Working shift pattern - help needed

A

A320_phill

Member
 Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear
Hello guys,

I need some help regarding working shift patterns.

Basically, I have started a new job as manager and the current shift pattern for the 3 employees is 7 days on (4 earlies, 3 lates) 4 days off, 7 days on (3 earlies, 4 lates, 3 days off, and repeat. I will be working Mon-Fri 0800 - 1600 and will cover leave as and when required if possible.

This allows the 3 other workers to cover the operation from 0500 to 0000 every day of the year. Early shift is 0500 - 1500 and late shift is 1400 to 0000.

The current problem is the guys are very tired due to the current shift pattern, so I have been looking into alternatives. So far all I have come up with is 2 earlies, 2 lates, 2 off and repeat, or using 3 earlies, 3 lates, 3 off etc. This however is undesireable due to the number of weekends off (i.e not many!)

I was wondering if anyone out there has any ingeniuos ideas for alternatives and if there is anything I am missing.

Thanks in advance! :sos:
 
I used to do 12 hour shifts, 8-8 ... 4 on, 4 off, 3 on, 3 off, repeat. This was complicated by swapping between days/nights occasionally, so sometimes you had a 3 day period to flip to night working hours (24/7 team). There was one benefit to this, usually companies pay a percentage on top of salary for opting into the shift pattern, and also by taking a 7 day period off of work, you can achieve 14 days of holiday, or more etc.

If you do 5 12 hour shifts, you're pretty tired, but you get some days off to recover. Maybe 7 is a bit long of a stint? I mean, 10 hours a day 7 days a week is pretty hardcore, even if you get an extra day off or two. You could maybe look into ways of making weekend cover occasional?

In the end if there's no easy answer, the answer is to hire one more and adjust the rota accordingly.
 
Why not 7 on earlies, 4 days off then 7 on lates, 3 days off etc
I worked shifts years ago but never swapped half way through a week from earlies to lates, it was only ever 5 days in a row and seemed to work ok for me and I only had the weekends off.
 
I like Nictrix's suggestion in terms of keeping the earlies and lates separate. That way you don't have the situation were you are coming off the back of a late and doing an early, or having to adjust your sleeping and eating pattern over consecutive days.
Although I realise it's necessary in some industries, in the long run shift work can't be good physically or mentally, I'm just thankful that I can work a standard 5 day week 9 to 5.
 
Hi thanks for the replies.

Yes the company pays a shift premium which given the current shift, is quite high at the moment. The problem is the 7 days in a row. I also think the option of all earlies or all lates is a good one for the reasons mentioned, but still does not get away from the 7 days on.

The answer as mentioned is hire another person, but that isn't going to happen.
 
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