If you want to work less than full time hours, there are three main ways to do this:

Working part-time

Voluntary reduced work time (V-time)

Jobsharing

What do you want?

How many hours a week would you ideally like to work?

How much salary can you afford to lose? If for example you want to work half-time, your take home pay will be slightly more than half your full-time pay

How many days a week? A short day every day or a more standard day for two, three, four days a week?

Do you want to make a permanent reduction in your hours? If not, then see V-time for ideas on how you could negotiate reduced hours for a specific period, for example after maternity leave or to enable you to study

Part-time work

Part-time work has no legal definition but government statistics usually define it as working fewer than 30 hours a week. In practice it usually means working less than the normal full time hours at a particular workplace. It can range from working a few hours a week to just less than full-time.

Legal points

If you are a woman and are refused reduced hours work (for example on return to work after maternity leave) unless the employer can objectively justify the need to work on a full time basis, this can be found to be unlawful indirect sex discrimination. Contact the Equal Opportunities Commission for further infomation: www.eoc.org.uk

Your rights
Part-time workers still tend to be disadvantaged in terms of career progression and development opportunities. However the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 establish a minimum standard for part-time workers so that they can no longer be treated less favourably than the full-time workers they work with in the same company. The regulations make it unlawful for employers to treat part-time employees less favourably than comparable full-time workers, unless different treatment is justified on objective grounds. This ensures that part-time employees should:

Receive the same hourly rate as comparable full timers

Receive the same hourly rate of over-time as comparable full timers, once they have worked more than the normal full time hours

Not be excluded from training simply because they work part-time

Have the same entitlements to annual leave and maternity/parental leave on a pro-rata basis as full time colleagues

Job sharing
Job sharing is an arrangement where two people voluntarily carry out the duties of a job that would normally be done by one person. Each person is employed on a part-time basis but together they cover a full-time post and divide the pay, holidays and other benefits. It is a way of opening up part-time opportunities for jobs that are traditionally only available on a full-time basis.

Who does it?
Job sharing is still relatively rare, with only 4% of employees in a recent government survey working in this way. If you would like to work part-time but if either you/and or your manager do not think that this is feasible because there is a need for full-time cover in the job role, then this could be an option. You will need to consider the following points:

Think about whether you have the right personality to share your job. Some people prefer to work largely on their own

Many people who job share love having the opportunity to discuss work and share both the ups and downs of a job. It can be more satisfying than working part-time on your own

There can also be important benefits to employers such as having two sets of skills and ideas and the greater energy and freshness two people can bring

There are two basic forms of job sharing:

Shared responsibility is where you share the responsibilities and tasks of one full-time job. Both partners are interchangeable, with either member of the team able to pick up where the other left off. This arrangement is most suited to ongoing, rather than project based work. It requires the highest level of communication and coordination, but if carefully organised, need not disrupt clients and co-workers. Well matched partners are essential to the success of this type of arrangement.

Divided responsibility is where you share one full time position and divide responsibilities between you. Partners may also provide back up for each other as needed. This arrangement is useful when work can be easily divided by client group or project, and may be performed when partners do not know each other well.

You will need to check the following:

Entitlements, access to pension provision, cover arrangements and the procedures which apply when one partner leaves

The allocation of hours should be agreed between you and your employer and be varied only by agreement of all parties

Jobsharers should be paid the salary for the grade of the post pro-rata to the hours worked. Increments, allowances and other payments should be determined on an individual basis and also paid pro-rata

Finding a job share partner
Some employers require you to find a job share partner. You may decide to apply with someone you know or work with. (See www.flexecutive.co.uk to join their online job share partner matching service).

Voluntary reduced working hours (V-time)

Voluntary reduced working time (V-time) allows people to reduce working hours for a specific period, usually a year, with the right to return to full-time at the end of that period.

What's on offer
The form in which you take the reduced time is a matter for negotiation, taking into account the needs of the organisation. The options include:

Working a shorter day

Taking a half-day or day off per week

Taking short blocks of time off at regular intervals

How to negotiate a reduced hours arrangement
Consider the responsibilities and tasks involved in your job:

The time they take

The knowledge and skills required to carry them out

The general responsibilities of the job, for example management responsibilities, relations beyond the department/team and the requirements of customers

The peaks and troughs of the work and the resources of the team you are in

You will need to:

Work out the details of how your job could be done on a reduced hours basis

Make a clear list of the benefits to the employer of this kind of working arrangement, together with the ways in which potential problems could be overcome

Try the arguments out on a friend or former colleague first

Be persistent

The benefits of reduced hours working for employers

It can provide the opportunity for managers to reorganise work within a team more effectively

Offering the option to work reduced hours can help employers retain staff who want to spend more time with their families, on further study or on other interests. It can also attract back into employment those who have taken a career break, and who want to return on a less than full time basis

People who are working hours that suit the rest of their life, and who are working for a reduced period, are more likely to stay fresh, energetic, creative and less stressed during the hours they work. This can lead to improved output