Continental shift?

[206]

Looks like in the new year the company may be going continental shift work....Anyone work it or used to work it? Whats the best pattern?

 

Only benefit I see so far is more time to fish.

[pics]

I'm on a schedule that has me working every other weekend with nights and days alternating... 12 hour shifts.. our plant runs 365 days a year... I'm always tired on my days off.... the benefit is that you can fish during the week when it's quiet..

[leaf4]

My dad works if and loves it, days off has all the time to do what he wants to when he wants to

[Joeytier]

I work shift work. I am a vacation replacement but if I were on a steady crew I would work Mon-Tues dayshift, Fri-Sat-Sun night, Wed-Thurs days etc..I do like it for the simple fact that you're only at work 7/14 days as opposed to 10, and I have no problems with nights, and yes more time to fish and get things done with having weekdays off.

[skeeter99]

Only benefit I see so far is more time to fish.

 

??????????????????????

 

you would get 13 weeks holidays plus whatever holiday u currently have????

 

this is the best continental shift (12 hr) 13 rotations in a 12 month period

 

4 days o

7 days off

4 nights

3 days off

3 days

1 day off

3 nights

3 days off

 

then the rotation starts over again

 

u only work 14 days a month

u only use 44 hiours vacation to get 15 days off

any days when u are (scheduled off) on a stat holiday u get another day off in lieu of that day. depending on when the holidays fall on your shift u might get another 7 days off

 

 

there are lots of benefits to this

Edited October 24, 2014 by skeeter99

[pics]

I can tell you that my schedule does not include any of those perks.lol.. I'm in tonight but off for the weekend. When I get home tomorrow I will sleep for a couple of hours in the morning before I start my day. This will leave me with a hangover Saturday. It all depends on how your body responds to the lack of sleep. As you get older it gets much tougher to cope and if you aren't the type that sleeps all that well it only gets worse from there. You have to turn down a lot of social gatherings on work days/ weekends. It's just too tough when you get home at 7:30 pm and leave at 5:30 the next day to go back. We have to work part of every long weekend as well as Christmas, new years etc.. there are no days off in lieu of a holiday when it's a 365 day operation...

[skeeter99]

I can tell you that my schedule does not include any of those perks.lol.. I'm in tonight but off for the weekend. When I get home tomorrow I will sleep for a couple of hours in the morning before I start my day. This will leave me with a hangover Saturday. It all depends on how your body responds to the lack of sleep. As you get older it gets much tougher to cope and if you aren't the type that sleeps all that well it only gets worse from there. You have to turn down a lot of social gatherings on work days/ weekends. It's just too tough when you get home at 7:30 pm and leave at 5:30 the next day to go back. We have to work part of every long weekend as well as Christmas, new years etc.. there are no days off in lieu of a holiday when it's a 365 day operation...

 

these are not perks this is what is laid out if you are a provincially regualted employee or a federally regulated employee

 

did u sign papers agreeing to this work schedule? law says evey 2 years it must be reviewed and voted upon

 

my work runs 24/7 365 also, what do you mean u do not get days off in lieu of holiday. It is against provincial and feral law, guys at your work need to smarten up and look at what the provincial and federal regs are for modified work schedules (continental)

 

I will give u an example

 

a guy working monday to friday and x-mas falls on sat and boxing day on sunday

1. he would not go into work on monday and tuesday of the following week (he gets holiday off in lieu)

 

now u work shifts and your shift is not scheduled on xmas or boxing day (your days off that would be the same for the monday to friday guy)

 

1. u would get 2 days off (dictated by company or at your choice)

 

I have been working these shifts for 22 years now and if your employer is doing this to you guys u are owed alot of time off or back pay

Edited October 24, 2014 by skeeter99

[4x4bassin]

I work for an airline based at Pearson and we work around the clock , 365 days of the year with all different shifts

available to me . Right now I work 4 days on from 14:30 to 01:10 then 4 days off steady . Great shift but by that

fourth day I'm starting to get a bit tired . The rotation of the days off are great , nothing better then heading up to

the lake mid week for a couple days of fishing .

Just to add to the above comment . I do not get days in lieu for working holidays either or do I get overtime .

I work Christmas and it's just like any other day , been doing that for 25 years now . It's all about the contract

you or the people before you vote on I guess .

Edited October 24, 2014 by 4x4bassin

[BillM]

I used to work a 3 on, 4 off, 4 on, 3 off with Stelco when I worked IT at their command centre in Jacksons Square. Shifts would rotate days/nights (7am-7pm and vice versa)... No complaints.

[manitoubass2]

Best shift I ever worked was 7 days on, 7 off, 7 nights on, 7 off. Loved it

[Gerritt]

I work continentals. Works like this....

 

630am-700 pm (days)

630pm-700 am (nights)

 

 

Monday Tuesday DAYS

Wednesday Thursday OFF

Fridays Saturday Sunday NIGHTS

Monday Tuesday OFF (1 day and a half turn around.... Ugh.... I find it hard once a month)

Wednesday Thursday DAYS

Friday Saturday Sunday OFF

Monday Tuesday NIGHTS (basically 3.5 days off once a month.

Wednesday Thursday OFF

Fridays Saturday Sunday DAYS

Monday Tuesday OFF

Wednesday Thursday NIGHTS

Friday Saturday sunday OFF ( Monday start the cycle again....)

 

I like it, I work 14 days a month, days off during the week.... The only PIA Is The 1.5 days turn over from nights to days...

 

Black out your bedroom window to sleep during the day. I also find a small fan in the room helps to add "white" noise should the family be up and making noise while you are sleeping.. Picked up this tip from a member here when I first started.

 

I have a ton more time home now then I ever did working straight 8's

 

G

 

Any questions for me..... Fairly new to this myself... >2years....

 

I learnt what works for me..... Be sure to take care of you feet is my biggest advice..

Edited October 24, 2014 by Gerritt

[porkpie]

Shift work is where its at! 4 on 4 off, 24/7/365. Every 4 days is a mini vacation. Sure I work weekends, holidays, nights, you name it, and the shifts are long. But I get a ton of time off, and life is good. I don't shop saturday/sunday, I do everything that needs to be done during the week. If your spouse is monday to friday, and not understanding then it can be a bear. If you have kids, and your wife, and by extension the kids don't understand that daddy worked all night friday, and needs to sleep saturday, then its a bugger of a time. The strength of your relationship, and wether your partner sees the benifits of the shift work will make or break the whole deal. Fortunately for me, my wife has never known anything but shift work in all the time we've been together. I've seen new guys that have had a hell of a time with a monday to friday partner. Some years you will work xmas and new years, some years you hit the lottery and have both off (if your work is 365, otherwise this doesn't apply of course). I'm on a lottery year!! Good luck!

[pics]

Gerrit, I work the same shifts. While I like them it is getting tougher as I get older... And yes the day and a half turn around is tough.. we get overtime for working on the holiday plus 8 hours stat holiday pay. Good money but when you have small kids it's hard to miss Christmas, easter etc..

[Gerritt]

Pics, I'm lucky I guess. We shut down for Xmas and Boxing Day, (paid) we also shut down for 2 other stats a year to clean out air washers etc....

All of which is paid

 

I work every other holiday I can get my hands on. Triple time I would be stupid not too.

 

I also get N days so if another shift B/C rotation have a stat that they have to be off I also get a day off... Makes things fair.

 

I am enjoying shift work, especially because we can afford the wife to not have to go back to work.

 

G

Edited October 24, 2014 by Gerritt

[Gerritt]

Only benefit I see so far is more time to fish.

 

??????????????????????

 

you would get 13 weeks holidays plus whatever holiday u currently have????

 

this is the best continental shift (12 hr) 13 rotations in a 12 month period

 

4 days o

7 days off

4 nights

3 days off

3 days

1 day off

3 nights

3 days off

 

then the rotation starts over again

 

u only work 14 days a month

u only use 44 hiours vacation to get 15 days off

any days when u are (scheduled off) on a stat holiday u get another day off in lieu of that day. depending on when the holidays fall on your shift u might get another 7 days off

 

 

there are lots of benefits to this

I can use my schedule to take my 120hours and turn then into a lot more... Use 2-12 hour shifts and get a week off... Works for us. Add holidays, N days, personal time etc etc.

[crappieperchhunter]

I have worked 3 continental shifts. The best one is the exact one Gerritt has already outlined. You never work more then 3 shifts in a row except if you put in some OT. And every other weekend is a long weekend off. We did a rotation for awhile that had you get 7 days off in a row every fourth week but the only full weekend you had off was the weekend that fell in the middle of your 7 days off. The other 3 weekends a month you either ended up working the weekend or having to work nights Friday which meant you got off work at 7AM Saturday morning. The week off once a month sounded great but it really sucked when I had 3 weekends a month messed up with young kids at home into sports.

 

Gerritt mentioned a fan and blacking out the windows to help you sleep during the day. Another tip... have as cold a shower as you can tolerate JUST before you go to bed. It will lower your core temperature a little bit. Your body does this naturally while you are sleeping so in effect you are tricking your body into thinking it is time to hit the hay. Also when you are heading home in the morning to go to bed wear the darkest sunglasses you can find for the drive home. The less bright sunshine you have shining in your eyes just before bed the better you will sleep.

 

Our company got rid of the continental in 2004. We work 8 hours Mon-Fri now but I would go back to continental in a heart beat. I loved that shift and all the time off.

[pics]

Personal days? , N days, what are those?. We are allowed to take one week of our vacation as singles so a monday, Tuesday gives us a week.. the only problem with that is our vacation weeks start on Sunday and finish Saturday.. nothing like having to work the Saturday before you go away or the Sunday after you come back..it all depends how it falls into your schedule.. the 2 weeks around Christmas and new years come with the threat of an extra suspension if you don't have an approved doctors note.. not any old note will do..

[Canuck2fan]

When I got out of high school I worked at a factory for the summer that had weekend continental shifts.

 

11PM Fri to 11AM Sat

11PM Sat to 11AM Fri

 

Next Week

 

11AM Sat to 11PM Sat

11AM Sun to 11PM Sun

 

You got 36hrs pay for working 24 hrs a week. People were almost shooting one another to try and get on that deal. You could also be a fill in for sick days during the week for other guys who worked on your machine....

 

The best part though according to guys who did it was you if you could find someone who would do straight nights or days to partner with you were allowed to just work days or nights. However if one of you ever missed the shift (without a doctor's note) you both got warnings, that counted as one of your 3 strikes.

[Andy]

I work the same schedule as Gerritt. It wears me out, I seem tired all the time from the constant switching back and forth between days and nights. The benefit is every other weekend off. Like Gerritt says, the three nights followed by the Wed/Thurs days is the worst.

[dave524]

Worked them, found that after I turned 50 , 12 hours was a long grind. Another thing was that working 12 hours you don't have enough time to get a lot of smaller jobs , errands , chores done that you usually did before or after work when working 8 hour shifts, so you spent a chunk of your new found days off catching up on things that normally could be done during your work week. Getting off at 8 am on Friday and not having to be back till 8 am on Tues did make for a nice long weekend once a month.

[ketchenany]

In the 70s I works shifts, Type house! 4 to 12 terrible no social life, midnights even worse! We were on this seniority thing and I just became aJourneyman low end of the totem pole

 

 

So one day I decided to ask if my supervisor a good friend to this day. When will I get a day job?

He looks at me and says'whe tou are on UI!

 

Went home opened the paper and sure enough there it was a day job I was looking, just perfect, applied, was hired on the spot! Went in and told him no more nights for me!

9 to 4:30 is just fine for me.

[Moosebunk]

Sounds like garbage really. Flip-flopping days and nights on a weekly basis is not overly healthy, especially with quick turnarounds after your three nights on.

 

A great full-time shiftwork sched is, 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off, repeat... and somewhere over a 16 week course there will be one "monkey" shift. That first half day sleep off of the night is perfect for getting chores and groceries done or, taking time with the family or fishing.

 

 

Trying a new schedule as well... 14 to 42 days on... 28 to 56 days off. No repeat, just shuffle.

[Gerritt]

Sounds like garbage really. Flip-flopping days and nights on a weekly basis is not overly healthy, especially with quick turnarounds after your three nights on.

 

A great full-time shiftwork sched is, 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off, repeat... and somewhere over a 16 week course there will be one "monkey" shift. That first half day sleep off of the night is perfect for getting chores and groceries done or, taking time with the family or fishing.

 

 

Trying a new schedule as well... 14 to 42 days on... 28 to 56 days off. No repeat, just shuffle.

Based on how many shifts? We have 4. A/D and B/C.. The idea behind this schedule is to not get used to it... Circadian rhythm is fickle, the idea is to reduce tiredness by not having a set pattern.

 

Don't get me wrong after 3 night shifts I am tired, more physically then mentally ( feet mostly) it works for me, as the body is in a constant state of change.

 

G

[Fisherman]

Well, pretty much what Moosebunk said, shiftwork is not good for the body period..unless you're a Zombie or Vampire. It can be done when you're young, much past the mid 30's and it really wreaks hell on the body. You (your body) doesn't know when to relax, poop at the right time of day, is it sun up or sun down. I worked different shifts from 18-51 and the last 7 years straight days with the odd afternoon shift. Waaay better.

Worked 9/6, 3 afternoons, 3 nights, 3 days( 8hr) and 6 off. Worked 2 days, 2 nights(12 hrs) and 4 off. Then a wierd 2 afternoons, 2 days, and 2 nights(8 hr) short change(only 8 hrs off between the shift rotations. Finally the 3days/2nights, off 5, 2 nights, 3days off 5 and 2days, 2 nights 4 off. Off 2 weekends a month and work 2.

[206]

Thank for the reply's I hope this transition will be smooth for me and my co workers. We are supposed to meet with union to discuss rotation...the company graciously has left this up to us, I'm thinking every other week end off would be the best bet for myself. It is going to be a huge adjustment for me and my family but i have faith it will work out in the end.