Several years ago, I visited the forum at 911Dispatch.Unfortunately, that website has closed as the person who ran it has retired. Too bad because the site had a lot of useful information on it and I would often reply to people on the forum who asked scheduling questions. Here's one of the posts I came across: "We just hired a 5th dispatcher and I am trying to come up with 10-hour shifts that are agreeable to all. We are currently on 12's, where we get 4 hours OT built in each pay period (two weeks). We work one dispatcher per shift. Our schedule is 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. Does anyone work 10's with just 5 people?" This woman apparently assumed that 10-hour shifts were a good idea because they would avoid the built-in overtime. The only concern was finding an on-off work pattern using the 10s. She didn't mention other factors that should be considered when making decisions about a new schedule, for example: 1. Workload. I believe that the workload is the most important consideration in the selection of a new schedule. The ideal schedule matches the coverage with the workload. If the workload is fairly constant throughout the day, 10-hour shifts are not a good choice since they overlap for 6 hours a day. Why would she want double coverage for 6 hours a day if it wasn't needed? It might even exceed the number of work stations the group has. If she can use the extra coverage, that's great, but there was no mention of that in her forum posting. 2. Absence rate. If her organization had a high absence rate, she probably should use the 5th employee for relief coverage, not to enable 10-hour shifts. 3. Training. If she needed to build training time into the schedule, I would use the extra capacity for that purpose rather than changing to 10-hour shifts. 4. Cost. Many people think that changing from 12-hour shifts to 10-hour shifts will eliminate overtime. To have 1-person coverage with rotating 10-hour shifts, the organization will need 5 employees working an average of 42 hours a week. The only difference from the 12s is that the 10s require one additional employee.  5. Employee preferences. Even though most employees say they prefer 10-hour shifts over 12-hour shifts, when they compare the actual schedules for each shift length, roughly 90% will favor the 12-hour schedules. The 12s offer more days off and more weekends off. Also the on-off patterns and crew configurations are easier to understand. 6. Fixed shifts. With the 12-hour shifts, her group could either use fixed or rotating shifts. If they change to 10-hour shifts, the only option is rotating shifts. Fixed 10-hour shifts would require 6 employees for the coverage she wants. And with the fixed 10s, there would be one day of overlap every week. They could end up with 4 people working for the 6 hours that the shifts overlap on the overlapping day of the week. Many people think that the selection of a new schedule starts by picking the shift length and then finding an on-off pattern that works. They reach out to others in their industry for ideas and suggestions. Unfortunately, this ignores other important considerations that can create a negative work environment (e.g., insufficient coverage during busy periods, mandatory overtime to cover absences, lack of time for training, loss of fixed shifts, and undesirable schedules). Schedule selection should always start with the workload and associated coverage requirements. Is there sufficient staff to achieve the coverage requirements or will it be necessary to build overtime into the schedule? What shift length(s) would work best at matching the coverage with the workload? Are there other issues, such as a high absence rate or a strong preference for fixed shifts, that should be considered? The next step would be to create a couple of different options that allow the employees to compare features such as shift length, consecutive days of work, nature of the breaks (i.e. days off), and the number of weekends off. That way they can make an informed decision based on the good and bad points of each option.

This is the 5th in a series of posts regarding scheduling considerations that affect employee alertness and fatigue. In this post, we're going to take a brief look at the impact of the schedule format, i.e. fixed vs. rotating shifts. This is an important scheduling decision all organizations must make. Should the employees only work a single shift or should they periodically rotate through all the shifts? You can read the pros and cons from the employee and management perspectives elsewhere on my website (http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Fixed_Shifts). As you can see, this is a pretty complex decision. For the single issue of alertness, however, the answer is simple: Fixed shifts are the best, period. There is substantial research showing that rotating shifts have higher health risks and lower overall alertness than fixed shifts. I would never base the decision on fixed vs. rotating shifts (what I commonly call the schedule format) on alertness alone. But since this series of blog posts is focused on fatigue in the workplace, skipping this scheduling variable would be inexcusable.

  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  

Here's another comment I read at the 911Dispatch forum from someone who wants to adopt 10-hour shifts: "Our center has been looking into getting away from our 8 hour shifts. Most everyone here wants either 8's or 10's, 12's are out of the question for now anyways. We have 12 full time dispatchers, 3 being leads. Has anyone found a way to work a ten hour schedule with that number of people? Most of the research I've done says it is not able to be done." I'm going to break my comments down into a couple of categories: 1. Workload. Is there ever a mention of a variable workload? No. So why are they considering 10-hour shifts? 10-hour shifts are only appropriate for organizations whose workload varies throughout the day. I suspect that the desire to adopt 10-hour shifts is merely employee preferences to get more days off and more weekends off. Unfortunately, this is insufficient justification. 10-hour shifts require some major sacrifices, so you'll need a lot more than just employee preferences to support the change. Sorry to be so blunt about it, but there are several limitations to 10-hour shifts that employees fail to recognize. Some of them will be discussed below. 2. Coverage/staffing. To provide 3-person coverage on a 24/7 basis using 10-hour shifts would require 15 employees working an average of 42 hours a week. This organization only has 12 employees. They could have 3-person coverage on one shift and 2-person coverage on the other two shifts. If they tweaked the start/end times on the shifts, they could make the overlapping shifts cover another 6 hours of the day. The end result would be 4-person coverage for 6 hours, 3-person coverage for 10 hours, and 2-person coverage for 8 hours. 3. Crews. Most 10-hour shift schedules don't use crews. They are what I refer to as "crewless" schedules. For this group, I would create a 12-week schedule. Each employee would be initially assigned to one of the 12 weeks. When they finished the first week, they would rotate to the next week of the schedule. They would continue doing this until the finished the entire schedule, at which time they would go back to the first week of the schedule. 4. Leads. There are 3 leads. If they are working 10-hour shifts and are needed at all times, the organization would need 2 more leads. Even then, they would have to work 42 hours a week on average. And they wouldn't always be working with the same set of employees. This will make it much more difficult to supervise. 5. Overtime. Sometimes people think that changing to 10-hour shifts will allow them to have a schedule with no overtime built into it. Unfortunately, that only occurs with certain levels of coverage. The most efficient 10-hour schedule will have multiples of 7 people on each shift which will produce multiples of 4-person coverage. For the 3-person coverage this organization needs, overtime would be needed to ensure consistent coverage. As with their current 8-hour schedule, they would average 42 hours per week if they had 15 employees.    

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.  

When organizations struggle to make ends meet, overtime often becomes a target in their budget reduction plans. Although reducing overtime may be financially prudent for most departments, it is a poor choice for those that operate around-the-clock. Here's why. The simplest and most common way to provide 24/7 coverage is with four crews. If the crews work 40 hours a week, that provides 160 hours of coverage (4 crews * 40 hours = 160 hours). The problem is that there are 168 hours in a week (24 hours * 7 days = 168 hours). The easiest way to close the 8-hour gap is to have the four crews work a small amount of overtime (an average of two hours per employee every week). With 8-hour shift schedules, that requires three hours extra pay for each employee, or a 7.5 percent increase.  With 12-hour shift schedules, that requires four hours of additional pay for each employee, or a 10 percent increase. If an organization is prohibited from using overtime, it must choose one of the following approaches to avoid gaps in coverage: 1. Use part-time employees. Some smaller organizations can do this, though it can be a challenge to find and retain good part-time employees. With larger groups, it can be difficult to fit part-time employees into the schedule without having one shift staffed solely with part-timers. This approach will increase costs by 5 percent. Although slightly less expensive than using overtime, it has limited applicability. 2. Use more than four crews. A schedule that uses more than four crews requires a larger headcount. If an organization does this, they usually allocate some of the extra work hours to training, relief, maintenance or special projects. Even if you ignore the cost of benefits for the additional employees (usually anywhere from 40 percent to 50 percent of the wages), this approach will increase costs by at least 25 percent. 3. Use a crewless schedule. Instead of scheduling groups of personnel (i.e. crews), you could develop a schedule for each individual employee. This approach also will require more employees than a typical four-crew schedule. The number depends on: (a) the shift length, (b) whether the shifts are rotating or fixed, and (c) the number of job categories/positions involved. This can increase costs anywhere from 7.7 percent to 50 percent if you ignore the cost of benefits. In most cases, this approach will cost more than using a four-crew schedule with built-in overtime. Although overtime is often perceived as something to be avoided (because it requires a time-and-a-half pay premium), it is not the most expensive approach for providing 24/7 coverage. Using part-time employees to supplement four full-time crews is the least expensive solution, but this is only feasible in smaller groups. So, before banning overtime, it is important to recognize that the policy will force groups that operate around-the-clock to adopt schedules that are actually more expensive. When organizations view overtime as an expense rather than a strategic tool, they often make three major mistakes: They staff for peak demand. In order to have enough resources on hand to respond to short-term fluctuations in demand, they over-staff instead of using overtime. Usually this is the most expensive approach. They sacrifice customer service. Without overtime, they are unable to respond to fluctuations in demand. In short, they sacrifice customer service to avoid overtime. They build up an inventory of excess product to have a cushion for demand variations. The cost of this inventory must be passed on to customers. Here are three more articles on overtime. Reasons for using overtime. Four valid reasons for using overtime are: (1) 24/7 coverage, (2) workload fluctuations, (3) staff variations, and (4) labor market considerations. Overtime problems. High overtime, especially when it continues for an extended time period, has several potential drawbacks: (1) an overtime-dependent workforce, (2) safety and quality issues, (3) absenteeism, and (4) lower productivity. Correcting overtime problems. To avoid overtime problems, you should regularly monitor overtime and absences. You also should understand the workload variations and take steps to improve the accuracy of your demand forecasts. Periodically, you should review your organization's overtime distribution policies to make sure they are working properly.

Wikipedia defines para-transit as follows: "Para-transit is recognized in North America as special transportation services for people with disabilities, often provided as a supplement to fixed-route bus and rail systems by public transit agencies. Para-transit services may vary considerably on the degree of flexibility they provide their customers. At their simplest they may consist of a taxi or small bus that will run along a more or less defined route and then stop to pick up or discharge passengers on request. At the other end of the spectrum—fully demand-responsive transport - the most flexible para-transit systems offer on-demand call-up door-to-door service from any origin to any destination in a service area. In addition to public transit agencies, paratransit services are operated by community groups or not-for-profit organizations, and for-profit private companies or operators." Because the demand for para-transit services is so highly variable, scheduling the drivers is a challenging task. Most para-transit organizations tend to rely on overtime and a large pool of drivers that can be called into work when needed. I believe there is huge opportunity to schedule the drivers more effectively and reduce the costs. This opportunity comes from two key points. The first point is that historical trip volumes can and should be used to develop a schedule. The second point is that relief coverage is the best way to accommodate both employee absences and deviations from historical average trip volumes. Let's take a closer look at the specific steps involved. Step #1: Historical Trip Volumes The first step is to determine the workload distribution throughout the hours of operation. Start by categorizing the trip data into 2 or 3 groups based on the time involved. For example, Category A consists of trips that last 30 minutes or less. Category B consists of trips that last 30 to 60 minutes. Category C consists of trips that last more than 60 minutes. Then look through the past year's historical data of trips made during every 30 minutes of the hours of operation. So if the first trip of the day begins at 6 a.m., I would calculate the average number of trips in each category between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Then I would do the same for 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., and so on. I would put these averages into a summary table. If you have the data (and the time), you could also determine the maximum number of trips that occurred during each 30-minute period and add this data to the summary table. You also could create separate tables for each region in the service area and for each season of the year. Step #2: Driver Requirements The second step is to determine the coverage requirements. The number of drivers needed during each 30-minute period depends on the type of service the organization offers. If the service is door-to-door, you will need one driver for each trip. If the service is limited to fixed routes, you will need fewer drivers per trip. The point is that you will need to translate the trip volumes into driver requirements by time of day. In scheduling jargon, this is called establishing the coverage requirements. Once these figures are made available, a scheduling expert can help with the remaining steps. I say this because the next few steps are the most difficult part of the process. Step #3:  Schedule Framework This step will determine the shift lengths, start times, and number of drivers needed on each shift.  This is basically a trial and error process. Here is a simple example: Time Period       Drivers Needed 0600 to 0700                       5 0700 to  0900                      6 0900 to 1300                       8 1300 to 1500                       7 1500 to 1800                       5 You begin with the first time period of the day (0600 to 0700). 5 drivers are needed on this first shift. You can test the three standard shift lengths: 8-hour, 10-hour and 12-hour shifts according to how well they fit with the afternoon requirements. If we use a 12-hour shift, this will means 5 drivers will be working from 0600 to 1800. This matches the coverage needed from 1500 to 1800, so that would be the best choice. For most organizations, it's never this simple and compromises (e.g., over-staffing for part of the day) are likely to be necessary. 6 drivers are needed during the second period (0700 to 0900). We therefore will need 1 driver on this second shift (since we already have 5 people at work from the first shift of the day). Again we will test the three standard shift lengths for the impact on the afternoon. The best choice would be an 8-hour shift since anything longer would unnecessarily boost the coverage after 3 p.m. when it isn't needed. We continue this process, sometimes going back to the beginning and changing earlier choices to make the entire framework more efficient, i.e. no understaffing and minimal overstaffing. The framework I would choose is as follows: Shift Length       Drivers                 Time Covered 12                             5                         0600 to 1800  8                              1                         0700 to 1500  4                              2                         0900 to 1300 If part-time drivers are not allowed in an organization, I would choose the following framework: Shift Length       Drivers                 Time Covered 12                             5                          0600 to 1500 8                               3                          0700 to 1500 Step #4:  Basic Staffing Requirements                                                                                                                                    Now that we know the shift lengths and coverage requirements, we can determine the number of drivers needed to produce the coverage requirements. The 12-hour shift will require 10 drivers to produce 5 drivers every day of the week. The 10 drivers will all work an average of 42 hours a week. The 8-hour shift will require 2 drivers to produce 1 driver every day of the week. They will average 40 hours a week and there will be 3 days a week in which both drivers must be scheduled to work (to ensure 40-hour work weeks). If you can use part-time drivers, you can avoid the days of overlap. The 4-hour shift will require as many part-time drivers as you want. Step #5:  Supplemental Staffing Requirements                                                                                                                 In the previous step, we focused on the staff needed just for the coverage requirements. But remember, the coverage is based on the average number of trips, not the peak demand. Also, drivers get sick, take vacation, or change jobs. That means we need some extra staff to allow for this. If we assume a 10% absence rate and another 30% difference between the peak demand and average demand, we need a 40% relief allowance. In addition to the extra staff needed for relief coverage, some of the shifts will need extra personnel to simplify the schedule design. Here's a summary of the staff needed for each shift: Shift                      Basic Staff           Relief Staff           Extras                 Total Staff 0600 to 1800               10                            4                        1                             15 0700 to 1500                 2                            1                        0                               3 0900 to 1300                 2                             1                       1                               4 Step #6: Schedule Design For the 12-hour shift, we will create a 3-crew schedule (5 drivers per crew) that averages 42 hours a week. For the 8-hour shift, we will create a 3-crew schedule (1 driver per crew) that averages 40 hours a week. For the 4-hour shift, we will create a schedule that averages 20 hours a week. We will use the staff on this part-time shift as trainees and reserves for full-time employees that decide to change jobs. Here is an example of a schedule for the 12-hour shift: Crew/Week       Sun        Mon      Tue        Wed      Thu        Fri           Sat          Hours A / Week 1            -            12         12             -            -           12            12             48 B / Week 2          12             -            -            12         12           -               R             36 C / Week 3          R              R          R            R           R            R             -               42 The three crews of 5 employees are assigned to one of the 3 weeks in the cycle. Crew A is assigned to start in week 1, Crew B is assigned to start in week 2 and Crew C is assigned to start in week 3. At the end of each week, the crews move to the next week of the cycle: Crew A moves to week 2, B moves to week 3, and C moves up to week 1. They continue to move through the 3-week cycle. All three crews are working the same 3-week schedule. They are merely in different weeks of the 3-week pattern. R is a relief shift which means the crew is on-call for the entire 7 days shown. If someone from week 1 or week 2 is scheduled for vacation, an employee on relief will simply work the vacationer's schedule that week. If no one is absent, the employees on relief can be called in for a couple of hours to satisfy a temporary increase in demand. The organization should establish rules on the priorities for relief work and limits on the hours and number of days worked during the 7-day period. Here is an example of a schedule for the 8-hour shift: Emp / Week       Sun        Mon      Tue        Wed      Thu        Fri           Sat          Hours A / Week 1            -               -           8             8           8            8              8               40 B / Week 2            8              8           -             -            R            R             R              40 C / Week 3            R             R          R            R           R            -              -                40 Conclusions We've demonstrated how assembling historical data on trip volumes can be used as the foundation for scheduling transit drivers. We also illustrated how to build extra capacity into the schedule to cover absences/vacancies and temporary fluctuations in demand. The key point is that schedules for variable workloads are ideally based on actual data rather than gut feelings, intuition, overtime considerations, etc. Using a full-time scheduling person that spends the day on the phone trying to get drivers to come to work is not the most efficient or effective approach when it comes to scheduling para-transit drivers. So if you want to keep service levels high and costs low, see if we can make this new scheduling process work for you.  

You can't believe how many people search for the terms "12-hour shift schedule examples" or "24/7 shift schedule examples." They apparently assume that any attractive schedule example will work. They also believe that they can "sell" their co-workers or upper management on this new schedule. These are dangerous assumptions. In groups of less than 50 employees, work patterns you find searching the Internet won't necessarily be the best choice. That's because they are designed for 24/7 coverage using 4 crews. They also may have different overtime weeks. And pushing a single scheduling option is rarely going to gain widespread support or buy-in. When I design schedules, creating the work pattern is the very LAST STEP in the process. I start by asking how the workload varies by hour of the day and by day of the week. Most organizations don't track this, but they can tell you the coverage requirements at different times of the day. Usually this is expressed in 8-hour blocks because the organization was using 8-hour shifts and they know the coverage needed on each shift. In many cases, this approximates but doesn't accurately match the work volumes. Many smaller organizations have either a heavier or a lighter workload on weekends. Police departments and dispatch units are often busiest on Friday and Saturday, especially in the evenings or when the bars close. Other industries often have less work on the weekends and can reduce the coverage to just one or two people all day Saturday and Sunday. Once you know the coverage requirements, you can determine whether the available resources are adequate. The resources are the staff size, absence rate, and average hours of work each week. I use a staffing calculator similar to the one on my website. You can access it here: http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Staffing_Calculator. Then I decide which shift lengths would best match the coverage requirements. In most cases, this is either 8-hour or 12-hour shifts. 10-hour shifts are only considered if the workload increases for 6, 12 or 16 hours a day. That's because the 10-hour shifts overlap for that many hours, depending on how you use them. For most 24/7 organizations, 10-hour shifts just have too many limitations. The next step is to look at the preferred schedule format, i.e. fixed or rotating shifts. Although employees tend to prefer fixed shifts, they present several challenges for management. With 8-hour shifts, using fixed shifts also may require a few more employees. The final step is to develop different work patterns. Sometimes, popular patterns such as the Panama, Pittman, DuPont, 4-on-2-off, 6-on-3-off, etc. can be used. Sometimes these patterns can be tweaked to fit the organization's overtime week. Sometimes a pattern must be created from scratch. The key point is that you should never start with a pattern. It will not ensure the most effective or efficient use of your staff. It can cause over-staffing. It can cause unnecessary overtime or sacrifice the maximum possible number of weekends off. It should always be the last step in the design process. During this final step, other considerations may come into play. For example, the group may be able to build relief coverage or training time into the schedule. They may have a bargained requirements for no less than 2 consecutive days off. Or they may want a slow shift rotation. These often require custom-designed patterns. One last point. I always encourage clients to choose from multiple options. This allows you to compare the pros and cons, and make the necessary tradeoffs. I also recommend that clients use a strategic schedule selection process, as described here: http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Schedule_Selection_Process. This will lead to superior choices that are supported by a majority of the employees who must work the schedule plus managers who oversee the operation.

Higher-ranking law enforcement personnel (e.g., Police Chiefs, Sheriffs, Captains, and Lieutenants) tend to look at 10-hour shifts in a different way than their subordinates do. They are well aware of the popularity of 10-hour shifts among the officers/deputies, but often are unable to adopt them due to resource constraints. Let's look at the major considerations in the change to 10-hour shifts from the management perspective. Overtime Since four 10-hour shifts add up to 40 hours a week, some people believe 10-hour shifts will eliminate overtime from the work schedule. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as shown below: Coverage Crews Schedule Format Average Workweek 1 crew     5    Rotating shifts           42 1 crew     6      Fixed shifts           40 2 crews     5    Rotating shifts           42 3 crews   15          Either           42 4 crews   21          Either           40   A crew can consist of one to hundreds of officers. Unlike many 8 or 12-hour shift schedules that require 4 crews, 10-hour schedules require 5 or more crews. For example, to have 1-person coverage around-the-clock, you need 5 people if you use rotating shifts and 6 people if you use fixed shifts. To have 2-person coverage, you would need 10 people (5 crews of 2 each) with rotating shifts and 12 people (6 crews of 2 each) with fixed shifts. The most common 10-hour schedules rely on 5 or 15 crews. These schedules average 42 hours a week, the same as most 8-hour and 12-hour schedules that use 4 crews. I occasionally get calls from Police Captains and Lieutenants who have tried to create a schedule on their own, but can't make it work. They didn't realize that the schedule needed an occasional 50-hour work week or that it required more crews. Overtime is unnecessary only when the schedule is comprised of 6 crews or 21 crews (and sometimes with a crewless schedule).   Overlapping Shifts A schedule that uses three 10-hour shifts will have 6 hours a day in which the shifts overlap one another, producing double coverage. There are two common ways to use the overlaps: Overlap each shift by two hours. Officers on the out-going shift can do their paperwork while officers on the in-coming shift are out on the street. This ensures continued coverage throughout the day. This approach tends to be preferred by the officers. Align the overlapping shifts with the busiest period of the day. Coverage can be boosted for 6, 12 or 16 hours a day depending on how the shifts are scheduled. I recommend this approach because the primary reason for having a schedule is to allocate the resources to match the workload. The downside is that it often requires unusual shift start/end times. This approach tends to be preferred by management. Coverage Reduction The biggest problem with 10-hour shifts is that they require more resources than 8-hour or 12-hour shifts. A 10-hour schedule requires more staff because the officers are really covering 30 hours a day (three 10-hour shifts). This will either require 25% more personnel or a 25% reduction in the coverage levels. In most cases, headcounts are frozen, so the impact is reduced coverage on each shift. Even if sufficient staff is available, they are usually needed for other purposes such as absence coverage. Since the absence rates in most police departments are rather high, most Chiefs opt to use any “extra” staff in one of two ways: Increase coverage levels above the minimum. For example, a department needs 3 officers on each shift. This requires at least 12 officers working an average of 42 hours a week. They use their staff of 16 officers to provide 4-person coverage. This allows for up to one absence on each shift. Build relief coverage into the schedule. This is often more efficient than increasing the coverage on each shift. For example, the same department only has 14 officers, so they adopt a 14-week rotating shift schedule in which 2 of the 14 weeks are devoted to relief coverage. This requires fewer staff and provides more flexible absence coverage. When the "extra" coverage is lost, absences (like vacations, sick time, training, court time, etc.) will have to be covered using overtime. This is the most common reason for rejecting the switch to 10-hour shifts. This is such an important point that I have to repeat it. Adopting 10-hour shifts will reduce the coverage on each shift (except for the periods of overlapping shifts). Since part of this coverage provides a cushion for absences, the 10-hour shifts will result in much higher levels of overtime.   Absences Some people believe that 10-hour shifts will reduce absences. Since the longer shifts provide one additional day off each week, this time can be used for doctor's appointments or other personal business. I am not aware of any studies that confirm this, but it seems possible. The Shift Length Experiment prepared by the Police Foundation did not report any significant reductions in sick leave when switching to 10s (http://www.policefoundation.org/publication/shift-length-experiment/). If there is an impact, it is undoubtedly small.    Conclusions 10-hour shifts are universally popular with the officers. Chiefs or Sheriffs are aware of this, but often lack adequate resources to make the change. The simple fact that 10-hour shifts require at least 25% more staff than other approaches means that few departments can afford them. From what I've seen, it's primarily the larger departments that have adequate resources to adopt 10s. Smaller departments (less than 30 officers) rarely have enough personnel.