The vocabulary of working hours and leave
Flexitime lets employees choose their start and finish times around core hours, when everyone must be at work. Overtime is time worked beyond normal hours. “Flexitime” is British; American English says “flextime”. HR documents say “home-working”, but people usually say “working from home”.
Leave is approved time away from work: annual leave (your paid holiday), unpaid leave, paternity leave. You take leave, and you are on leave.
- “Our core hours are 10:00 to 16:00.”
- “Overtime needs written approval from your manager.”
- “He is taking two weeks of paternity leave on full pay.”
Verb + to-infinitive or verb + -ing
When one verb follows another, the first verb decides the form. Plans, decisions and wishes usually take the to-infinitive: plan, want, need, decide, agree, hope. Enjoy, avoid, finish, consider, suggest and mind take -ing. No rule covers every verb, so learn each one with its pattern. Note: “I suggest starting at eight.”, never “I suggest to start”.
- “We decided to test flexitime for twelve weeks.”
- “Would you mind covering the phones until six?”
Stop to do or stop doing?
“Stop doing” ends an activity; “stop to do” pauses one activity in order to do another. Here two colleagues use plan to, enjoy and stop doing to decide who covers the support queue.
- “Yesterday, we stopped to answer a call.” (a pause)
- “We stopped answering calls.” (the end of an activity)
Maya I plan to leave at six, but I still need to answer the support queue.
Owen I enjoy handling urgent cases. I can cover it until six.
Maya Thanks. I stopped answering routine calls at five so I could finish the report.
Owen Good. I’ll take the urgent calls, and you can leave on time.
Proposing a change: problem, test, measures
A good proposal names the problem with careful evidence, says what will be tested and explains how the results will be judged. “May leave” shows a real but uncertain risk. “Measured against” promises a check, not an improvement. Useful frames: “We’d like to test …” and “We’ll review the results on …”.
Maya What problem is the studio trying to solve?
Owen Two experienced employees may leave because long hours conflict with family commitments.
Maya What will the company test?
Owen A twelve-week pilot of flexitime, one home-working day and clearer core hours, measured against retention, deadlines and client satisfaction.
A five-heading pilot proposal
Use five headings, noun phrases, numbers and dates. Check that the dates agree: this twelve-week pilot runs from 10 October to 2 January.
- Scope: Design team, 12 weeks
- Terms: Flexitime around 10:00–16:00 core hours; one home-working day a week; written approval for overtime
- Measures: Retention, missed deadlines, client satisfaction
- Owner: Studio manager
- Launch: Publish terms on 3 October; pilot runs 10 October to 2 January; review results on 9 January
Saying yes, with or without a condition
A clear yes builds trust; add a condition if needed. “Provided” means “only if”.
- “Yes, that works for me.”
- “I’d be happy to.”
- “Certainly. When do you need it?”
- “Yes, provided we finish by five.”
Common mistakes
These are understood, but they sound less professional:
- “I enjoy to work from home.” Say “I enjoy working from home.”
- “I stopped to check emails after seven.” If you no longer check them: “I stopped checking emails after seven.”
- “I have five leaves left.” Leave is uncountable: “I have five days of leave left.”
- “The pilot will improve retention.” Before any results: “The pilot will measure retention.”
A 10-minute daily practice routine
Use your own working week, out loud.
- 2 minutes: describe your hours with core hours, flexitime, overtime and leave.
- 3 minutes: say five true sentences with plan to, enjoy, avoid, stop to and stop doing.
- 2 minutes: repeat both conversations.
- 3 minutes: write a five-heading proposal for one change you want at work.
- Weekly opinion question: “Should companies ban work emails after seven, or should each person decide?” Give a reason and an example.
What comes next
Next, report on a project: what is finished, pending and next. At C1, write a staff-retention proposal with stricter terms and measures.