Weekend Getaway #1 of 3:
Take Every Other Friday Off (90-100% pay)

More time off doesn't need to cost a big slice of your salary.

Take a look at the numbers:

Work 72 hours over two-week time periods, all-year round:

First week: Monday through Friday (40 hours)
Second week: Monday through Thursday (32 hours)

That's only 10% fewer work hours than the standard, which makes it relatively manageable for your boss—and your budget.

(As a salaried professional, you probably work longer than eight hours a day. You can still make your case because the cut in hours from taking every other Friday off would be proportional to the 40/32 split.)

KEEP 90-100% OF YOUR PAY

Really? Yes! Here's how it can work:

First, time your request to line up with your next performance review when you're expecting and offered a raise. Acknowledge your manager's recognition of your performance and contributions to your employer, then segue into your pitch to forgo the pay raise and trade it instead for time.

From that point, negotiate for more hours off instead of more pay.

In a minute, I'll direct you to some scripted opening lines you can use to introduce the idea to your manager.

At face value, 10% (in hours) may seem like a lot to ask for in lieu of a raise. After all, the average raise for salaried, non-union, non-executive, white-collar workers is in the 3-5% range, depending on what’s happening with the economy.

But because it costs your employer nothing in direct pay dollars to give you more time off, it's possible to negotiate those same eight hours off (10%) as a trade for a raise of 3 to 5%.

KEEP TALKING...

If that doesn't fly, keep talking. You may be able to find an agreeable compromised position. For example, combine a 5% pay raise offer with a 5% pay cut to get your 10% cut in hours, i.e., eight hours off every other week.

NO RAISES IN SIGHT THIS YEAR?

If your employer has business slow-down or other budget reasons for a delayed or less-than-satisfactory raise, you could actually be in a stronger position for making your time trade-off proposal.

But how do you approach this? What should you say?

I've developed scripted opening lines to handle these various scenarios.

If you don't want to wait for a performance review to make your request, try the time off tactic I once did for getting what you want now. You'll read about in Weekend Getaway #3.

WORKING 72 HOURS OUT OF 80 FITS THE PART-TIME CATEGORY

Even though it's only 8 hours off every two weeks, this arrangement falls into the “part-time” category. But don't call it that; present it as a “reduced workweek” when making your pitch.

ENJOY LOTS OF WEEKEND "GETAWAYS"

You may like your job, but I know you're really going to like having lots of long weekends. Especially when there's a Monday holiday on the other side of your regularly-scheduled long weekend. This is a relatively low-barrier time off tactic, so give it a go.

Get a Yes to Your Request for every other Friday off

Learn more about Flex Success Part-time Proposal Template

Weekend Getaway #2: Take Every Friday Off (90-100% pay)