Staggered hours
Keep your days and your hours; move when the day starts and ends.
- Every two weeks
- Same as now
- Suits
- School runs, care drop-offs, a long commute that is quicker off-peak, early risers and late starters.
The pattern library
Six ways to shape a working week
Each pattern below is something employers commonly agree to. Open one to see it drawn from a standard 9-to-5:30 week, who it suits and what to check before you ask.
Four tens
Forty hours in four ten-hour days, with the same day off every week.
- Every two weeks
- 80 hours, 8 days
- Suits
- Longer blocks of focused work, a regular weekday for appointments, fewer commutes.
9/80
Eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day across two weeks, then every other Friday (or your chosen day) off.
- Every two weeks
- 80 hours, 9 days
- Suits
- People who want a regular long weekend without ten-hour days.
Hybrid split
Your usual hours, with chosen days at the workplace and the rest at home.
- Every two weeks
- Same as now
- Suits
- Work that needs both quiet time and in-person time; saving commute time and cost.
Reduced hours
Work fewer hours: fewer days a week, shorter days, or both.
- Every two weeks
- Your days x your hours
- Suits
- Caring for someone, study, health, a phased return or a phased retirement.
Standard week
Five days a week at set hours: the pattern most requests start from.
- Every two weeks
- Days x hours
- Suits
- Writing down where you are now, or asking only to change where you work.
Not legal advice. Your employer’s policy and your contract decide what is possible.