Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    Although I don't work part-time, two women in my group do. (That
    is part of the reason I chose to come to work for my current group.)
    
    My project leader had a child in the past year.  She works four
    days each week, and two of the four she works at home (she has a
    VAXstation at home.)  On one of her days at home I usually go to
    her home in the afternoon, and we have an "offsite" project meeting
    and working session.  This works out very well for both of us, since
    there are no interruptions.  One thing she has found is that her
    time is in high demand for meetings on the days she comes in!
    
    Another woman here is a contractor, not a regular DEC employee.
    She also had a child in the past year or so.  She works three days
    per week, all of them here at TWO.
    
    I am not sure about the rest of DEC, but our management here is
    terrific in its accomadation of working mothers.
    
    Rita
    
    

    i've had two different part time jobs at DEC since 1982: the first
    in corporate DIS and the present one in SWS.both jobs have been
    24 hours/week. the first i worked as a curriculum manager; the
    second is as a data management consultant.
    both jobs were posted as full-time jobs, but i went on the interviews
    anyways. i knew the managers from my previous experience at DEC
    and , i believe, got the jobs becuase they knew of my previous
    experience.
    i wouldn't want it any other way. i feel like i have the best of
    both worlds! time with my son and time on my career and family
    time for the three of us.
    i've tried to be flexible- i change my usual work days for important
    meetings and check my electronic mail on my days off. many people
    don't even realize that i work part time. 
    i don't see managers looking for part time people. it's more a case
    of convincing them that you can be a valuable asset to their
    organization. some managers are willing to be open to it, others
    aren't.
    
    D2

    I work 20 hrs/week now; for 2 yrs after my daughter was born I worked
    full time. (You get over the impulse to be superwoman real fast.)
    I feel incredibly lucky to have had the manager I did then (he's
    a few more levels up the chart now).  The birth of my son and the
    demonstration of a working prototype for our project coincided,
    and when I talked to my boss about it, we agreed that I could work
    twenty hours.  This has worked out well, subject to several large
    and small bumps in the road, and I am glad I did it.  It is a BIG
    adjustment, however, from doing a full-time job to doing a part-time
    job, especially if it is the same job and you are basically trying
    to "scale it down" - that phrase doesn't exactly capture what I
    mean.
    
    Anyhow, I do think that whether or not it can work at all, let alone
    well, depends on the manager, the job, and the worker.  Availability
    of part-time roles is certainly at the descretion of the manager;
    DEC has no policy in particular on it, as far as I know.

Re: .2

It sounds like you're not WORKING part-time, just getting PAID part-time...

That's what I'd be wary of.

    good point .4! however, i'm comparing what i do now (average about
    26-28 hours total on a 24 hour paid week) to what i did when i 
    worked full time (average 50-60 hours /week).
    when i mentioned i log in on my days off i was talking about
    the 10 to 20 minutes it takes to check in and foward items. 
    it's amazing how people assume you're in your office all the time.
    it's really helped my management fee comfortable that they don't
    have to constantly remember if i'm in or not.
    

    Five years ago...when I went on my first maternity leave, coming
    back part-time was going to be almost impossible.  I took a
    personal leave of a year and when I started looking for a job,
    my management was not interested in offering me part-time work
    but were very helpful in arranging interviews with other groups
    that would.  I had trouble finding a new job, and my management
    kept extending my leave so I wouldn't be terminated.  THEN, when
    I was just about to accept a job with another group, my management
    came thru with a part-time job (20 hours a week).  I never found
    out what exactly happened, but I was set to accept a job on Monday
    and I got this other job offer on SATURDAY!
    
    ...anyways,  I eventually was working 30 hours a week and all my
    reviews made it clear that my project leader, etc. considered me
    a "full time" person.  They were VERY pleased with my contribution
    and I feel that my example led to them being more willing to have
    part-time engineers (there have been two others that I know of).
    
    ...then I became pregnant again and found that because I "only"
    worked 30 hours, I was eligible for a maternity leave but not
    for a personal leave.  I felt I, again, wanted that first year
    with my newborn so after my maternity leave I was terminated
    (what a word).
    
    I am one of those people who HAS to work outside the home.  By the
    end of the year, I was READY to come back.  I started making phone
    calls, but this time it was much more difficult getting back in
    because I was no longer an employee and all kinds of special
    signatures had to be gotten.
    
    ...so finally, I am back again part-time, 20 hours a week.  I work
    two 8-hour days in and 4 hours at home.  One of the other repliers
    to this note said she "has the best of both worlds", but I feel
    like I'm one up on her.  Not only do I work part-time, but my
    husband does as well.  So we are both at home a few days a week
    being full-time parents.  It is a WONDERFUL lifestyle.
    We both have the fulfillment of pursuing our adult work and we
    both have the responsibility and satisfaction of being principle
    models for our children's characters and morality.  And our 
    children benefit so much as well.
    
    Now, I know I'm never going to get rich or get ahead this way,
    but that's the decision I've made.  I just wish Digital would
    let me buy into their group insurance rate (my main gripe with
    working 20 hours).  I work half-time and I would like to just
    have the opportunity to have half that benefit.
    

I have worked for Digital for nearly 12 years now.  I have been
working part-time for 5-1/2 years, first 24 hours, now 20.

As a permanent part-time salaried employee (20 hours), I get stock plan,
standard salaried-type sick time, and standard vacation accrual (thus i get
4 weeks of 20-hours a week).  I get NO OTHER benefits -- e.g. no
tuition reimbursement, no health plan, no matching gifts.  Officially
I'm not entitled to leave of absences, which I took anyway (with everyone's
approval) for my second. I stayed home 3 months for each child.
Digital has categories for permanent part-time employees -- PP1 (20 hours),
PP2 (24 hours) and so on.  Thirty hours IS considered full-time for
benefit purposes, by the way.

I have to say I planned for having a family. I took a job that I could
be effective in as an individual contributor and without a lot of interaction.
I do microcode in a hardware design group. Doing microcode for a VAX can be
broken up among different people. I take microcode that is more programming
than hardware/firmware design, such as character and decimal.

When I first started, I had 15 months working full-time to learn my job.
One of the (many) disadvantages of working part-time is that I can't
really further my horizons and take time to learn new things. (Someone might
disagree with that statement, but 20 hours is not a lot of time to accomplish
a reasonable amount of work).  I have been doing microcode or
microcode-related software tools for 5 years.  This is my second
machine -- most microcoders last 1 or 2 machines before they
need something new to tackle.  I actually enjoy doing microcode and
playing around with software, so I'm not bored.

The group here has been VERY supportive.  It helps to be with a relatively
young group that has a number of members in two-career families with
children.

The advantages are of course that I get to be in each world a little,
that I get mental stimulation, and that I don't feel guilty about
sticking my kids somewhere else for long 10 hours days.  Also, the
kids have benefited by experiencing other adults and having other
children to be around.

The disadvantages are numerous: I ONLY get to be in each world a little.
I'm not tuned in to any mother networks and feel isolated about that.
In fact a high percentage of my women acquaintances work also.  Note
I say acquaintances because I'm either at work or with my children.
I don't get much self-time to enjoy the advantages of being at home,
other than being with my children (which is NOT self time even though
it is a very important and satisfying time -- after all that's why
I'm doing this).

I'm not fully tuned in to the work network either.  I can't take time to
learn something new. I can't take on more responsibilites and positions
of authority.  I can't spend a lot of time socializing (my time is
twice as dear in a sense) -- which is a important element in enjoying
one's work.  I'm sure that I'm also seen as less committed by a lot
of people, since I have to leave at often inopportune times.  I know
that problem came up on 8600 debug.  However, my work is good, so
I don't think it's really much of an issue.  If I were more career-minded
I could probably push for more authority, responsibilties, etc. and
probably get them, but right now I'm happy the way I am.

					Eileen

    I am now looking into the possibility of working part-time after
    my baby is born.  I leaning towards the 24 hour option.  Any advice
    about how to approach one's management about this?
    
    -Tracy

  <  I am now looking into the possibility of working part-time after	>
  <  my baby is born.  I leaning towards the 24 hour option.  Any advice>
  <  about how to approach one's management about this?			>
    
     It's hard to give advice when everyone's situation is different.
     I work 20 hours with two, and used to work 24 with one.  I just
     had an understanding manager with a doctor wife and a child (now
     two children).  I do firmware in a hardware group, which is
     to some extent a niche position that is relative independent
     of the rest of the group for periods of time.

     The job has to be one that is not in someone's critical path more
     than very infrequently.  I purposely left a corporate support group
     over a year before I got pregnant to avoid that kind of situation.

     Initially I worked five morning a week so that I would be available
     every day.  Now I work 4 longer days and hope that no one needs me
     on Friday.  The schedule really has to be very fixed or no one
     will remember when you are around and the perception will be that
     you are never around.

     Good luck and let us know what has happened.

					Eileen

    
    Our group (Management Sciences - internal consulting group in
    Stow) just decided to have a 20/hr per week policy. You have
    to get the approval of your manager to do it.  So far no one
    has, although we did have one person working 30 hours/wk.
    Fortunately consulting work, which is very project-oriented,
    is a good candidate for a part-time option because the
    deadlines can be negotiated and you can cut down on
    the number of projects you do.
    
    I'd be interested in knowing of any field groups such as
    sales support that offer a part-time option. I will be
    having my first child in June and am considering
    working part-time (I'll stick with my own group for
    a while but am considering my next move). First I
    have to figure out if we can afford it!!