9-to-5 is shorthand for the workday (Thanks, Dolly Parton!) but it’s not an entirely accurate description of when people are getting the job done. In many industries, shift coverage is required around the clock. The solution is known as shift work: employees working at different times throughout the day (and night).
Seems like an obvious solution, right? It can be, but if you’re new to HR, the terms used to describe common shifts can be confusing. And when it comes to scheduling shift work, keeping everyone happy can be challenging, even for seasoned experts.
Here’s a refresher on different types of work shifts, schedules, and working hours.
Are There Different “Categories” of Workers?
Before you can understand the types of shifts, it helps to know the various categories of employees whose schedules you’ll be setting.
- Full-Time Employees – These workers average 40 full-time hours per week at either an hourly rate or with a salary. A full-time employee is generally eligible for any benefits offered from the company.
- Part-Time Employees – These employees work less than 40 hours per week while being paid at an hourly rate.
- Seasonal Employees – Seasonal employees are hired strictly to help meet the peak time needs of a company. Some examples include retail workers hired over the winter holidays or lifeguards working the summer months.
- Temporary Employees – Your company may have a special project or a full-time employee may need to be out for an extended period of time due to medical leave. In these cases, a company can bring in an employee on a temporary basis. These employees usually have a set start and stop date.
- On-Call Employees – Businesses that have a particular ebb-and-flow may choose to have an on-call pool of employees. These are employees who will work only on an as-needed basis.
With this understanding of the types of categories a worker could fill, you can next figure out how to best use them to meet the needs of your company.
What are the Types of Work Shifts?
The common types of shift work schedules include:
- First Shift: The hours for a first shift, sometimes known as the day shift or morning shift, are usually pretty close to what you’d expect for the “traditional” working day, starting in the morning and ending in late afternoon. These employees could work the standard 9 to 5, but first shifts can also start earlier or end later. Most office-based and manufacturing roles will require at least some employees to work first shift.
- Second Shift: The second shift, also known as the swing shift, afternoon shift, or evening shift, generally runs from afternoon to around midnight. The timing of the shift can vary dramatically, and start times can be as early as 11 a.m. or as late as 5 p.m. In many industries, especially hospitality, this can often be the busiest shift of all.
- Third Shift: The third shift goes by many alternative names: the night shift, the midnight shift, or the graveyard shift. It generally begins around 11 p.m. or midnight and lasts through the morning. Working this shift often comes with a shift differential, offering employees a higher rate of pay. Night shifts, while considered undesirable by some employees, are necessities in essential roles such as healthcare and policing.
- Split Shift: Sometimes the reality of jobs doesn’t match up well with conventional shift times. Take hospitality, where busy periods of lunch and dinner are often separated by long quiet spells. In cases like these, companies might choose to create a split shift schedule, where employees also take a long break in the middle of their shifts.
>> Download Paycor’s Guide to the 5 Types of Hourly Workers.
Why do Employers Use Different Shift Schedules?
Employers tend to use different shift schedules to:
- Meet the needs of their business. For example, a hospital that never closes or a manufacturing company that is trying to meet consumer demands needs employees working around the clock.
- Promote well-being of their staff. By balancing employee schedules, employers can give their staff adequate time to rest and recuperate between shifts.
- Create consistency among work teams. Regular shift schedules can foster consistency within work teams, ensuring team members are familiar with each other’s working styles and responsibilities.
- Provide fairness. Rotating schedules gives all employees equal opportunities to work both favorable and less desirable hours, promoting a sense of fairness and reducing potential grievances within the team.
What is the Healthiest Work Shift Type?
Unsurprisingly there is no universal “healthiest shift” to work. You may have recently heard about compressed work schedules, in which employees work 80 hours over nine days, so they get a total of five days off in any two-week period. While this shift pattern might fit some employee preferences, it’s not the right solution for all employees.
Each work shift has its own benefits and drawbacks, but those are felt most on an individual worker basis. For example, one study, in the medical journal,Ergonomics, found a correlation between age and tolerance for shift work.
Your responsibility as an employer is to gauge the abilities and physical and mental needs of each employee and use that knowledge to place them into an appropriate work shift. For example, it can be hard to adjust to working nights, so it’s best practice for employees to find out their future shifts far in advance, giving them time to taper their sleep schedules accordingly.
How Can Better Scheduling Help?
The big question for employers is whether to create one regular schedule and force employees to stick with it or offer more freedom for employees to choose their own schedules. What we know for sure is that the earlier schedules are released, the better. Note that this can also be a compliance issue: Some jurisdictions have predictive work schedule laws that punish companies for changing schedules at the last minute.
While splitting up schedules into shifts is easy enough, knowing the best strategy for assigning employees is a different matter. The simplest method is to create fixed shifts, where some employees work the same days per week while others always work nights. However, you might not have enough qualified staff who are willing to always work nights. If this is the case, you can use rotating shifts.
What Are Some Quick Tips for Choosing the Right Shift Schedule?
Choosing the right shift schedule involves understanding different shift patterns and how they impact both productivity and employee well-being. Common shift patterns:
- Fixed Shifts: Employees work the same hours each day. This pattern is easy to manage and predictable for workers, but it may not always align with fluctuating business needs.
- Rotating Shifts: Employees alternate between different shifts. While this pattern ensures coverage across all times, it can be challenging for workers to adjust to frequent changes in their schedule.
- Split Shifts: Employees work two separate shifts in a day. This pattern allows for flexibility and ensures coverage during peak times, but it may disrupt an employee’s daily routine.
- Flexible Shifts: Employees have more control over when they work, often choosing shifts that best fit their personal schedule. While this pattern boosts work-life balance and employee satisfaction, it requires robust scheduling software to manage effectively.
The right scheduling software makes all the difference. Not only does an automated solution allow you to create and publish schedules quicker than ever, but you can also assign roles yourself (to ensure you have the right spread of skills and seniority) and then create open shifts for remaining employees to pick up.
Scheduling software can also give employees somewhat flexible work schedules in that it allows them to swap shifts with other employees, without managers having to act as a go-between, saving valuable time while avoiding no-shows. With more control over their schedules, and plenty of advance warning, shift workers can more easily achieve work/life balance, offering a great boost to employee engagement.
How do You Choose the Right Shift Scheduling Software?
Here are five things to consider when choosing a scheduling software.
- How easy is it to use (for you)? Can you easily enter and move employees around in any given shift period? How easy is it to duplicate past schedules?
- How easy is it to use (for employees)? It may be super easy to enter schedules, but how easy is it to retrieve them? Is the employee view mobile-friendly? Will it show each employee only what they need to see?
- What are the integration capabilities? Ideally, your scheduling software will work in tandem with other HR systems to provide a holistic view of each employee schedule.
- Is it historically accurate? How easy is it to retrieve the “who worked what when” information when you’re trying to view team details, past hours worked, and other historical information?
- What type of information can be added? If it’s important for you to be able to add work instructions with shift details (e.g. Do XYZ during your shift), make sure that’s an option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have more questions about work shifts and scheduling? Check out the FAQ below.
What are the legal and compliance considerations for implementing different shift types?
Ensure you follow all applicable labor laws when implementing different shift types. This includes obeying:
- Predictive work schedule laws
- Child labor laws
- Collective bargaining agreements
- Laws on maximum working hours and overtime pay
How do shift schedules affect team dynamics and employee morale?
Shift schedules significantly impact team dynamics and employee morale. Fixed shifts promote team cohesion, while rotating shifts can disrupt relationships but encourage wider collaboration. Flexible and compressed shifts often enhance work-life balance and job satisfaction, whereas irregular and night shifts are generally less desirable.
You may find that some employees prefer the night shift. When possible, understanding and accommodating employee shift preferences and offering flexibility boosts employee morale.
How can I reduce the negative effects of night shifts on employees?
To support night shift workers, provide adequate breaks, ensure consistent shift rotations, and offer access to health and wellness resources, like meditation apps or fatigue management training.
Paycor Can Help
Paycor Scheduling helps businesses optimize their work schedules, manage costs, and improve productivity. The engaging self-service platform empowers employees to trade shifts, set their availability, and drop or pick up open shifts with manager approval.
With mobile scheduling, real-time notification, interactive dashboards, and more, the software enables managers to make informed staffing decisions. Schedule a demo today.
