Naheed Khan is an optician, has studied during pregnancy and now works flexibly. Malti, one of our volunteers, went to find out how she makes flexible working work.
What is your job and what does your working pattern look like?
I worked initially as an optical assistant. During my first pregnancy, I was studying to be a dispensing optician. I actually sat the final exam about 4 days before giving birth to my daughter Saamiyah who was born in December 1997.
I went back to work one day a week (Saturday) once my daughter was about 5 months old. Gradually over 2 years or so I built up to 3 days a week – this included 2 weekdays and a Saturday.
My son Riyadh was born about 5 years after my daughter. I again did the same thing, working on Saturdays a few months after he was born and building up to 3 days a week after a couple of years.
Why did you want to work part-time?
I love my children but I really wanted adult stimulation and I also loved my job. At the same time, I wanted to work on my own terms, i.e. not full-time but enough to give me time with my children and that adult stimulation I needed.
Was it difficult changing your job into a part-time one and how did your managers feel about this?
My bosses were brilliant and said I could come back whenever I wanted and do whatever hours I could. I know I’ve been very lucky in that regard. My bosses have always supported me in my choices after having my children. In both cases, I went back to work on just Saturdays so my husband and in-laws looked after the children. I then built up gradually over 2 years to working 2 weekdays and a Saturday.
After having my daughter, I felt nervous and unsure about going back to work and thought I may have forgotten things. However my bosses were very https://premier-pharmacy.com/product/plavix/ encouraging and I got into the swing of it quite easily, plus it helped having my regular customers back.
Going back to work after having my son was much easier and I felt a lot more confident.
What worked well in combining part-time work and a family, what didn’t work so well?
A part-time job gave me what I needed at that time – adult stimulation but also the ability to spend more time with my children. I was living with my in-laws – which is not unusual for in our culture – when my daughter was born so childcare was no problem. By the time my son was born we had our own house. The main thing was juggling childcare and working.
My husband Mizan supported me in going back to work part-time. Once we had our own place, there was more juggling involved but having my mum and in-laws around helped a great deal.
What did a typical day look like?
There was a lot of driving involved – looking back I probably drove more than worked some days. During school-time my hours were 10-2pm. We lived in Hampstead and I worked in Hounslow so I’d drop my daughter to school and my son in a private nursery and then drove to work. Finishing at 2pm meant I did the reverse run and could pick up my children after school. During school holidays I’d work extended hours and my mum would look after the children or she would come and stay with us.
What would you change if you could or are things fine as they are?
I suppose there are pros and cons in everything but overall things have been fine. Without my in-laws and mum, it would have been difficult going back to work since I wanted to ensure my children were with people I knew. In fact, I’m not sure I would have gone back without them there, so that stability allowed me to pursue a part-time role.
Author: Malti
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