[Closed] Reduced pay / more holiday - anyone done it?

Yep. I get 52 days extra off a year in exchange for a 20% pay cut.

We have the option of buying up to five extra days holiday per year. I've done it for the past few years and now wonder how I managed before. Haven't noticed losing five days pay spread over a year.

we are offered an extra 2 weeks holiday with Royal Mail a weekly deduction is taken off our weekly pay so we get paid when we are off!

My last UK job I got up to about 37 days, now I'm freelance and been on some good trips. Full time is a mugs game apart from the pay cheque, can I have part time on full time wages? House of Lords recruitment going on yet?

I buy 5 extra days to take me up to 30 days a year.

When I was in corporate world and interviewing potential team members, one of the questions I would ask them was how did they like to be recognised?

This gave me an indication as to not only how I could motivate them, but also how I could structure their employment contract vis-a-vis salary and leave entitlement. Some people were motivated by money, some by holiday.

It worked wonders to have the flexibility to reward someone's hard work, attitude and achievements with either offering them an extra few days holiday, or a financial reward.

Ask your employer, you have nothing to lose and lots to gain.

My wife can purchase up to another two weeks of leave, essentially making it unpaid. I can request unpaid leave but I think its meant to be a 'once in a lifetime' holiday event type thing. One guy would take an extra month or two and his whole entitlement every couple of years so down to manager discretion it seems.

Yes, if you count part time working. I work every Mon/Tue in one job along with the odd bank shift in another job. I could work full time or more in the first job if I wanted the hours but I like a 2 day week. Tends to be 10 or 12 hr shifts those two days but as I think your day is ruined once your at work I'd say long shifts are good.
In fact for anyone working a 40 hr week I'd say getting your employer to let you work 4x10 hr shifts would be the big win. Obviously only poss in certain jobs.

I've applied to work 3 days a week, term time only. Some of the mum's in the office do similar, not sure why a blokes asking is causing them problems and delays....

No problems with [s]sneaky bike related parcel deliveries[/s] child care for school holidays, inset days across the two different schools, can help my elderly parents a bit more, get those annoying jobs around the house and garden sorted.

And I'll be below the income tax threshold!

Do need to stick a bit away every month to cover the drop in pension contributions.

Hmmm thanks folks will have a ponder, looks like buying back a week might be an option. Want to plan a solo adventure next year without eating into holiday time I normally would spend with the family. Wish I could afford to do a 4 day week, that would be great! It would make sense if employers offerd extra holiday in school holidays as a matter of course, I guess it's a pita for many employers though - including mine potentially as it's quite small.

One of our guys had a flexible working arrangement where he had one month off unpaid and got hr to pay him for 11 months over a 12 month spread. With his annual leave, he'd spend 2 months a year at his holiday home in Canada. The git.

I buy an extra 5 days leave a year. but as I don't do the traditional fortnight in lanzagrotty I tend to take my leave over long weekends.
Meaning this year I have worked mostly 4 day weeks.
so much so that I'm considering asking to go part time and reduce my days to 4 per week.
I haven't noticed any major difference in take home and the flexibility it gives me is worth any drop in pay.

I went the whole hog and now work 6 months on (winter) and take 6 months off (summer) though I 'pay' for the privilege.

My wife buys 5 days extra leave p/a and has condensed her weekly hours into Tues-Fri giving her a 4 day week without a £££'s penalty.

Full time is a mugs game apart from the pay cheque

If it came down to a choice of pay rise or a couple of days off extra, days off would win hands down.

We have the option to buy or sell a weeks leave as part of our benefits.
I bought a week. We're also fairly lucky that there is overtime to be had which pays for the bought holiday!
I'll be buying a week for next year as well, it's been brilliant!

We can buy holidays it's slightly more cost-effective than taking leave

4 day week is old hat now 3 days/week is the future

4 day week is old hat now 3 days/week is the future

maybe next year...

Yeah the BIL went for it earlier this year

He's cut back on stuff but so far so good

rocketman - Member

4 day week is old hat now 3 days/week is the future

Shhhh. Careless talk costs Wives and all that... 😉

I work a three day week with 20 days holiday and the option to have a day off if it's all getting too much. We go on holiday every 7ish weeks, currently on paid sick leave after a double inguinal hernia op.
My employer is a top bloke; can't believe i just wrote that! 😯

When I was in corporate world and interviewing potential team members, one of the questions I would ask them was how did they like to be recognised?

Money every time. I have 16 days' leave left to take by the end of December....

I have trouble taking the full 25 days per year too, always carry over 5 or 10. Was thinking of asking for money instead. Doubt they'll go for it - my company takes employee welfare seriously (even the US office gets the same leave as us, which is remarkable).

How???

Go contracting. More money, take whatever holiday you like 😀

Okay the more you take, the less money, but the overall high rate compensates 😉

There is also the danger that you see price in days off and you don't take any holiday at all. On the other hand you have a period "on the bench" and end up with 6 months holiday 😀 - just make sure you build up a fund to cover it 😉

But in the permanent world, best advice is don't work for Americans. Terrible holiday allowances, Christmas isn't considered such a big holiday period (though maybe a good thing) and they don't expect people to take more than a week off at a time.

[i]There is also the danger that you see price in days off and you don't take any holiday at all. On the other hand you have a period "on the bench" and end up with 6 months holiday - just make sure you build up a fund to cover it [/i]

This.

One year I only took off the bank holidays, and the following year didn't work at all. Averages out 🙂

Personally I wouldn't do it right now. We're in a deflationary environment, looking increasingly like it might settle down for the long term. In which case wages will continue to be stagnant, if not actually dropping in nominal terms...
So you may take a pay cut now and find you're stuck on that lower pay for 10 years (wages have been stagnant for the last 10 already).
If you earn more than you need then personally I'd be saving the excess to have something to fall back on in the future

I'm working 80% now have been for nearly 2 years, excluding my 9 months off on paid parental leave, will stay at 80% until my summer holiday next year.

Then I might go back to 90%, maybe.

😀

I'm self employed and have chosen to work 3 days a week, 9 months a year so i can relax and be a present dad. It's working out well.

I did it for years - swapped some pay for an extra 5 days leave. You're a long time dead as they say. If you can afford it, get away from work more frequently.

FWIW, now I'm "retired" I'm doing 3 days/week (April-Oct). I guess I could give that up but I do get a bit of a kick/buzz from work 😳

We had our hours reduced so it's pretty much a 9 day fortnight plus 10% pay cut. Frankly I rather like it. Do have the option of earning it all back in overtime / site work pretty easily mind.

You might not need to buy holiday depending on how flexible your work is. At my place, though at individual functions/team managers discretion and dependant on the nature of your job, some people have agreed either every Friday or every other Friday off work by making up the hours during the working week, so slightly longer days but Friday's off. It's then quite possible to work a four weeks worth of Fridays and take a week off in lieu.

EDIT: forgot to add, buying holiday is like a double pay cut, not only do you take the lower pay in lieu of more holiday you spend more money during the time you're on holiday. Also if you 'buy back' holiday are you buying it back with taxed pay? if you were to just take the pay cut in lieu of holiday rather than buying it back then is there not a tax benefit?

I asked my employer if I could do a 4 day, they said no, so I left and now work for myself and do the hours I want and earn more money and less stress.

I managed to negotiate a change to my contract about 10 years ago I now get 15 weeks off a year with no drop in salary. The downsides are I have to work slightly longer weeks (still only about 40 hours) and the door to promotion is firmly closed (not a door I had any interest in opening anyway).

Upshot is that my quality of life is now vastly better, even if I'm getting slightly less money than I maybe would have. Am firmly of the belief that you get one shot at life so make the most of it. Yes, some work is necessary to get some money, but seriously, time is far more valuable than just about anything else. Why throw your life away working long hours. The outdoors is free, go enjoy it.

Yep Kennyp, totally agree. I see no sense in slaving away to accrue lots of money. Being with people and enjoying what you have is worth far more. Kids with happy parents who they see a lot of are the lucky ones, not those who get a place at Oxbridge and every toy they want when they're growing up.

A lot of offshore companies are offering a scheme just now where they reduce pay to zero, but give you a massive increase in time off. Redundancy I think it's called...