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One of the key issues with 12-hour shift schedules is how to cover absences. With 8-hour shifts, one way to cover absences is to hold an employee on the previous shift over so that he or she works two consecutive shifts or 16 hours total. Another way is to split the vacant shift into two 4-hour segments, and have someone from the previous shift stay over for 4 additional hours and have someone from the following shift come in 4 hours early. It's fairly easy to cover the open shift this way, since the replacements are already at work or planning to work later that same day.
Unfortunately, 12-hour shifts are too long for either of these approaches. Holding someone over for a second shift means they would be working 24 hours (36 hours if they are scheduled to work the next day too). With a split shift, it means the replacements would be working 18 hours straight. Clearly this is excessive.
With 12-hour shifts, the only option is to find a qualified employee who is not scheduled to work the same day as the absence. Sounds simple, right? Well it's not. Supervisors can spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find volunteers. It can be tough to reach people. Candidates may have left town or they may be too busy to answer the phone. And they simply may not want to work that day. They might have made other plans or don't want to spoil a nice multi-day break.
This is one case in which scheduling software can be beneficial for the supervisors. You'll want a program that makes it easy to both identify eligible candidates and then to contact them. Eligibility may include things like: (1) job title, (2) skill sets, (3) work schedule, and (4) recent overtime hours (to prevent over-using someone). Contact can be by email or text message. If no one volunteers within a fixed amount of time, the supervisor can select someone to cover the open position using criteria such as reverse seniority. All of this saves the supervisor a huge amount of time, freeing them up to focus on other responsibilities.
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A lot of managers are reluctant to adopt 12-hour shifts because they think they're too long. Here's what a recent client told me, "I like the idea of a 12-hour shift, but the techs in this department are required to be on their feet all day, so I have concerns about performance and burnout."
This is a legitimate concern. If there were ways to mitigate this, maybe more companies would change to 12s since they really are better for employee work-life balance. I will discuss a few possible approaches to address fatigue with 12-hour shifts.
One approach would be to split the workforce by adopting two work schedules: one with 8-hour shifts and another with 12-hour shifts. This may be difficult to achieve in very small groups, but it's worth a look. And, if the coverage varies from shift-to-shift, it still might work. You may need a scheduling expert (like me) to help you with the schedule design.
Another approach would be to add more breaks, probably more than legally required. For example, if your state requires at least one 15-minute break every 4 hours, you might offer a 10-minute break every 2 hours.
The most difficult change would be to redesign the job so that employees are not standing or performing the same process all day long. The benefits would not only be less fatigue, but also exposure to other tasks/responsibilities that may improve the employees' overall satisfaction with their jobs.
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Many larger companies have switched from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts. Smaller organizations have been slower to make the change. A major reason is that the workload in smaller companies isn't constant all day long. For example, they may need 3-person coverage from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and only 1 or 2-person coverage from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Alternatively, they need 3-person coverage around-the-clock from Monday to Friday, but only 1-person coverage on the weekends.
All of the popular 12-hour patterns (Pitman, DuPont, 3-on-3-off, 4-on-4-off, etc.) have the same coverage levels all day and all week. If a company with an uneven workload adopts one of these templates, they would either have too much or too little coverage for part of the day (or part of the week). This, in turn, would incur unnecessary costs or adversely impact the service levels.
This doesn't mean 12-hour shifts won't work; it just means that the schedule has to be modified. Here are the two possible situations and the best approaches for each:
If the workload varies by time of day, then you have to combine the 12-hour shifts with an overlay or "power" shift. You use the 12s to match the coverage for the lightest shift (usually the night shift). Let's say that's 2 people. You could use any common 12-hour pattern for 2-person coverage. Then you would overlay that with one or two shifts that boost the coverage during the busier hours of the day. This could consist of an 8-hour shift, 10-hour shift, another 12-hour shift, or two 8-hour shifts. If some of your employees are reluctant to work 12-hour shifts, this will allow a few of them to avoid changing.
If the workload varies by day of the week, then you have to modify the 12-hour pattern. This will require a custom-designed pattern, perhaps one that doesn't use crews. The solution depends on the coverage levels throughout the week and whether you want fixed or rotating shifts. I would modify popular patterns (Pitman, DuPont, etc) to reduce or increase the coverage so that it matches your workload distribution.
I believe this is a great solution for companies that want to make their work schedules more employee friendly, especially when the workers are grumbling about a lack of work-life balance. Contact us today to see how this might work for your group. You'll be glad you did. Contact us.
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Here are links to articles I've written about 12-hour shift schedules:
1. 12-hour shifts
2. 12-hour shifts in smaller organizations
3. Are 12-hour shifts too long?
4. 12-hour shift schedule considerations
5. Matching 12-hour shifts to your workload distribution
6. Mixing 8-hour and 12-hour shifts
7. 12-hour shift schedules with no overtime
8. Covering absences with 12-hour shifts
If you are looking for examples of 12-hour schedules for 24/7 coverage:
1. Package of ten different 12-hour rotating shift schedules
2. Package of ten different 12-hour fixed shift schedules
If you have any of these conditions, you will need a custom-designed schedule:
1. Your company's hours of operation are less than 24/7
2. Your coverage varies by day of the day, e.g., 4-person coverage on weekdays and 2-person coverage on weekends
3. Your coverage doesn't vary in 12-hour increments, e.g., you need 4-person coverage from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 2-person coverage from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Request help with a custom-designed schedule
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I've never seen statistics on this but, based on the inquiries for scheduling help I've had over the past 20 years, it appears that a majority of the companies that cover 24/7 use 8-hour fixed shifts. One big reason they never switched to 12-hour shifts was because their workload varied in 8-hour increments. They needed more workers during the daylight shift(s) or, in the case of police, paramedics, and call centers, they needed more workers during the evening hours, especially on Friday and Saturday.
These companies don't realize that it's possible to adopt a schedule with both 8 and 12-hour shifts. You simply create a 12-hour pattern that covers 24/7 and provides the coverage needed on the shift with the lowest workload (usually the night shift). Then you overlay that with one or two 8-hour shifts during the busier times of the day.
Here's an example. Suppose you need 4 people working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 2 people at all other times. You would adopt a 12-hour schedule that produces 2-person coverage on both shifts and overlay that with a single 8-hour day shift that produces 2-person coverage. The combination produces the exact coverage needed: 4 people from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 2 people from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Here's another example. You need 4 people from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 2 people the rest of the day. You would use a 12-hour schedule with 2-person coverage on both shifts. Then you would overlay that with two 8-hour shifts, each with 2-person coverage. That would give you 4-person coverage during the entire busy period.
Employees don't really like 8-hour schedules. They don't get many days off, they have to work a lot of consecutive shifts, and most importantly they don't get many weekends off. Why not give some of the employees a better schedule using 12-hour shifts. Not everyone will like the 12s, so they can stay on one of the overlay shifts. This seems like a perfect solution. You're not making everyone switch to 12s, and you're offering an option to improve work-life balance for those willing to change.
Why don't you give us call to see how this might work for your organization? We can show you a few different options with all 8-hour shifts as well as a few options with both 8 and 12-hour shifts. Click on this link and fill out the form to get started: Request Quote
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I've written several articles about 12-hour shift schedules. Here are links to the most popular ones:
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/12-Hour_Shifts
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=12-hour-shifts-in-smaller-companies
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=matching-12-hour-shifts-to-your-workload-distribution
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=covering-absences-on-a-12-hour-shift-schedule
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=12-hour-shift-schedules-with-no-overtime
These 12-hr articles tend to focus on schedule effectiveness and efficiency, i.e. schedules that align the coverage with the workload and utilize the smallest number of employees. Other websites that offer free examples of different 12-hour patterns imply that these are good choices for anyone changing to longer shifts. Smaller groups with uneven workloads and staffing limitations should beware.
In this article, I'd like to address things that should be considered before making the change to 12-hour shifts.
Environment. Some jobs are simply too taxing to endure for more than 8 hours. Things like excessive heat, noise, toxins, or physical labor might preclude the use of longer shifts.
Productivity, quality and safety. Some tasks are too tedious or focused to continue for more than 8 hours. To accommodate 12-hr. shifts, these jobs would require extra breaks, job redesign, and/or periodic rotation to other positions to keep employees fresh.
Different patterns. With fixed 12-hr. shifts, there is no rule that says both shifts must work the same on-off pattern. In fact, some patterns that are great for the day shift (e.g., Pitman) are terrible for the night shift. We encourage clients to have each shift select its preferred shift independently.
Worker preferences. Although many employees are willing to work 12-hr. shifts in order to get more days off and more weekends off, not everyone is. Older workers, people with childcare or eldercare concerns, students, and those with 2nd jobs often prefer 8-hour shifts.
Business issues. If the business runs 24/7 and has a steady workload at all times, 12-hour shifts can be a good choice. If the company uses fixed shifts, 12-hour fixed shifts are a little more efficient than 8-hour fixed shifts, which may mean a smaller headcount. If the workload is not steady, it may be necessary to use a combination of 8 and 12-hour shifts.
Absence coverage. If the organization has a high absence rate, 12-hour shifts might not be a good choice. That's because absences must be covered by someone who is scheduled to be off. This can defeat the extra days-off advantage of the longer shifts.
Pay policies. Most pay polices (e.g., holiday pay, vacations, sick leave, etc.) were written for 8-hour shifts. These polices need to be revised to reflect the 12-hr shifts. For example, with 8-hour shifts new employees get 10 days of vacation per calendar year (80 hours). If this policy was not modified before changing to 12-hour shifts, the new employees might get 120 hours of vacation per year.
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Most shift length comparisons look at 8-hour shifts vs.12-hour shifts. They also focus on the advantages or disadvantages from the employee perspective. This post will address 10-hour shifts vs. 12-hour shifts from a management perspective.
10-Hour Shifts
The primary advantage of 10-hour shifts (and only justifiable reason for considering them) is that they enable organizations to match their coverage with a variable workload. They are able to do this because the shifts overlap one another for 6 hours a day. There are three workload patterns that can be accommodated with 10s:
The workload is higher for a single 6-hour period every day.
The workload is higher for 12 hours every day.
The workload is higher for 16 hours every day.
Many police and dispatch centers have workload patterns like these, which is why you will find 10-hour shifts used so often in these organizations. Companies with steady workloads should never adopt 10-hour shifts. For them, the overlapping shifts are a waste of manpower.
The primary disadvantage of 10-hour shifts is that they require more staff than 8s or 12s since they require the employees to work 30 hours a day (three 10-hour shifts) instead of the usual 24 hours. As a result, the organization would have to employ 25% more people with 10s than with 8s or 12s. Other problems with 10-hour shifts are covered in more detail here: http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/10-Hour_Shifts.
12-Hour Shifts
The key advantage of 12-hour shifts is that they will produce maximum coverage from a given set of workers. Sometimes organizations can use this "extra" output to cover absences without resorting to mandatory hold-overs or call-ins:
They can produce coverage that exceeds the minimum requirements.
They can build relief coverage into the schedule.
The biggest downside of 12s is that they require overtime in the schedule. Half the work weeks are 36 hours (three 12-hour shifts) and half are 48 hours (four 12-hour shifts). There are ways to eliminate or minimize this, but they are rarely worth the effort, e.g., see http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=12-hour-shift-schedules-with-no-overtime.
Alternative Scenarios
If the organization has a variable workload, 10-hour shifts might be the best choice. The three situations in which 10s work best were listed above.
If the organization has a steady workload, 12-hour shifts are the obvious choice. 10-hour shifts would be too wasteful since they would require more staff than 12-hour shifts. For example, if the organization needs 4-person coverage on a 24/7 basis, this would require 21 employees with 10-hour shifts and only 16 employees with 12-hour shifts. That's 31.25% more personnel.
If the organization has limited staff relative to its coverage requirements, 12-hour shifts are the best choice. Using the example cited above, an organization with 16 employees could produce 4-person coverage with 12s but only 3-person coverage with 10s.
If the organization has a high absence rate and sufficient staff, they can use 12-hour shifts to either create extra coverage or relief coverage in the schedule. Let's say they have 16 employees but only need 3-person coverage. With 12s, they could either increase the coverage on each shift to 4 people or, if they have rotating shifts, build relief coverage into the schedule.
If the organization has both a variable workload and a high absence rate, which is common with many police departments and communication centers, the choice between 10s and 12s becomes more difficult. 10s are best for the variable workload, whereas 12s are best for squeezing extra coverage out to compensate for absences. The choice depends on which is most important to the organization, though it often boils down to what they can afford which usually means 12-hour shifts.
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One of the most popular pages on my website contains a discussion of the pros and cons of 12-hour shifts. Here's a link to that page if you haven't seen it: www.shift-schedule-design.com/12-Hour_Shifts.
This article will address a different aspect of 12-hour shifts, namely how the longer shifts fit with different 24/7 workload distributions.
Constant Workloads
When the volume of work is steady throughout the day, the best shift length is either 8-hours or 12-hours. That's because they divide evenly into a 24-hour day. With 8-hour shifts, there would be three shifts with the same coverage on each shift. With 12-hour shifts, there would be two shifts with the same coverage.
Other shift lengths, e.g., 9-hour or 10-hour shifts, do not divide evenly into 24 hours. This means they will have overlapping shifts, with double coverage during the overlaps. 9-hour shifts will have 3 hours in which the shifts overlap. 10-hour shifts will have 6 hours in which the shifts overlap. Overlaps can be achieved with 8 or 12-hour shifts simply by including an unpaid meal break in each shift.
These other shift lengths (9s or 10s) are not an efficient choice for organizations with a constant workload distribution. In addition to the producing double coverage for part of the day, they also require a larger staff because the organization has essentially extended the hours of operation to 27 or 30 hours a day. 9-hour shifts require 12.5% more personnel and 10-hour shifts require 25% more personnel than 8-hour or 12-hour shifts.
Now that we've shown the best choice for a constant workload is 8 or 12-hour shifts, let's take a quick look at the staffing requirements. Here is a simple example. If you need 2-person coverage around-the-clock, you will need 336 hours of coverage per week (2 people * 24 hours/day * 7 days/week = 336 hours/week). If you divide this by 40 hours per week, you get 8.4 employees. If you divide this by 42 hours per week, you get 8 employees. 42 hours/week is commonly used in 24/7 schedules because it allows the use of 4 crews in the schedule.
The only exception to this is 8-hour fixed shifts. With these, each shift's staffing requirements must be calculated separately. In the example with 2-person coverage on each shift, this will require 3 people on each shift working an average of 37.3 hours a week (2 people * 8 hours/day * 7 days/week = 112 hours/week / 3 employees = 37.3 hours/week). The total staffing with fixed 8s would be 9 employees.
With the exception of 8-hour fixed shifts, 8s and 12s for steady coverage require the same number of employees working the same average hours per week. Since both shift lengths cost the same, this generally means that the choice between 8s and 12s can be left up to employees. When employees are asked if they want 8s or 12s, most will say 8s. However, when they are shown examples of schedules with both shift lengths, most will say 12s.
Variable Workloads
Many smaller establishments do not have constant workloads. They are often slower at night and on the weekends. For example, on Monday-Friday, they may need 4-person coverage from 0700 to 2300 and 2-person coverage from 2300 to 0700. On Saturday and Sunday, they only need 2-person coverage all day.
When the workload is lighter on weekends, this can be accommodated with either 8-hour or 12-hour shifts. When the workload is lighter at certain times of the day, this can be more difficult to match with 12-hour shifts. That's because most groups find their busy hours correspond more closely with one or two 8-hour shifts, i.e. for 8 or 16 hours a day. Let's look at examples of each of these.
Example #1. In this example, the organization needs 4-person coverage for 8 hours and 2-person coverage for 16 hours a day. This requires 11.2 employees working an average of 40 hours a week with 8-hour rotating shifts (12 people with 8-hour fixed shifts). If you use one 12-hour shift with 4-person coverage and one with 2-person coverage, you have 4-person coverage for 4 hours longer than necessary. It also would require 12 employees working an average of 42 hours a week.
The best way to accommodate 12-hour shifts in this scenario is to use 12-hour shifts for the 2-person coverage around-the-clock and an 8-hour overlay shift that matches the busy period. This would require 11 employees. You could either combine the two shift lengths into a single schedule or make a separate schedule for each shift length.
8 people on 12s --> 2-person coverage for 24/7
3 people on 8s --> 2-person coverage for 8/7
Example #2. In this example, the organization needs 4-person coverage for 16 hours and 2-person coverage for 8 hours a day. This requires 14 employees working an average of 40 hours a week with 8-hour rotating shifts. (15 people with 8-hour fixed shifts). If you use one 12-hour shift with 4-person coverage and one with 2-person coverage, you have 4-person coverage for 4 hours less than necessary. If this is unacceptable, you would have to have 4-person coverage on both shifts. This would require at least 16 employees working an average of 42 hours a week.
The best way to accommodate 12-hour shifts in this scenario is to use 12-hour shifts for the 2-person coverage around-the-clock and two 8-hour overlay shifts that match the busy period. This would require 14 employees. You could either combine the two shift lengths into a single schedule or make a separate schedule for each shift length.
8 people on 12s --> 2-person coverage for 24/7
6 people on 8s --> 2-person coverage for 16/7
Conclusions
There are lots of other possibilities when it comes to variable workloads. If you want to include 12-hour shifts in the schedule, you can follow the generic approach desribed in this article:
If the workload varies by day of the week, use two 12-hour shifts with a modified work pattern. Popular 12-hour patterns such as Pittman, Panama, DuPont, 3-on-3-off, etc. have the same coverage throughout the week. Therefore these patterns must be modified to match the daily variations. This is best handled by someone who is experienced in schedule design. They can ensure that the schedule: (1) matches the daily coverage variations, (2) averages close to 40 hours a week, and (3) maximizes weekends off for employees.
If the workload varies by hour of the day, you can use two 12-hour shifts for the base coverage. Then you will use one or more additional shifts that match the length of the busy period. I discussed 8-hour and 16-hour busy periods above. Your busy period might require something other than one or two 8-hour shifts. For example, if your busy period is longer than 18 hours, you might use an 8-hour and a 10-hour overlay shift. In some cases, you may want these shifts to overlap so that the coverage is increased further during the hours of overlap.
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I've written several articles about 12-hour shift schedules in 24/7 operations. Here are links to the most popular ones:
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/12-Hour_Shifts
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=12-hour-shifts-in-smaller-companies
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=matching-12-hour-shifts-to-your-workload-distribution
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=covering-absences-on-a-12-hour-shift-schedule
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=are-12-hour-shifts-too-long
I also sell 2 packages with 10 different options: one with only 12-hour fixed shifts and another with only 12-hour rotating shifts. You can read more about this here: Schedule Examples
Most 12-hour shift schedules for 24/7 coverage use 4 crews. When you divide the hours in a week (168) by 4 crews, you get a average of 42 hours/week. With 12-hour shifts, this will require half the work weeks to be 36 hours (three 12-hour shifts) and half to be 48 hours (four 12-hour shifts).
In many organizations, especially public agencies, avoiding overtime is a high priority. They view overtime as evil or an unnecessary expense. I have repeatedly tried to argue the fallacy of this belief, yet I continue to get requests for 12-hour schedules with no overtime in them. Here are 2 articles on this topic:
http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Overtime_Issues
https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=why-eliminating-overtime-in-24-7-schedules-can-be-costly,
Reducing the hours of work to 40 or less a week will result in gaps in the coverage and will require additional personnel to fill the gaps. In most cases, this is more expensive than simply keeping overtime in the schedule. In addition to higher costs, this will also require other sacrifices as seen in the following four approaches to eliminating overtime in 12-hour schedules for 24/7 coverage.
Here is a key to the symbols used in the schedules below:
D12 = 12-hour day shift
N12 = 12-hour night shift
d8 = 8-hour day shift
n8 = 8-hour night shift
d4 = 4-hour day shift
a4 = 4-hour afternoon shift
e4 = 4-hour evening shift
n4 = 4-hour night shift
Here is how the schedules work. When the schedule first starts, the crews are assigned to specific weeks in the cycle. Crew A is assigned to start in Week 1, Crew B is assigned to start in Week 2, and so on. At the end of each week, the crews rotate down to the next week in the cycle. Crew A moves to Week 2, Crew B moves to Week 3, etc. When a crew completes the last week, they rotate up to Week 1.
1. Eliminate the 48-hour work weeks. This sounds simple enough. Just change all the 48-hour work weeks to 36 hours by eliminating one of the shifts. To maintain the same coverage, this will require 5 crews (a 25% increase in headcount), rotating shifts, and a 4-hour pay cut for all employees. (Note that with fixed shifts, this would require 6 crews). There will also be one shift with double coverage (in the example below, it's the Friday day shift). Here's one example of a 5-crew schedule:
Crew / Week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Hours
A / Week 1
-
-
-
-
D12
D12
D12
36
B / Week 2
D12
-
-
D12
D12
-
-
36
C / Week 3
-
D12
D12
-
-
-
N12
36
D / Week 4
N12
-
-
-
N12
N12
-
36
E / Week 5
-
N12
N12
N12
-
-
-
36
Average
36
2. Include an 8-hour shift. If you devote one day a week to 8-hour shifts and give one of the three 8-hour shifts to employees who are outside the group (e.g., part-time employees), the remaining four crews would average 40 hours a week. You would have to use a 12-hour work pattern in which the 36-hour weeks and 48-hour weeks are staggered and you would have to be able to average the work hours over a 2-week period (most companies can't do this because of overtime laws). In the sample shown below, the 8-hour afternoon shift on Wednesday would have to be given to employees who are not part of the four crews. That uncovered shift is not shown in the table below.
Crew / Week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Hours
A / Week 1
-
D12
d8
-
-
D12
D12
44
B / Week 2
D12
-
-
D12
D12
-
-
36
C / Week 3
-
N12
n8
-
-
N12
N12
44
D / Week 4
N12
-
-
N12
N12
-
-
36
Average
40
3. Include a 4-hour shift. If you devote one day a week to 4-hour shifts and give two 4-hour shifts (or one 8-hour shift) to employees who are outside the group, the remaining four crews would average 40 hours a week. This does not require the averaging of pay over a 2-week period or a pattern with staggered 36 and 48-hour weeks. In the sample shown below, there is an 8-hour gap in coverage on Wednesday that would have to be given to part-time employees or someone outside the four crews. That uncovered shift is not shown in the table below.
Crew / Week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Hours
A / Week 1
-
D12
d4
-
-
D12
D12
40
B / Week 2
D12
-
a4
D12
D12
-
-
40
C / Week 3
-
N12
n4
-
-
N12
N12
40
D / Week 4
N12
-
e4
N12
N12
-
-
40
Average
40
4. Reduce the work days to 11.5 hours. If you include a 30-minute unpaid meal break in the 12-hour shift, you only have to pay employees for 11.5 hours. You would have to adopt a 12-hour shift pattern in which the 48-hour weeks and 36-hour weeks were staggered. This won't completely eliminate the overtime, and you would have to be able to average the work hours over a 2-week period. An example is shown below:
Crew / Week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Hours
A / Week 1
-
D11.5
D11.5
-
-
D11.5
D11.5
46
B / Week 2
D11.5
-
-
D11.5
D11.5
-
-
34.5
C / Week 3
-
N11.5
N11.5
-
-
N11.5
N11.5
46
D / Week 4
N11.5
-
-
N11.5
N11.5
-
-
34.5
Average
40.25
If you are subject to Federal law that requires overtime after 40 hours a week, you won't be able to use Options #2 or #4. These can only be used by organizations such as police departments that are allowed to average the work hours over a 2-week period.
If you don't have enough part-time employees or you don't have employees from another department to cover the 8-hour gap in coverage every week, you'll won't be able to use Options #2 or #3. You'll either need a 5-crew schedule (see Option #1), a schedule with 11.5-hour shifts (see Option #4), or a crewless schedule that is custom-designed around your staff size.
Let's do a quick cost comparison of 4-crew schedules vs. 5-crew schedules:
4 crews * 40 hours/week * 1.4 benefit loading cost + 4 crews * 4 hours of OT pay/week = 240 hours of pay/week
5 crews * 36-hours/week * 1.4 benefit loading cost = 252 hours of pay/week
If you already have enough staff to create a 5-crew schedule, here's a way to save money. Keep the OT in the schedule and use your extra capacity to build relief coverage into the schedule to cover absences. Similar to Option #1, you would have a 5-week schedule that averages 42 hours a week. The difference is that the 5th week of the schedule would be devoted to relief coverage.
Doing this would shift the OT from outside the schedule to inside the schedule. When the overtime is outside the schedule, it requires volunteers or forced / mandated overtime. When it's inside the schedule, it is shared equally by the entire staff. In many cases, the total overtime is less. You can read more about this here: https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=you-can-t-eliminate-overtime-but-you-might-be-able-to-reduce-it.
We sell packages of 12-hour shifts for $199 apiece. One packages has 10 options with only fixed shifts and the other has 10 options with only rotating shifts. These all average 42 hours a week. You can read more about it here: https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Schedule_Examples.
If you need help designing a 12-hour schedule with no overtime (e.g., to match your pay week or to accommodate a few part-time employees), please fill out this form: https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/21.html
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Advantages and disadvantages of 12-hour shifts Longer shifts have become increasingly popular with workers in 24/7 operations. However, some managers still have reservations due to concerns about safety and productivity. Let's explore each group's perspective. After that, we'll discuss a couple of scheduling issues related to 12-hour shifts. Shiftworker Opinions In surveys of over 20 thousand shift workers, 74% said they would like to work more hours a day in order to get more days off each week. With each of our larger clients, we show the workforce several different schedule options that satisfy the client’s business coverage requirements. By educating employees about the various possibilities, they are able to make more informed choices from the schedule alternatives. The options we show employees typically include one or more 8-hour, combined 8 & 12-hour, and 12-hour schedules. Roughly 90% of the time, the highest-rated schedules consist of 12-hour shifts. Reasons for the ... | |
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