This is in Canada. Bosses will always defer to legal/HR and it's usually just BS. Oh this isn't policy, but policy is just made up for the company so they a) do

This is in Canada. Bosses will always defer to legal/HR and it's usually just BS. Oh this isn't policy, but policy is just made up for the company so they a) don't have to think, and b) can refer to the policy and say it's iron clad rule. businesses can do almost anything, it's that they _don't want to have to do the work_ to figure it out for you. Maybe they'll actually miss some rule where you are now "part-time" vs "full-time" if there is a legal distinction in your country based on hours worked and you can catch them in some loop hole or something and they don't want to try and figure it out, but in 99% of cases, it's just that they don't know what to actually do without thinking or researching, so they won't do it. If they make a mistake it's their ass on the line, and they don't know or care about you. The best way to get away with this is to find an employer who is open to it from the start (good luck), or be so valuable that if you threaten to quit if you don't get it, they'll relent and do it for you. In my wife's case, they can't afford to lose her so they'll push HR into making the change. It wasn't painless and there was some annoyances and nuances to fix in the HR system, but it was worth it. I've been self-employed for almost 15 years so that I would never have to deal with this kind of bullshit. I do consulting and work on my own business ideas. I've run several startups in the past, some of which were funded, so I've seen the back end of all this kind of stuff. My wife makes more money than I do and I work on finding businesses that can free us both from having to work. It sucks that she is making less now and we can feel it a bit, but it's not a huge blow as we aren't big spenders. It was 100% worth it, she is by far happier than she has been in years. They did a very poor job of reducing her workload with her time though, so watch out for that if you can get your 20% reduction. They'll pay you less, but expect you to work the 5th day in the 4. This is mainly a staffing issue on her team however. I do feel some pressure to finally get something working so she can just leave her employment and in the last year I've managed to grow my latest business to twice her annual gross salary. If I can keep it up we'll be able to meet our goals, but a business is an ongoing monster with it's own risks and expenses, so it'll take some time before the leap can be made. I hope you can achieve what you want, sometimes it takes some serious pressure to get your way, or you have to be willing to walk if they don't agree, but man that 3 day weekend every week is that much better and she still talks about how great it is a year later.