A split shift is a type of
shift-work
Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of, or provide service across, all 24 hours of the clock each day of the week (often abbreviated as ''24/7''). The practice typically sees the day divided into shifts, set periods of t ...
schedule
A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are i ...
where a person's work day is split into two or more parts.
A regular break for rest or to eat meals does not count as a "split".
For example, a person may work from 05:00 to 09:00, take a break until 14:00 and then return to work until 19:00. This kind of pattern is especially common for people such as
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
employees (where it is advantageous to have additional staff working during traditional
rush hour
A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
times) or
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
staff that work at lunchtimes and during the evening.
Workers
About 3% of Americans work a split shift.
This work schedule is followed by about 9% of workers in the transportation, utilities, and agriculture industries.
Split shifts are most common among low-income workers.
They are also common among people who primarily work in the evening.
Workers on this schedule are more likely to be subject to
mandatory overtime.
People working split shifts are just as likely to be men or women, and equally likely to be parents of small children.
Married Americans are somewhat more likely to work a split or rotating schedule than single people.
Effects
Split shifts can tie employees to work for extended periods, and the time in between shifts can be lost traveling to and from work. People working split shifts report somewhat more
work–family conflict
Work–family conflict occurs when an individual experiences incompatible demands between work and family roles, causing participation in both roles to become more difficult. This imbalance creates conflict at the work-life interface.
It is impor ...
, such as not being able to spend as much time with their children, than people on a regular work schedule, and slightly more than people on a rotating work schedule.
Work stress
Occupational stress is psychological stress related to one's job. Occupational stress refers to a chronic condition. Occupational stress can be managed by understanding what the stressful conditions at work are and taking steps to remediate thos ...
is not increased by working a split shift.
However, there are also benefits for some workers. For example, California law requires employers to pay the equivalent of one extra hour's pay to most employees who are working split shifts.
Some workers may prefer regularly scheduled split shifts to provide a break for other activities, such as caring for children after the end of the school day and before the other parent gets off work.
See also
*
Shift plan
The shift plan, rota or roster (esp. British) is the central component of a schedule (workplace), shift schedule in shift work. The schedule includes considerations of shift overlap, shift change times and alignment with the clock, vacation, train ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Split Shift
Working conditions