Your Job Share Proposal is a formal plan presented to an employer for how two individuals will share the responsibilities of one full-time position. It will be an incredibly powerful tool for your job share’s approval.

Yes, your Job Share Proposal will be the actual proposal you'll use to propose the business case for your job share to your boss. But we want you to think of it in terms of your job share's blueprint. You should create the proposal with your job share partner as a team to think through your job share's design (which should be around the role versus the individuals' needs) and how the role will be shared. This proposal will not only help you get the green light but will be a document your team can refer to whenever needed, and even update, as needed! 

A Job Share Agreement is a formal policy that sets clear objectives and parameters for your job share. It serves as a guideline for your partnership and company. It is specific to your job share and formed upon its commencement.

If your company’s never had a job share, this policy can be given to HR. They may make changes to it, but it will give them a starting place. And guess what? Many Work Muse clients say their HR department took the policy as is. 

Think of your Job Share Agreement as a simple policy that lays out how the nitty gritty details of your job share will work — your sick and vacation days, leave, and pay as well as your job share schedule and how your job share's performance will be reviewed, as well as details for entrance and exit of the partnership. It will bring you and your employer peace of mind to have these important areas that affect your income, performance, and arrangement in writing. It will also protect your partnership should you have a change in management or a company buy-out. 

This checklist is your starting place for your Job Share Proposal and most of the 8 elements in this checklist will be important to include. 

However, you know your role, company, and manager best. You should always keep in mind WHO you will be presenting to and HOW they like to be given information. If you are familiar with this person, you will likely have an idea of whether they are a detail-oriented person or a big picture person. You'll have done the Manager Mindset Moves work to think through how they'll be most receptive to the conversation and information. If they have a small attention span or do better with information simplified, take the most important elements you need to include in your proposal. Be mindful, addressing their biggest fears or concerns with solutions will likely be most important. 

And for most managers, that is likely to be around communication and accountability. They need to feel confident you are an interchangeable team with seamless communication and the highest accountability. 

If you are not as familiar with the person you are presenting to and this is for a brand new position and/or company, you'll likely create an abbreviated proposal and a much more detailed proposal once you get the job and have started to on-ramp into your job share. 

This checklist is your starting place for the concerns and fears your manager may have that you need to address in your Job Share Proposal. You also can do this when talking to your manager when you propose your job share. 

You know your manager best and will have done the Manager Mindset Moves work to think through how they'll be most receptive to the conversation and information. Addressing and minimizing your manager's biggest fears or concerns with solutions will be the most important part of getting their enthusiastic buy-in, and ultimately, the green light for your job share.

Think through each one of these areas what you know of your manager and as a team, decide what areas to include that make the most sense for the person, position, and company you are presenting to. 

If you are not as familiar with the person you are presenting to and this is for a brand new position and/or company, you'll likely create an abbreviated proposal and a much more detailed proposal once you get the job and have started to on-ramp into your job share. 

The short answer: Yes, we highly recommend writing your Job Share Proposal with your future partner! 

We know that job sharers sometimes present their job share informally without having selected their Ideal Partner Candidate (AKA their job share partner). yet. And sometimes they get a "yes." After all, there are many ways (just like Paths and Pathways) to get to a job share! 

If the situation does not allow you to find your partner before proposing your job share, use these lessons to make your proposal. 

However, owning the job share as equal partners is important in your job share's success from Day One. And the best way to do that is by implementing your plan together as a job share team! You'll step into your job share so easily and it will be nearly impossible for your job share's manager or the hiring manager to see you as anything but a SuperTeam who'll bring two skillsets in one job from the very start!  They won't be able to "unsee" you as a job share team after you present together! 

Even if one of you presents initially, but you create the plan together, the presence of your partner will be felt and your most likely to gain approval. 

You want your job share to be seen as an innovative talent strategy — a competitive advantage s— so you'll be set up for success (not only from what you learn in Job Share Academy), but by your manager and company. And that happens by commanding respect and being seen as leaders for your organization. 

You can find many examples on the internet of job share partners who might be in your position and/or industry. 

To make it easy, you can watch case studies in the JSA Video Library and find the same videos  with links to share on the Work Muse YouTube channel. 

We also share case studies in Work Muse's Job Share, Live Life + Slay Work FB group. 

And you can find more examples on the Work Muse blog.

If you still don't find what you are looking for and need help with examples, contact [email protected]. 

There are a few things to understand around a prorated salary and benefits in a job share. Job sharing itself is a flexible practice. There is no set way a job share must be designed (other than a seamless communication system and handover process). This is a good thing! 

You and your partner should take into account your position's responsibilities and needs as well as your individual needs. In the U.S., we advocate for partners to work a 3-4 day workweek each if that is suitable for the demands and requirements of the position itself, because partners are more likely to receive health benefits, which can be quite costly.

A prorated salary and benefits are based on the percentage of a 40 hour workweek each partner works for their salary as well as sick, vacation and personal time. 

For example, if both partners worked three days a week with one full day of overlap, they would be working a 120% workweek. The salary for the position would be prorated to 120% with both job sharers splitting their pay 50%. Each job sharer works 60% of a normal workweek (3 out of 5 days) and would accrue 60% vacation, sick, and personal days.

Job sharing is not just a flexible work practice, it’s an innovative talent solution to recruit and retain diverse talent.

Beyond recruiting diverse talent and creating a more equitable workplace, job sharing can make a significant impact on inclusion by helping diverse employees feel seen and heard. 

Companies with gender diversity financially outperform peers by 21%. And companies with ethnic/cultural diversity financially outperform peers by 33%. (Source: McKinsey & Company)

Smart companies understand that gender and overall diversity affects the bottom line. 

Here is how job sharing makes a difference for retaining diverse employees:

1. Retain women who are likely to leave the workplace once they have children or caregivers to aging parents 
2. Encourage collaboration in a multi-generational workforce, keeping institutional knowledge longer while training the next generation of talent.
3. Help employees of different cultural, ethnic, religious, and gender-identity backgrounds who feel seen and heard working with a partner of a different background.

YES! The Perfected Pitch is only perfected with practice!

Most of us are afraid to ask for something, especially if it's really important to us. The stakes feel really high and presenting a formal proposal can feel intimidating. 

However, your ability to present the business case for your job share as a high-performing individual (or better yet, two high-performing individuals!), is directly tied to your job share's approval! 

Remember: You are not in this alone! Whether you’re presenting solo or together, your job share partner has your back. They may even be your partner in a matter of months or days! It is getting real. And there’s one thing you can count on: Your success is theirs and their success is yours. And together, you are going to nail this presentation, whether they’re in the room or not.

Utilize the 7 steps in Module 5: Lesson 4 to prepare you 100% to present the business case and beyond all, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. 😀

Good question! 

Yes there is! Before you ever present, you and your partner need to decide what you will do if you get a "no."

You need a plan BEFORE presenting your job share. The main key is to walk away understanding the objections and asking if you can modify your plan.

Always have a flex backup plan too! Find some flexibility now to improve your work-life balance, until you are able to job share.

But no matter what, keep calm and carry on, maintain your professionalism, and continue being the superstar we know you are. Document your wins and showcase how job sharing works. Think about how you can shift the conversation or do things differently in the future. Be persistent. Stay focused.