What shift should i work

As we explained above, full-time work is arbitrary, with most businesses setting the bar somewhere between 30 and 40 hours per week. Part-time work, then, is a repeating schedule in which an employee works fewer hours than are required for full-time. If your business defines full-time as 40 hours per week, part-time is any number of hours less than that.

If your business defines full-time as 30 hours per week, part-time is any number of hours less than that. Which schedule — part-time, full-time, a combination of both — is right for your business? It all depends on your organizational strategy and the unique needs of your business. Many companies operate successfully with only part-time employees. Others find it valuable to employ a combination of both part-time and full-time employees.

Yet other companies only hire employees who can work full-time. For an in-depth look at the benefits and drawbacks of part- and full-time work, take a few minutes to read our article Part-Time Vs. When you realize that you can set your own definition of a typical workweek — be it 40 hours per week, 30 hours per week, part-time, full-time, or a combination of the two — you open the door to a whole host of novel approaches to shift work.

These shifts are spread out over a two-week period so that employees work 80 hours over the course of nine business days. This assumes, of course, that you define full-time as 40 hours per week. For payroll purposes, you apply the first four hours on Friday to the current workweek.

You then apply the second four hours on Friday to the next workweek. After a regular weekend Saturday and Sunday , employees come back and work four nine-hour days Monday through Thursday for a total of 40 hours over four-and-a-half workdays.

They then get Friday off. Flextime is a special arrangement in which employees can vary the start and finish of their shift as long as they work a set number of hours each day and are present during specific core hours. That would allow an employee to work 5 a. Flextime shift scheduling allows employees to factor in variables such as personal obligations, work habits, and commutes to tailor their workday for the best results. During the four-hour break, employees can, and should, leave the premises.

They can go home, run errands, or attend to personal matters such as picking up kids from school or taking care of a sick family member. For the business itself, split shifts help you control labor costs and improve the productivity of your employees. One of the many useful things about shift work is that you can tailor it to fit the needs of your business and your employees.

Or you could alter it even more and have your team members work three hour days Monday through Wednesday and two 5-hour days Thursday through Friday. The possibilities are endless, so get creative and find what works best for all parties involved.

Most shift work occurs in the service and manufacturing industries, but shift work can take place in any job. Here are the most common careers that use shift work:. The advantages and disadvantages of shift work vary from industry to industry.

For our hypothetical coffee shop, shift work gives all your employees the opportunity to work a busy shift e. This keeps your employees engaged and helps them learn how to work during peak hours. Another benefit of shift work in our hypothetical coffee shop is that it opens up time to train all employees without distracting them during busy customer hours.

After that morning rush, there will be some downtime during which you can talk with your employees or train them on a new procedure. When it comes to shift work, these are the three most popular types: morning, afternoon, and night shift. These are also commonly referred to as first, second and third shift, respectively. While the start and end times can vary depending on the employer, a job using these types of shifts essentially cuts the day into three 8-hour shifts.

This shift structure is most common in manufacturing facilities and warehouses, though other fields have adopted these shifts as well. Within the three-shift structure, morning or first shift, is the most sought-after shift. It is perfect for those who consider themselves to be morning people and like spending their evenings with their families.

Typically, the morning shift will start between 7am and 8am, but this is controlled by the employer. The morning shift is often when traffic is at its heaviest, so that should be a determining factor when choosing the morning shift. Also, it tends to be the best shift for those with children involved in after-school activities such as sports. Related post: Shift Work and Family. The afternoon shift, or second shift, is good for those who call themselves night owls, preferring to be active at night time rather than in the morning.

Generally, the afternoon shift will start between 3pm and 4pm, so it gives plenty of time to run necessary errands while still allowing for time to relax and prepare for the shift. What attracts many to this shift is the amount of leadership staff, or I should say lack of, on duty at this time. Many feel they are able to get more work done as there are fewer bosses to get in the way, as well as fewer meetings. While each employer is different, this shift tends to be popular for those who require little supervision.

This post might come in handy about now if you work 2nd shift and have little ones running or crawling! The night shift, or third shift, is perhaps the roughest of the three. It requires a little bit of grit and determination to get through. Those who absolutely love the third shift are generally those who have little to no family at home, those who identify as introverts and also those who relish the night shift environment which is commonly free from drama and a lot of people.

The third shift can include social isolation from friends and family, as you are working when almost all others are sleeping. There are other, not-so-common shift types on the market you may encounter when job hunting. Split shifts are just what their name suggests; it is a shift that breaks up the workday into two separate, often 4-hour intervals.

This type of shift is generally found in the retail spectrum when split shifts allow for staffing during the busiest hours of the day. However, some employers have allowed employees to split their workday to coincide with a reoccurring appointment, such as caring for a family member on a daily basis.

Leaving occasionally in the middle of your shift for an emergency and coming back later in the day does not constitute a split shift.

Also, hour-long lunch breaks do not constitute a split shift, even though you may leave the work premises. For a shift to be called a split shift, it must be so on the books and have at least two distinct work intervals with a period of time in between where the employee is REQUIRED to leave the premises. If you want to read more about split shifts, we wrote an entire post about it.

This shift type is extremely common in the medical field and law enforcement, though more employers seem to be making the move to hour shifts. These shifts commonly run from 7am to 7pm. Also, because making 40 hours out of hour shifts is nearly impossible, full-time with hour shifts is generally 36 hours, meaning there are often three days working with four days off. The number of off days is what attracts many to this shift type, though getting through a hour shift is extremely hard on most days.

Again, we know this shift is really common amongst our friends in the shift working world and is why we wrote a handful of posts about them. The graveyard or night shift runs overnight. Typical hours are 12 a. FirstStaff finds positions for light industrial workers in Little Rock, Arkansas and beyond. We are looking for warehouse associates, machine operators, forklift drivers, production workers and more.

Check out our available openings today! Your email address will not be published. FirstStaff is a wonderful company! I have been working here for over five years and really enjoy it. I really appreciate them finding me a job that I love and how nice and respectful the staff are to me every time I see them.

I have used other services over the past few years; FirstStaff has unparalleled customer service! FirstStaff has been there for many years to help us find the right people to get the job done. Their very personal communication and service has been excellent.