Trying to go Part time from Full Time advice

[In-control]

Hi All,

Seeking your advise. I can retire but was thinking of trying to convince my boss to let me go part time with benefits. I would get 4 day weekends and they would get three days per week with the ability for me to be on-call.

I am going to approach my manager with this later next month but wanted to see if others have done this and if it was successful.

I see setting up a meeting with him and saying.... I am looking to spend more time pursing non work related interests and I would like to propose that I work part-time(25 hrs/week) from full-time. I am willing to be on-call while not working and would be willing to re-asses how this arrangement is working after 3 months. If it is not working I would go back to full time.

If he say's no then I will give him my notice.

What do you think

 

[aim-high]

I think it's a great idea. If that is what you want to do and you are prepared for them saying "no", you cannot lose either way.

 

[gauss]

Do you work for a small operation or a Megacorp? My Megacorp actually had a program buried in the HR manual that was often used by parents.

I basically decided that I wanted to do it, and not worry about any possible negative consequences. I then approached my lead engineer and let him know about my desire and motivation for doing it. Basically got him on board. Then approached my manager. He was a bit taken aback but said that he would take it to his boss. A few months later I got the approval. Worked like a charm while it lasted.

-gauss

 

[MBAustin]

If you have already decided to leave if they say 'no', then you've got nothing to lose by asking. Good luck!

 

[Mulligan]

My only added thought is what has occurred to me and may not be applicable to you. I swore I wouldn't do it again, but this year is my last time for PT work. Due to my pension, I only return 50 cents on the dollar for each hour worked accounting for taxes and gas. Very demoralizing to someone who is not a 1% ER. So from now on if I need additional money, I will spend less to get it, instead of working for it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ronstar]

I think it's a great idea also. I did the same thing. It started with Fridays off, then 2 days off, then 3. I agreed to be available by phone and email, and I made sure that I answered phone calls/emails pronto when I was working part time. Now retired, I still have my company phone and lap top. I told them that I would continue to answer their questions as long as they pay my cell phone bill. I have an email or 2 a week that I address.

You should be fine as long as you keep lines of communication open, and be able to delegate tasks when you're not at work.

 

[pb4uski]

I did something similar. Mine was drive more by not wanting to travel as much as I was so I cut back to 80% and then later to 50% - then to 0%

You should get clarity as to what you mean by "on call". My 80% and 50% time was not defined as specific days as you are proposing, but more as hours over a year so there might be weeks that I would work a lot offset by slower weeks, but the nature of our business is that I was always "on-call".

The problem I found is that the work (mostly conference calls with clients and colleagues) might be a couple hours in the morning or a couple hours in the afternoon and would frequently get "re-scheduled" at the last minute and further screw up my day so I couldn't "get away" for whole days even though I was only 50% time.

My employer decided that 50% of pb4uski's time was better than 0%. In our case we had an established policy/route for part time work.

The only part of your post that seems contradictory is the idea that if it doesn't work out you would go back to full-time. Do you really mean if it doesn't work out you would just leave entirely?

Good luck.

 

[heeyy_joe]

Most places you have to work at least 30 hrs to get bennies.

 

[pb4uski]

Probably true, but at Mega it was anything over 50%. At 50%, my health insurance cost was the same as a FT employee, and most other things were pro rata (vacation accruals, etc).

 

[MooreBonds]

You should get clarity as to what you mean by "on call". My 80% and 50% time was not defined as specific days as you are proposing, but more as hours over a year so there might be weeks that I would work a lot offset by slower weeks, but the nature of our business is that I was always "on-call".

+100!

What is the nature of your work? When you're "on call", would you possibly get random phone calls that would only last 5 minutes or so to deal with, a few times a day? Something like that, for instance, would be difficult to really live your life around, versus a "call" that would then require you to suddenly set aside 5 hours straight for it. You won't want to be semi-retired...only to spend all day, every day you're not at work ready to drop what you're doing on a moment's notice just to handle a very short-duration task that you would only get paid 1/4 hour for.

Make sure you have minimum time increments you'd get paid for if you handle something while on-call that makes it worth your while. There might be periods where you get no calls....but sure enough, there will be times that you might get high frequency stretches.

 

[MRG]

Megacorp used to do that, when the recession hit, the answer became No. I too, would be concerned about the oncall. I'm probably jaded, but my experience was oncall ment you stayed with an issue 24×7 untill resolution or turnover to another area. Can't hurt to ask.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

There's always a Dilbert cartoon for any situation.

 

[Wishing]

I went to part-time last August which translates into 75%, so I still retain bennies. I work for a University, so they just moved me to an academic appointment which means that I get a paycheck for only 9 months and have to save for the three months without paychecks. My boss wanted me to have shorter days but have me on site every day. I nixed that idea and insisted on 3 weeks on and one week off. It has worked well, and I am mostly able to pursue my creative interests during my off weeks. That said, the time off has only fueled my desire to be fully unemployed, and I am thinking seriously about retiring for good at the end of this academic cycle (August 15th).

 

[zinger1457]

I went to part time (20hrs/wk) during the last six months before I retired full time. I had given my boss plenty of advanced notice (~6 months) of my planned retirement but as the date approached he asked if I would stay on awhile longer. I said I would but only if I could work half time, and he agreed. Whether it will work or not I think depends on what your current job involves. I was involved in a very dynamic fast paced engineering project and going half time made it difficult for me to keep up with everything that was going on. I really didn't enjoy it and with hindsight should have left on my original date or if deciding to stay on and help out for a few additional months should have done it full time.