Notation
A notation used often identifies day (D), swing (S) and night (N) shifts for the W days and O (off) for rest days. ; W: work days :; D: day shift, 1st shift, early shift :: This shift often occurs from either 06:00 or 07:00 to either 14:00 or 15:00 for eight-hour shifts, and from 06:00 to 18:00 for twelve-hour shifts. :; S: swing shift, 2nd shift, late shift, afternoon shift :: This shift often occurs from either 14:00 or 15:00 to either 22:00 or 23:00 for eight-hour shifts, and is not used with twelve-hour shifts. :; N: night shift, 3rd shift, graveyard shift :: This shift often occurs from either 22:00 or 23:00 to either 06:00 or 07:00 for eight-hour shifts, and from 18:00 to 06:00 for twelve-hour shifts. ; F: free days :; O: days off :: This is defined as a day on which a shift does not begin. ; A~F : work teams (starts from A as first team) Note that a worker transitioning from N to O works for the first six or seven hours of the first day "off". Thus, when days off follow night shifts, the first one or more days "off" are, in fact, days of recovery from lack of nighttime sleep. This daily notation refers to the start of a shift. If a shift starts at 23:00, then this is a W day even though only one hour is worked. The day after this shift is an F day if no shift starts on this day, though many hours have been worked from midnight on. One shift system may allow many shift plans. For example, the twelve-hour, 2''n''W:2''n''F system with ''n'' = 1 allows twelve different plans in three serially-identical sets. Within a set, DONO has the same sequence as NODO. DNOO is the preferred sequence because days off follow night work and there are two consecutive days off.3-day shift plans
Prior to 2014, the4-day shift plans
In the ''12/24/12/48'' or ''12/24'' plan, employees work in shifts of 12 hours; first a "daily shift" (e.g. 06:00 to 18:00), followed by 24 hours' rest, then a "nightly shift" (18:00 to 06:00), finishing with 48 hours' rest. This plan needs four teams for full coverage, and makes an average 42-hour workweek. The pattern repeats in a 4-week cycle, i.e. over 28 days, and has 14 shifts per employee therein.5-day shift plans
In ''four on, one off'' the employee only gets one day off after a work streak of four days. There are 28 shifts per employee in a five-week cycle (i.e. 35 days). This adds up to an average of 42 hours worked per week with 7½-hour shifts. This plan is mainly adopted by industries in which companies prefers to work for all days of the week, often with four (overlapping) shifts per day, and where laws do not let employees work for 12 hours a day for several days. Five groups of employees are needed to cover a specific shift on all days, where each group gets a different day off.6-day shift plans
In ''four on, two off'' the employee gets two days off. There are 28 shifts per employee in a six-week cycle (i.e. 42 days), this adds up to an average of 56 hours worked per week with 12-hour shifts, or hours per week with 8-hour shifts. Three groups are needed for each time span, i.e. to cover the whole day and week a company needs 6 groups for 12-hour shifts or 9 groups for 8-hour shifts. This plan is mainly adopted by industries in which employees do not engage in much physical activity.Week shift plans
Three-shifts
The ''three-shift system'' is the most common plan for five 24-hour days per week. The "first shift" often runs from 06:00 to 14:00, "second shift" or "swing shift" from 14:00 to 22:00 and a "third shift" or "night shift" from 22:00 to 06:00, but shifts may also have different length to accommodate for workload, e.g. 7, 8 and 9 or 6, 8 and 10 hours. To provide coverage 24/7, employees have their days off ("weekends") on different days. All of the shifts have desirable and less desirable qualities. First shift has very early starts, so time in the evening before is heavily cut short. The second shift occupies the times during which many people finish work and socialize. The third shift creates a situation in which the employee must sleep during the day. To provide an overlap in shifts, some employers may require one of the shifts to work four 10-hour shifts per week (as opposed to five 8-hour shifts, both are 40 hours per week). In that scenario, the night shift might extend from 21:00 to 07:00, but the night- shift would have nearly four days off (86 hours) between work weeks. This change, along with first shift moving a half-hour later, or second moving a half-hour earlier, ensures at least a half-hour overlap between shifts, which might be desirable if the business is open to the public to ensure that customers continue to be served during a shift change. Some U.S. states, such as California, accommodate this arrangement by allowing the employee to be paid at their regular rate (as opposed toFour on, three off
In ''four on, three off'', each employee works four days and gets a three-day weekend. For some types of manufacturing, this is a win-win arrangement. For example, a paint company had been making 3 batches of paint per day, Monday through Friday (3 × 5 = 15). They changed to making 4 batches of paint, Monday through Thursday (4 × 4 = 16). Total worker hours remained the same, but profits increased. In exchange for two additional hours of work per day, over 4 days, workers got an additional day off every week. See also the book, '' 4 Days, 40 Hours''.Continental plan
''Continental plan'', adopted primarily in central Europe, is a rapidly changing three-shift system that is usually worked for seven days straight, after which employees are given time off, e.g. 3 mornings, 2 afternoons and then 2 nights.24*7 shifts
In the ''24*7'' plan there are 24 consecutive shifts of 7 hours per week, hence covering 24/7. With 4 groups and 6 shifts per group, the work time is 42 hours per week. Several sub-patterns are possible, but usually each group is responsible for one of four time slots per day. Each of these is 6 hours long and if a shift begins in their time slot, a group has to work it. This way there are 14, 21 or 42 hours of rest between shifts, every group gets one whole day off. Shifts can be swapped to make double-shifts and increase the minimum time of rest.Split shift
''Split shift'' is used primarily in the catering, transport, hotel, and hospitality industry. Waiters and chefs work for four hours in the morning (to prepare and serve Lunch), then four hours in the evening (for an Evening meal). The average working day of a chef on split shifts could be 10:00 to 14:00 and then 17:00 to 21:00Earlies and lates
''Earlies and lates'' is used primarily in industries such as customer service (help desk, phone-support), convenience stores, child care (day nurseries), and other businesses that require coverage greater than the average 09:00 to 17:00 working day in the UK, but no 24/7 coverage either. Employees work in two shifts that largely overlap, such as ''early shift'' from 08:00 to 16:00 and ''late shift'' from 10:00 to 18:00 In businesses where two shifts are necessary to cover the day, earlies and lates may be combined with one double shift per week per worker. Six 7-hour shifts in five days and seven 6-hour shifts in six days both result in 42 hours per week.28-hour day
The 6-day week with 28 hours per "day" is a general concept for full week coverage where the 168 hours of the week are grouped differently. It can be used as a base for several shift plans, e.g. four 7-hour shifts per day where every employee works six shifts for a total of 42 hours per week.21-hour day
The 8-day week with 21 hours per "day" is a general concept for full week coverage where the 168 hours of the week are grouped differently. It can be used as a base for several shift plans, e.g. three 7-hour shifts per day where every employee works six shifts for a total of 42 hours per week, but to get whole days off groups work alternating double shifts.8-day shift plans
''Four on, four off'' is a shift plan that is being heavily adopted in the10-day shift plans
The ''6 on, 4 off'' plan is commonly used in British police forces. The pattern worked consists of 2 early shifts, 2 late shifts, 2 night shifts and 4 days off. Shifts last 9–10 hours, creating some overlap between the 5 teams.12-day shift plans
The ''6 on, 6 off'' plan consists of 3 days and 3 nights of work, then 6 days off. These will alternate between other crews, also known as teams, for a full 24/7 operation. The 12-day pattern repeats in a cycle of twelve weeks, i.e. 84 days.Fortnight shift plans
Panama Schedule
The ''Panama plan'' follows a 2-2-3 pattern throughout a7-day fortnight plan
In the ''7-day fortnight plan'' or ''2-3-2'' plan, employees work their allotted hours within 7 days rather than 10 in a10-day fortnight plan
A ''10-day fortnight plan'' uses six shifts. Each shift works for seven days straight for their first week. On their "off week", they can choose three days to come in, to support other non-shifted departments, fill gaps in coverage, or participate in training.Five and two
The ''five and two'' or ''3-2-2'' plan provides 24/7 coverage using 4 crews and 12-hour shifts over a fortnight. Average hours is 42 per week but contains a 60-hour week which can be challenging.5/4/9s
''5/4/9s'' or ''Five/Four Nines'' is a mix of 5-day and 4-day work weeks. Employees work in two-week cycles. Week 1, the employee works 4 days of 9 hours followed by 1 day of 8 hours with 2 days off (i.e. 44 hours). Week 2, the employee works 4 days of 9 hours with 3 days off (i.e. 36 hours). Like 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, this plan works to 80-hours in a two-week pay-period. Since employees work on nine days per cycle, this plan is also referred to as ''9/80''. The benefit to working an extra hour a day gives you a normal 2-day weekend followed by a long 3-day weekend the next. Typical working hours for this type of shift would be 06:00 to 15:30 (9 hours with 30 minutes lunch) and 06:00 to 14:30 (8 hours with 30 minutes lunch) on the 8-hour work day. Often the employer will alter the starting times (e.g., start at 07:00 or 08:00). A variation, ''early weekend'' or ''4½-day week'', has the employees work every Friday, but only for 4 hours each. Their weekend thus starts with the Friday lunch break.Long-term shift plans
DuPont 12-hour rotating plan
The ''DuPont 12-hour rotating plan'' provides 24/7 coverage using 4 crews and 12-hour shifts while providing a week off. Average hours is 42 per week but contains a 72-hour week which can be challenging. It is used in several manufacturing industries in the US. Companies that have gone to this schedule have noticed a decrease in accidents plus more rest for employees, less call ins, and more coverage when crews are short handed. In all the schedule is designed to improve safety. A particular advantage of this plan is that it can readily be slewed to fit business requirements. For example, if less coverage is required on a Sunday, stand-alone shifts are avoided by scheduling the fourth night and first day of four on that day. This also has the additional benefit of the quick turnaround day between three shift days and nights also falling on a Sunday. To balance pay into 36- and 48-hour weeks, many US companies shift the DuPont Schedule so the seven-day rest period ends on Friday night. To allow 3 full days off following a shift of nights, the day off between three days and three nights is removed. This example allows for a recover day after 3 nights before a weekend off and for some workers more appropriately balances work/life.Seven-day eight-hour rotating plan
The ''seven-day eight-hour rotating plan'' provides 24/7 coverage using 8-hour shifts with 5 crews. It consists of a "morning shift" from 07:00 to 15:00, a "swing shift" from 15:00 to 22:30 and a "night shift" from 22:30 to 07:30. Each shift works for five days straight. The 8-hour shifts allow vacations and absences to be covered by splitting shifts or working double shifts. The run of day shifts is 56 hours, but the 8-hour shift provides time for some socializing after work. This plan was once common in the pulp and paper industry in the Western United States but has been largely replaced by an 8 days, 8 swing, 5 nights, 9 off, 8-hour rotation.Graveyard shift
Graveyard shift, night shift, or third shift means a shift of work running through the early hours of the morning, especially shifts starting around midnight. The origin of this phrase is uncertain. According toOn-call
Employees who work on an on-call basis have no regular schedule. They agree as a condition of employment to report to work when they are called, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is particularly common inFirefighting schedules
In many North American fire departments,Three-platoon schedules
The most basic three-platoon schedule is a straight rotation of 24-hour shifts among three platoon groups. This rotation limits time off to 48 hours in a row, less than 66 hours off in a row most workers get each weekend. Workers on this schedule only get one short weekend off every three weeks. Twenty-four hours off-duty is also the minimum required to completely recover from a period of acute sleep deficit. Another option is known as a California roll, where some shifts will be close together but allow for several days off. This option gives a 96-hour break every 9th day, which is contiguous to the conventional weekend on two of nine weekends, with a third weekend providing a break that starts on Saturday morning. There is an opportunity to accumulate sleep debt over the three days of work, however this debt should be completely cleared over the four-day break. The nine-day rota that is repeated to fill the calendar. A firefighter will work 24 hours on, 24 off, 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 96 hours (4 days) off. This rotation reduces the chronic sleep deficit accrued over the first two work days at the expense of a shorter long break. This schedule's long break coincides with a standard weekend exactly once every nine weeks. The four-day break could be retained by working a fourth day in the rotation - XOXOOXOXOOOO. A firefighter will work one day, off one, work one, off two, work one, off four days. A number of departments have investigated further work consolidation by allowing for a 48-hour work shift. Careful demand management would be required to avoid acute sleep deficit, however, firefighters should return to work fully recovered from the previous shift. Kenneth B. Ellerbe chief of theFour-platoon schedules
The most basic four-platoon schedule is a straight rotation of 24-hour work shifts between four work groups or platoons. This schedule works 48 hours per week for three weeks and 24 hours the fourth week, averaging 42 hours per week. Another variation of the 24-hour shift schedule is a 4-platoon system, averaging 42 hours/week. Thus, the schedule is 24 on, 48 off, 24 on, 96 off, on a 4-day rotation.Split day and night shifts
In other fire departments, firefighters work shorter shifts, such as a mix of 10-hour day shifts and 14-hour night shifts. The advantage is that firefighters have shorter working hours. The disadvantage is that they may sometimes have only 12 hours to recover between one night shift and the next. The 2005 Canadian Firefighter study comparing two models with 24-hour shifts with three models requiring at least three consecutive night shifts, found that consecutive nights were shown to be more deleterious to performance than a single, long shift. Performance effectiveness 75% after two consecutive nights and lower after three, compared to 78% for a 24-hour shift. If the schedule induces sleep deficit in a subsequent day shift, this performance would be worse. On the ''2-2-4'' schedule, firefighters work two 10-hour days, two 14-hour nights, and then have four days off. This schedule's long break aligns with the conventional weekend for exactly two weeks out of eight. The majority of Australian fire brigades use this schedule (which is locally referred to as the '10/14' or '4 on, 4 off' roster) The rota is: DDNNOOOO. The ''2-2-3'' schedule is also known as theSee also
*References
Further reading
* Burr, Douglas Scott (2009) 'The Schedule Book', '{{ISBN, 978-1-4392-2674-2'. * Miller, James C. (2013