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Hi everyone, i really could do with some advice in relation to my work life.
Ive been working as a personal assistant for around five months now, i love my job and the pay is pretty good too. The problem is its every single weekend, i know i shouldnt have accepted these highly unsociable hours being a single mum to my son whos 12, but i felt i shouldnt and couldnt at the time turn down work.
There are no other avaliable hours at the moment so i cant change this situation with my employer. My sons gran usually watches him at weekends but her husband is now terminally ill and naturally she just cant cope. I feel at such a loss and just dont know what to do next, im surrounded by independant single people who think its crazy that i should even consider quiting this job! they dont understand the implications of childcare and the guilt that comes from being a working mum especially at weekends!!
sorry for the rant, any suggestions would be great.
Hi louise, thank you so much for your reply its really usefull to get another single parents perspective on things!
Unfortunately it is 8 hours on a saturday and sunday, the lady i work for is wheelchair bound and the other pa`s have the hours during the week (they have children so cant work weekends) its only silly old me whos willing! anyhow i did know this when i took the job.
I think i need to think seriously about this now. The summer hols are coming up so me not working during the week will work out very well, however when he returns i dont want him at schhol mon-fri and me then out all day sat and sun.
Im going to start looking for more suitable working hours elsewhere i think its hard as i know how tough things are out there right now
Do you know if i would be able to claim job seekers as the hours arent suitable? as that might be an option in the short term, we have very little debt and a small saving pot so we could manage on that foe a while.
Any advice would be great, sorry for the spelling errors just rushing to get to work lol.
thanks jenny.
Hi again
Thanks for explaining, yes it does sound as if it is a good idea to have something sorted out before September 
As for Job Seekers Allowance, there are two considerations. Firstly have you paid enough National Insurance contributions to be eligible for contribution-based JSA? which is potentially payable for the first six months, If not, you can apply for income-related JSA but if you have savings of more than a certain level the amount you get will be reduced. Do check this with our 1-2-1 Money Advice service
The second consideration is whether you could claim at all, if you gave up the job voluntarily. Nothing is set in black and white about this, please see here, where our money expert, Jean, gives some valuable information on this topic.
Hello again
Thanks very much for your advice back in july. I have been still working at the weekends during the summer hols and this has worked out great since ive had all week off with my son.
Ok, the kids are now back at school so ive made the decision to start looking for another job with more child friendly hours...please no more weekends lol! Ive come accross a few things that have caught my eye. one in particular is telesales ( i know very boring) however its working from home. Has anyone ever heard of this? and if so is it worth pursuing? Also, does anyone on here work from home and make an ok living out of it... when i say ok, i mean like 16 hours a week kind of thing which would suit me fine.
Any comments and advice would be really appreciated.
thanks jen
Hi colourworks30. Welcome back. A while ago, I looked into working from home. Everything that came up they were asking for money. Members on here warned me off, as quite rightly of course, if it was really legit, no money would be needed!! I would love to work from home too, so if you do find anything legit, please post to let us know
Hope the children settle back to school ok. Didnt the holidays go quickly?
Hi hazeleyes thanks for your reply. yes i have seen a few things which say you need to put x amount up first its crazy!
Im not to sure about this telesales advert yet though, it says send a cv and covering letter so im going to see where it leads. If money is mentioned ill be out of there fast lol. Ill let you know what happens with it. I know its alot of single parents dream to work from home on flexi hours but unfortunatley theres not alot of this kind of work going, but im going to remain positive and keep hunting!
Yes the hols flew by, i have to say im sooo glad hes gone back to school towards the end he was driving me up the wall!! hes 12 now and its starting to get pretty tough, parenting especially on your own is the hardest job in the world! I wish society and such would give single parents the credit and respect they deserve!! How many children do you have hazeleyes? have you always been on your own with them? are you working/looking for work?
OK, if i see anything ill keep you posted.
Hi colourworks30
Glad that the summer hols have worked out OK, but I know what you mean about being glad term has started, your son is "just at that age" and it may be that you will get some help and reassurance from reading our Parenting Teenagers section.
Ok so working from home. Firstly you are right: NEVER NEVER pay any money out, no matter how good it seems. Secondly telesales, you need to check that you are paid a wage and not just commission, otherwise if you got no sales you would have no income.
Jobs I have done from home, and comments:
Music teacher, I took piano pupils. Have you got a skill or talent you could teach or share? if not then could you get one? A friend of mine is about to take a one year course in Reiki and aromatherapy, but this involves two evenings and all day Saturday....so you would need something you could train for whilst working, and it not affecting your son more than the current situation. How about qualifying as a childminder? or a business without the need for a college course such as dog care/walking, ironing, cleaning, gardening etc? You could also consider being an Avon lady, or Bettaware catalogue person, although other people tell me that this type of thing starts off Ok but then it tails off so you might need to conbine it with something else. Have a look at Business Link re business start-up
The secret to it, of course, is to be able to provide something that other people want, and are prepared to pay for.
Another thing I have done is to go out cleaning. This is hard physical work but the rate of pay is about £10 an hour. It could be combined with something else, as you can often see jobs advertised at 10-15 hours a week...or you could use it temporarily to boost income while you set up your own business or study for a qualification.
I have also worked for a charity, researching phone numbers for them to call for donations, but this was twenty years ago and technology will have overtaken this job by now.
Another tip I can pass on, although this is not from home, is taking a job for just a few hours a week, of course you would have to do something else as well to get up to the 16 hours, but what happened to me was that I got a clerical job for 10 hours a week, did cleaning to make up the hours and then two other organisations in the large building offered me contracts as well, one for four hours and the other for ten, so at that stage I ditched the cleaning and worked for 24 hours a week across three jobs....but this took time and happened over the course of a year I would say.
Good luck with it all
Hi colourworks, I don't think we've met
Have you done our free Ways into Work online course? i did it when I put it online and found it very interesting to see what other options I could take, if I were to change career. 
!!
Louise gave some excellent examples of things to do. I did ironing for quite a while and cleaning and although it is hard physical work, it keeps you fit!!! 
So not all bad!
I have a friend who is a self employed administrator, she goes into small businesses and sets up snazzy looking databases (using excel), letter heads, does filing and is very efficient, she charges £16 per hour!
I have just realised when you say you are a personal assistant, this is in a caring capacity, rather than a secretarial role, is this right?
It's very hard to work EVERY weekend, colourworks30
Is it just Saturday or Sunday as well? If just Saturday then I would stick with the job and think about other solutions for your son. These could include an activity, where you or another parent can pick him up (would your employer give you a long enough break in the middle of the day to do this? would your employer agree to a SHORTER Saturday at work in return for the hours paid back in the week? Is there any work you can do at home?) or to negotiate with another parent to have him on Saturdays, or a few people, yes it would mean paying them but surely far preferable to giving up a job you like and which is well paid. Does he have any time with his dad?
However, if it is Saturday AND Sunday every weekend then that would mean you get NO quality time with your son and I would suggest that you have a long hard think about other jobs.
You do have a statutory right to ask for more flexible working if you have a child under 17 and your employer must consider your request but is not onbliged to grant it, so I am not sure whether that is any help in your case, see here for the rules anyway.