Why Are Part-Timers Treated So Badly??

[AvasMama]

I am a mid-level manager at a big publishing company. After I had Ava, I knew I could not go back full-time, so I requested to switch to part-time. After two months of back-and-forth, my request has finally been granted, but the situation couldn't be more frustrating!

I will be basically doing the same job, with the same level of responsibility, though I will no longer manage my staff. However, I am getting a significant demotion title-wise, getting kicked out of my office, and now will work side-by-side with the staff I was managing.

I know I have to give up some things in order to go part-time, but 10 years of hard work? This is a title I had in my very first job out of college!! Given that I have over 10 years of experience, having the same title as my employees have is demoralizing.

I know two other moms who were also demoted when they went part-time. My company always wins awards for being so family-friendly... so why are moms who want to work part-time treated like crap??

Robyn & Ava

[cinrein]

That stinks! I work part-time too, but for the Fed. Gov. so I had no change in pay (other than working less hours), title or position. The thing I found frustrating is the attitude of the other workers. I get comments like, "So nice of you to join us today." from some coworkers. Pisses me off to no end! x(

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[sntm]

That's awful! How did they justify all of that?!?!

My OB went parttime after she had her baby. We were sharing stories and she told me that all her patients complained to her and made jokes about all the "free time" she has, not realizing that parttime for her is still about 40 hours a week!
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shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[hez]

How crappy!

I went to 80% (4 days) when I came back to work, and while my responsibilities changed, I'm at the same 'level' and I'm paid 80% of my old salary. It has made a difference in assignment planning, in that I was asked if I wanted to bump back up to 100% in order to manage a couple people vs. my current role where I don't have anyone directly reporting to me. When I made the decision to stay at 80% for at least another year, my assignment opportunities changed. I don't mind-- right now my career advancement is not my first priority in life, so it's OK for now. On the other hand, part of me gets grumpy about it...

[DeborahM]

I, too, had to cut back hours after DS was born and went back 80% and worked at a high-tech company. In my case I had a 2 hour commute to work (each way) and couldn't keep up my prior schedule without my DH threatening divorce!! ;)

I was trying to do essentially the same job with less time. So, they hired the temp that helped fill in for me -- at a ridiculously high rate even though he had no relevant experience (just a high pay history...) and I ended up being the person in our department that was laid off.

Deborah

[Puddy73]

I totally sympathize! I had to grovel in order to get my firm to agree to a part-time schedule (I'm an attorney), and I took more than a 50% pay cut to do 40% less work. They moved me out of my office into a windowless conference room that didn't even have a phone hook-up. The printer for our whole hall was in my office and people were constantly interrupting my pumping sessions to pick up an "urgent" print job. Now I'm pretty much doing paralegal work, unless someone goes on vacation and needs me to cover something while they are out. Career advancedment is obviously not my first priority anymore, but it is depressing sometimes.

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle Mae 9/8/03

[smkinc]

Yeah, and they wonder why so many moms choose to 'opt out'--ummm do you want to keep us in the workforce or not? I work part-time for a high tech company that is also lauded for its family friendliness. There is 1 manager on our campus of ~4000 employees that works part-time and she has not had a promotion in over 5 years, even though her staff thinks she's wonderful.

I specifically did not go into management because I knew I'd want to go part-time when I had kids. In my review after returning from maternity leave, I was knocked down one rating--when I asked why, or what areas I needed to improve in, the answer I got was essentially 'nothing'.

It was a good dose of reality--this is the trade-off I'm making--I can't have it all, and for me spending time with DS now is much more valuable than my career status.

It really burns me, though that these companies have 'family friendly policies' but there are severe consequences if you actually want to use them.

Mary
Mom to Jeremiah 2/4/03