Today - Wednesday - is a good day to ask your boss for a pay rise. However, if you want to ask for a holiday, you may have missed your chance, for this week at least.
According to a survey of 1,500 UK bosses by recruitment firm Office Angels, Monday afternoons are the time to put in holiday requests, while Tuesday afternoon is the best time to show off to the boss or to break bad news.
The survey found that more than three-quarters of managers say Wednesday is the day to ask them for a pay rise, while two thirds said they were more open to new ideas on a Thursday and half said they were at their most relaxed on a Friday and therefore more inclined to allow staff to leave work early.
The rationale behind the findings is that many managers working weeks are cyclical – essentially a round of meetings.
At the beginning of the week, managers are refreshed by the weekend and are ready to go for deals, like holidays, they had put off last Friday.
On Tuesday, there is still enough of the working week left for managers to deal with bad news.
By Wednesday, the boss is settled into the week, but not too worn out, and so can deal with pay rise requests or a meeting about departmental budgets and staff numbers.
By Thursday, the bulk of the working week is over and managers are looking forward to the following week.
By Friday, bosses are looking forward to the weekend and want to end their week on a positive note - hence they are more receptive to requests for favours or leaving early.
Sceptics should take note that more than seven in ten bosses who took part in the survey displayed similar patterns of behaviour.
