much of their day responding to emails, which are an incredibly inefficient way to communicate, and checking their personal social media.
Lots of employers work on this already. Fifos shift work etc.
often agreed with a unionised workforce to avoid burnout
If you dont send email you dont get a lot
A sick workplace is one that has a culture booking meetings with more than 4 people in it.
3 is a good number
I work in threes. 3 achievements for the day, meet with 3. Chunk work into no more than 3 hour blocks.
Goes for lots of work i reckon
I’ve been working 4 day week ever since my cancer diagnosis (in remission ATM) in December 2017 to manage my fatigue. Originally I did Monday-Thursday but at the suggestion of the organisation I contract to changed in 2020 to taking Wednesdays off instead which works so much better for me. I still get 35 highly productive hours in a week and manage to recharge in the middle of the week as I never work more than 2 x consecutive days.
Also i find it harder to not blitz or socials wfh
Im blitzing from a bus right now
was talking to a bloke at the council the other day, said they had 4 people “sitting in on a meeting” to learn and 3 of them were just playing on their phones.
I’m just hoping your occupation isn’t bus driver.