Shift work - namely 12 hour shifts!
Discussion
I used to do this type of shift pattern from the age of 38 until aged 46 almost two years ago. I also had a 63 mile trip each way. If you enjoy the work and your body can handle the change overs then its acceptable. There are a number of things to keep in mind, you will be a pain to everyone just before you start and it will take at least 48 hours to sort your body clock.
As a thought the last few years I had lots of trouble with the old duke of argyles. Within a few weeks of reverting to a normal working week they have gone completely. Not nice but it lets you know its not a walk in the park.
As a thought the last few years I had lots of trouble with the old duke of argyles. Within a few weeks of reverting to a normal working week they have gone completely. Not nice but it lets you know its not a walk in the park.
I worked this shift pattern for 4 years on and off.
Mine was: 2 days, 2 nights, 4 days off. 2 days, 3 nights, then 5 days off.
I have to say, I loved it. It was "active" work though, policing, so always stuff to do, fun to be had, places to go. Sitting at a desk would be harder.
The balance of time off is great, 4 days leave and you can be away for 14 days and have a proper break of it. Loads of time off midweek to get stuff done at home or get fit, see friends/relatives. Work dominates your life for 4 days whilst you're there, then you can leave it all behind for a few days.
I'm on 8 hour shifts now and miss the 12's, I have to say.
Mine was: 2 days, 2 nights, 4 days off. 2 days, 3 nights, then 5 days off.
I have to say, I loved it. It was "active" work though, policing, so always stuff to do, fun to be had, places to go. Sitting at a desk would be harder.
The balance of time off is great, 4 days leave and you can be away for 14 days and have a proper break of it. Loads of time off midweek to get stuff done at home or get fit, see friends/relatives. Work dominates your life for 4 days whilst you're there, then you can leave it all behind for a few days.
I'm on 8 hour shifts now and miss the 12's, I have to say.
I do 4 on 4 off 12 hour shifts but days only.
Fair few of the other roles in our depot do nights and days.
Would echo the above comments about when your on shift - you work, go home, eat, sleep, get up and go back to work.
Especially with an hour commute at either end. Bare in mind that if you add your commute on - then your doing a 14 hour day out of the house, add another hour on at each end for getting up getting ready, breakfast, and the same at the end - dinner, shower, relax time. The absolute max sleep time available to you is 8 hours. And the times you get that much are rare.
However on the other hand once your 4 have finsihed thats it, you're off. And it is good having four days off every 4. Stick 4 days holiday in and you've got 12 days off work.
How much do you value your weekends also? And do you have any activities out of your current work - the shift work basically means you have to kiss goodbye to that.
Personally I like it at the moment, but I'd not rule out going back to a standard 9-5.
Fair few of the other roles in our depot do nights and days.
Would echo the above comments about when your on shift - you work, go home, eat, sleep, get up and go back to work.
Especially with an hour commute at either end. Bare in mind that if you add your commute on - then your doing a 14 hour day out of the house, add another hour on at each end for getting up getting ready, breakfast, and the same at the end - dinner, shower, relax time. The absolute max sleep time available to you is 8 hours. And the times you get that much are rare.
However on the other hand once your 4 have finsihed thats it, you're off. And it is good having four days off every 4. Stick 4 days holiday in and you've got 12 days off work.
How much do you value your weekends also? And do you have any activities out of your current work - the shift work basically means you have to kiss goodbye to that.
Personally I like it at the moment, but I'd not rule out going back to a standard 9-5.
Thanks guys some interesting points there for me to bear in mind. Like the idea of 4 days holiday = 12 days off.
Also agree that work would be all that I would be doing for my four days on. I can handle that I think with the 4 day blocks off.
Ah well interview next week then I go from there. Then I'll need a car for a 120 mile a day commute :-)
Also agree that work would be all that I would be doing for my four days on. I can handle that I think with the 4 day blocks off.
Ah well interview next week then I go from there. Then I'll need a car for a 120 mile a day commute :-)
Copster said:
Thanks guys some interesting points there for me to bear in mind. Like the idea of 4 days holiday = 12 days off.
I hate to burst your bubble, but a lot companies will deduct shift holidays at rate of 1.5 days leave (on the basis of a 12 hour shift). For example if you get 24 "days" leave, that would only get you 16 shifts off.Not all companies are the same though, so make sure you understand it before you sign up. Also find out what happens on Public Holidays.
I used to do 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off, then repeat. Meaning that you were effectively on an 8 day cycle, so rotated round the week fairly quickly.
Days used to be either 7am-3.30pm or 10.30am-7pm.
Nights were 7pm-7am.
The kicker was weekends/bank holidays. Day shifts for either of those were 12 hour days of 7am-7pm.
So if your pattern happened to be Saturday, Sunday, Monday + Tuesday, you would have 4x12 hours shifts, 2 days + 2 nights, with the transition between days and nights only being 12 hours!
The upside to that was it eventually rotated round that you would have Friday, Saturday, Sunday + Monday off.
Being off during the day/week is actually very nice, you get to do alot of things that you wouldnt normally working the usual Mon-Fri 9-5, or if you would, would involve queing, and putting up with alot of other people. Nothing like shopping during the day.
Luckily I was only about 20/30 mins away from the Office.
To be honest you do get used to them fairly quickly. Although I found working with quite a few others, its something you either can or cant do, and you will know pretty quickly!
This is going back 3/4 years but at the time we got no form of shift allowence, this was one (of the many) reasons why I moved elsewhere!
Days used to be either 7am-3.30pm or 10.30am-7pm.
Nights were 7pm-7am.
The kicker was weekends/bank holidays. Day shifts for either of those were 12 hour days of 7am-7pm.
So if your pattern happened to be Saturday, Sunday, Monday + Tuesday, you would have 4x12 hours shifts, 2 days + 2 nights, with the transition between days and nights only being 12 hours!
The upside to that was it eventually rotated round that you would have Friday, Saturday, Sunday + Monday off.
Being off during the day/week is actually very nice, you get to do alot of things that you wouldnt normally working the usual Mon-Fri 9-5, or if you would, would involve queing, and putting up with alot of other people. Nothing like shopping during the day.
Luckily I was only about 20/30 mins away from the Office.
To be honest you do get used to them fairly quickly. Although I found working with quite a few others, its something you either can or cant do, and you will know pretty quickly!
This is going back 3/4 years but at the time we got no form of shift allowence, this was one (of the many) reasons why I moved elsewhere!
Edited by GWMD on Wednesday 11th May 19:22
I work 8am till 8pm 6 days a week, sundays if overtime is offered, office work, essentially a call centre, it's not fun but it's not bad either.
At first it's not bad, then you hate it, then you just accept it and get on with it and the days go fairly quickly I've found.
Also try not to clock watch.
pretty much kills your social life however, i get in just after 9, don't usually sit down till after 10, then it's time for sleep, wake up work & repeat.
At first it's not bad, then you hate it, then you just accept it and get on with it and the days go fairly quickly I've found.
Also try not to clock watch.
pretty much kills your social life however, i get in just after 9, don't usually sit down till after 10, then it's time for sleep, wake up work & repeat.
I did this kind of work for a year at a desk job - 9 to 9 shift. Being a geographic bachelor at the time, it worked fine. But when the wife came back it was difficult to manage sleep schedules when I was working nights.
Be careful the first few night shifts. I found I was VERY tired on the drive home, but over time I got used to them. The 4 on, 4 off schedule can be handy because you end up with weekdays off and can take care of other business while everyone else is working.
Be careful the first few night shifts. I found I was VERY tired on the drive home, but over time I got used to them. The 4 on, 4 off schedule can be handy because you end up with weekdays off and can take care of other business while everyone else is working.
I'm writing this whilst on a night shift Reading PH trying to entertain myself..... I'm in a totally different field, engineering and a supervisor so I'm in 30 mins earlier and 30 mins later than anyone else at a min. My shifts are 6am-6pm 2 days 2 nights 4 off. However I don't do these all year around rather 5-6 months one month at a time usually and back on days in between. You could either view this as being better or worse than being on a permanent pattern main negative is just as your body is getting into a pattern you're back on days and it takes some getting used to it once you start back up again.
I feel I'm either at work all the time or too knackered to enjoy my rest days. Don't be fooled into thinking it's 4 days off, coming off your last night shift unless you force yourself to do otherwise you'll be in bed till atleast mid day so it's more like 3.5 or 3 off. I have only a 10 minute commute and if I'm totally honest I'd rather just do days even though doing 4 weeks of shifts gives me £1400 extra in my hand on top of my basic.
A shift can range from being non-stop to having hours of monitoring computer screens. Trying to do what on a normal day would be easy calculations becomes almost impossible when you're tired which isn't good when you're working on multi million pound peices of plant. Some guys work the pattern permanent but work 4 on and get 6 off but also only get 8 shifts annual leave pa.
If the money is much better than a day job then that's the only thing that would tempt me, in my situation it's a nice little cash boost but not so regular that I factor it into my annual finances.
Oh and they say shift working can take years off your life apparently.
I feel I'm either at work all the time or too knackered to enjoy my rest days. Don't be fooled into thinking it's 4 days off, coming off your last night shift unless you force yourself to do otherwise you'll be in bed till atleast mid day so it's more like 3.5 or 3 off. I have only a 10 minute commute and if I'm totally honest I'd rather just do days even though doing 4 weeks of shifts gives me £1400 extra in my hand on top of my basic.
A shift can range from being non-stop to having hours of monitoring computer screens. Trying to do what on a normal day would be easy calculations becomes almost impossible when you're tired which isn't good when you're working on multi million pound peices of plant. Some guys work the pattern permanent but work 4 on and get 6 off but also only get 8 shifts annual leave pa.
If the money is much better than a day job then that's the only thing that would tempt me, in my situation it's a nice little cash boost but not so regular that I factor it into my annual finances.
Oh and they say shift working can take years off your life apparently.
I work that shift pattern at the moment, have done for 3 years, we are 6 - 6, and tbh, the 3 miles I live from work makes a difference.
Getting your body clock sorted can be a pain, I came off nights on Tuesday morning, I slept till 2 on Tuesday, and slept til 12 this morning. To be fair, I had no reason to be up and about any earlier than that. I'll get up at a normal time tomorrow, and Friday I'll get up early ready for Saturday. It can take a while to get used to the shifts.
As has been mentioned, 4 days holiday results in 12 days off, I've got 10 shifts booked off in June/July which gives me 22 days off
Its the 4 days off that make the shifts worth doing, and going days to nights, you've effectively got all day of your first shift to yourself as well.
I dont work behind a desk though, when there isnt much happening the nights drag in, when your busy, you dont notice them at all.
Getting your body clock sorted can be a pain, I came off nights on Tuesday morning, I slept till 2 on Tuesday, and slept til 12 this morning. To be fair, I had no reason to be up and about any earlier than that. I'll get up at a normal time tomorrow, and Friday I'll get up early ready for Saturday. It can take a while to get used to the shifts.
As has been mentioned, 4 days holiday results in 12 days off, I've got 10 shifts booked off in June/July which gives me 22 days off
Its the 4 days off that make the shifts worth doing, and going days to nights, you've effectively got all day of your first shift to yourself as well.
I dont work behind a desk though, when there isnt much happening the nights drag in, when your busy, you dont notice them at all.
I do 4 on 4 off days and nights, 7 til 7, same as the OP is being interviewed for.
I find the days are just eat, work, eat, sleep and not much else but I seem to get plenty of time to do things when I'm on nights, mainly because I only manage 5 hours sleep a day.
Having to do Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon nights can be a grind but it's great when it's the opposite and you get the same 4 off. I get 18 days holiday a year plus 8 bank holidays plus I can do as much overtime as I like which can be paid or taken in lieu. You can get to book some serious time off!
I personally love the shift pattern and would hate to do Mon to Fri again.
Good luck at your interview.
I find the days are just eat, work, eat, sleep and not much else but I seem to get plenty of time to do things when I'm on nights, mainly because I only manage 5 hours sleep a day.
Having to do Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon nights can be a grind but it's great when it's the opposite and you get the same 4 off. I get 18 days holiday a year plus 8 bank holidays plus I can do as much overtime as I like which can be paid or taken in lieu. You can get to book some serious time off!
I personally love the shift pattern and would hate to do Mon to Fri again.
Good luck at your interview.
I currently work 12 hour shifts, but with a more complicated shift pattern that means I get one complete week off out of every 4, which is cool, but I also have a week that has 3 days followed by three nights (72 hour week!!). We also have to take 1.5 days holiday to get a shift off, but 4 shifts off at the right time means that we can have a fortnight off for 4 shifts leave! Also a 20% shift allowance helps. But you need to be a shift person, I have been a shift worker for about 20 years, had an 18 month stint of days a while back and hated only being off at the weekend. Being able to sleep during hot sunny days is a definite advantage! (and also a disadvantage having to do this!).
Shift work without doubt, kills your social life (unless you socialise with work colleagues), and can also affect your health. I've done shifts on and off for 6 years now, and used to do a pattern which involved 7 nights on the trot. It was a killer as it would take at least 4 days to get used to it and then you would be finished. I cant sleep during the day so I'd be in by 7.30 and up by 12.
I now work shifts but 10 hrs with no full nightshift. My latest is a 3am finish which is just at the point where I start to drop.
I would be very wary of a 120 mile commute. I had a 50miler when doing the daft shift pattern and the amount of times I nearly killed myself on the way home wasn't funny or worth it.
I now work shifts but 10 hrs with no full nightshift. My latest is a 3am finish which is just at the point where I start to drop.
I would be very wary of a 120 mile commute. I had a 50miler when doing the daft shift pattern and the amount of times I nearly killed myself on the way home wasn't funny or worth it.
I used to work a cracking 12 hour shift system,2 on 2 off 3 on 2 off 2 on 3 off.....then flip to the same for nights,It meant the most you had to work was 3 days straight in 14.That said its not for everyone,older guys and gals seemed to struggle,be it from family life suffering rite through to chronic indigestion from eating your "lunch" at 3 am......for me though as an 18 year old straight out of school it was fantastic,good wages and great time off....I was like a student without the books the ammount of partying I was able to do,oh and the best bit?The plant shut for three weeks in the summer and xmas so when you added the time up, I was working a total of 4 and a half months a year To be honest,monday to friday is a big loada poo poo....far better to go and get your working hours made up by long stints and get it over and done with to have a nice long four day stint off 
Enjoy ya lucky funt!
To be honest,monday to friday is a big loada poo poo....far better to go and get your working hours made up by long stints and get it over and done with to have a nice long four day stint off Enjoy ya lucky funt!Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff