Working f-time with older Primary/early Secondary aged kids

Spendless

I lost my job at the end of last month when company lost it's contract. Gutted cos though the job had gone from 13 hours to 30 hours in space of 15 months, I had a 3pm finish so could pick DD up from school, location meant I could get there easily without a car if I needed to and was round the corner from a cheap-ish holiday playscheme that took eldest
(aged 11) cos many here don't after yr 6 and an employer flexible enough to allow me to start later/finish earlier if I needed to.

So at some point I need to start looking again, but I live in an area of high unemployment and p-time jobs are so difficult to find. So I think I'm going to have to widen my search to incorporate f-time jobs also. I'll be honest I don't really want to but I don't see another option. Part of me tells me it'll be fine the other part worries about kids being ill, having to use AL for sports days, concerts, kids in f-time childcare in school hols, how you manage kids dental ppts as well as your own and so on.

heretolearn_2

Lots of mums with children work, so it's not impossible, but I do understand it can be a bit daunting at first. You'll manage, you really will, you just need to be a bit creative and flexible and be prepared to get everything worked out, then something changes/happens, and you have to rearrange it all again. :-) Yes, all your annual leave will go on kid stuff or school holidays.

Finding an employer who can be a bit flexible helps a lot, but of course it's not the sort of thing you want to start asking about in an interview, so that's pot luck really. All I can say is that we feel much more helpful towards the employees who perform well and are willing to be flexible when we need it too. Give and take.

onlyroz

Parents of children under 6 have the right to request a flexible working arrangement (e.g. working some long days and some short days to make up your hours) - however you might not want to march straight into a new job and start making such demands immediately.

We pay a childminder £4.25 an hour to collect our son from school three days a week (so £12.75 a day) and my husband finishes early on the other two days to collect him (he works three 8.5-hour days and two 6-hour days). In school holidays we use a holiday club (around £28 a day) and the grandparents also help out.

brians_daughter

You will manage. My eldest are 14 and 12 and go home alone after school. I prepare a sandwich and drink for them to have before i get home and we eat a proper dinner together later. I have a good neighbour who will look in on them for me and they are very level headed for their ages. In winter dark months my boss will let me start 30 mins early and only have 30 min for lunch so i can leave at 4.. they dont finish til 3.30 so have only been home 10-15 moins when i get back

Re apps and the likes most dentists offer out of hours appointments, my docs and dentists are open from 7am somedays and only close at 8pm other days as well as saturday openings.

Sports days etc most employers (where possible) will allow flexi time of some nature. Say its sports day next week and i needed to finish 2 hours early my boss would let me have short lunches all that week so i could leave early...failing that i know some employers allow staff to take holidays in hours rather than full or half days.

In holidays etc teh school always have clubs running sports, drama whatever and they enjoy going. I tend to have my hols when they are off and i have grandparents who help out. The younger ones go to nursery full time

At 1st it will be a bit hectic but its more than possible

Northern_Princess

I've worked full time since the kids were 12 weeks and 16 weeks. Both went to nursery and later on a childminder after school. My employer gave unpaid parental leave to arrange childcare if they were ill. The leave wasn't to care for them but to arrange it if needed. Dental appointments I did after work as well as GP appointments. It's a juggling act sometimes but once your in a routine it's fine.

Northern_Princess

onlyroz wrote: »

Parents of children under 6 have the right to request a flexible working arrangement (e.g. working some long days and some short days to make up your hours) - however you might not want to march straight into a new job and start making such demands immediately.

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They have the right to ask but it depends on business needs whether the employer will grant flexible working. I lost count of the number of parents who asked my ex employer and due to business needs it was never granted.

Spendless

onlyroz wrote: »

Parents of children under 6 have the right to request a flexible working arrangement (e.g. working some long days and some short days to make up your hours) - however you might not want to march straight into a new job and start making such demands immediately.

We pay a childminder £4.25 an hour to collect our son from school three days a week (so £12.75 a day) and my husband finishes early on the other two days to collect him (he works three 8.5-hour days and two 6-hour days). In school holidays we use a holiday club (around £28 a day) and the grandparents also help out.

The children are over 6. They are 8 and 11. The f-time office jobs I've had the start time is around 8.30ish and finish time 5/5.30ish. That's the only 'office hours' they keep unless you are looking at working within a retail setting, which I've done before but then my hours have had to incorporate late night finishes (around 8pm) which I can't currently do as childcare stops at 6pm and DH works all over the country, and with no set pattern to when he'll be away

brians_daughter wrote: »

You will manage. My eldest are 14 and 12 and go home alone after school. I prepare a sandwich and drink for them to have before i get home and we eat a proper dinner together later. I have a good neighbour who will look in on them for me and they are very level headed for their ages. In winter dark months my boss will let me start 30 mins early and only have 30 min for lunch so i can leave at 4.. they dont finish til 3.30 so have only been home 10-15 moins when i get back

Re apps and the likes most dentists offer out of hours appointments, my docs and dentists are open from 7am somedays and only close at 8pm other days as well as saturday openings.

Sports days etc most employers (where possible) will allow flexi time of some nature. Say its sports day next week and i needed to finish 2 hours early my boss would let me have short lunches all that week so i could leave early...failing that i know some employers allow staff to take holidays in hours rather than full or half days.

In holidays etc teh school always have clubs running sports, drama whatever and they enjoy going. I tend to have my hols when they are off and i have grandparents who help out. The younger ones go to nursery full time

At 1st it will be a bit hectic but its more than possible

I would have less of an issue if the youngest was also Secondary school age. The eldest is fine in term-time, setting off for school early and capable of being left for a couple of hours after school. The hols are more of an issue as there is only one holiday club he can attend which comes close to covering the start and finish times of f-time working with 8.30 drop off -5pm pick up, and even those don't work out with the sort of start/finish times I used to do when working f-time.

Grandparents well all 4 of them live locally but every one of them has helath problems, from a stroke to heart problems and 1 set still work but they can help in an emergency but not frequently.

Dentists - I wish! Mine reduced hours when she had her own family, who must be adults now and has never put them back. Last time I requested a Fri afternoon appt cos at time I didn't work fridays and unable to secure a school hols appt I was asking for one as late as poss to reduce amount of time kids were out of school, I was told she no longer did fri pms either. Last appt is 3.30 1st 8am 3 and a half days a week. However she is still NHS and local and I am satisfied with the work she does.

onlyroz

Spendless wrote: »

The children are over 6. They are 8 and 11.

Seems like the rules have changed. You now have the right to ask if you have kids under 17:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_10029491