Image by Petra Holikova via Pinterest
I saw the brilliant Anna Whitehouse aka Dirty Motherpukka post about this and it resonated especially hard for me. Recently at work, our ‘People team’ (not HR team, too corporate, ya know, we’re real people 🤖) changed the organisation’s holiday policy so that anyone on a part-time contract had to log their holiday in a different way. Fine, a little over-complicated but whatever. But then I discovered, once my existing holiday had been deleted and re-added to the system, that it was now marked in my diary as “Holiday for Part-Timers”. Urmmm…ok then.
At first I wasn’t sure why exactly, but something about those words and the way in which they had been used made me feel uncomfortable and, frankly, pissed off. As I thought more about it, I realised it was because of the negative connotations that spring to mind when you hear the phrase “part-time”. Jokingly referring to someone as a “part-timer” insinuates that they are lazy, or don’t work as hard as the next person. Colloquially, it’s become synonymous with someone who is less dedicated than a person working full-time. And in mine, and I’m sure the majority of cases, that simply isn’t true.
While I understand that my hours aren’t technically full-time (I work 4.5 days worth of hours over 4 days), I still fill the responsibility of a full-time role in that time. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I go above and beyond that. That’s not counting the times I work (unpaid) overtime in evenings, or on my day off. 🫣
Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate the privilege of being able to work flexible hours, and understand that not everyone is afforded this opportunity. But working part-time doesn’t mean I’m working less harder than my full-time colleagues. I’m just working fewer days, for less pay.
It’s not in any way, shape, or form a way to have an easier week, or do less work. I fit a full-time job into less days. I have to be more efficient, more organised and prioritise harder than my full-time colleagues. I still have to meet deadlines and deliver on time, and I do. And on the day I don’t work, I’m looking after my child. It’s not a “day off”. Just as parental leave isn’t “a holiday” 😵💫
Being part-time does not mean being a slacker. And using it to identify an employee is just a slippery slope to dividing your workforce in a way which is totally unnecessary and potentially harmful.
(I have reached out to the People team to express my views on this but have yet to hear back…)
It’s definitely not a “day off” - I call them “non-work days”, as people used to say “enjoy your day off!” Anyone with a toddler will know, that those days are often more full on than a ‘work’ day.
Well done for raising with HR x