What's worked for me for the past ten years was to negotiate to be an hourly employee at hiring time. In that position, there's no conflict of interest if I wo

What's worked for me for the past ten years was to negotiate to be an hourly employee at hiring time. In that position, there's no conflict of interest if I work 30 hour weeks, or take two extra weeks of unpaid vacation. Once I'm at the job, I just take a normal raise when it comes along. That means I can then work less hours from that point forward for the same pay, giving me the same end result as what you're looking for without having to negotiate for something unusual every year. I think the reason employers might be uncomfortable with letting you work four days is that it'll create the illusion of unfairness to your co-workers. They can't see how much you're getting paid, but you having a day off a week is very visible.