A very popular shift pattern is one we have christened "554". On this one you
would work two or three day shifts, then have a 24-hour break and work two or
three nights shifts. So that is five consecutive shifts but there is a 24-hour
break in the middle. Then you would have a four or five day break. Which is very similar to working continental shifts but with the advantage that this shift pattern is designed around the week. So it maximises your weekends off.
You would end up working (on average) about 183 shifts per
year before holidays and have 26 5-day breaks and 13 4-day breaks per year.
That’s a lot of time off. Then you take your holidays.
Most companies use a holidays excluded shift arrangement.
Which means that you select your holidays in accordance with a set of rules.
You know the sort; “first come first served” and “a maximum of two off on any shift”
are popular rules. However on this type of arrangement everyone is
disadvantaged.
- Firstly you are restricted by everyone else. So if you want to have your holidays during school holidays because that’s when you can go away with the children, you have to be the first one to request those dates. So you have to be organised, no last minute breaks for you. And if someone else has booked a single day off in the middle of your ideal holiday, it will be refused.
- Secondly the system is unfair. Someone who has been with the company for years can look ahead and block book their holidays. Any one new to the group is at the back of the queue for booking holidays because they will not be the “first to come and request a holiday”.
- Thirdly you will end up working more weekends. If everyone gets to select their holidays and up to two people are allowed off on every shift, what happens when no one books a holiday? You end up working a shift which you didn’t have to. These shifts could be at night, at weekends or on a Bank Holiday.
- Fourthly it is more stressful. Have you ever gone to work and wondered if you will be over worked again because you’re understaffed? It’s so stressful working when the operation is understaffed. No one has a proper job, because you are all doing your own job and a bit of someone else’s. From the moment you get to work, you are behind and by the end you are just exhausted. Sometimes it can be exciting and exhilarating, knowing that you are managing a crisis, but wouldn’t your life be better without the stress?
- Fifthly you could end up standing around doing nothing. If no one books a holiday on a shift, then you end up with more people in than there is work. So what does the extra person do? Stand in the corner? Not very nice for anyone. They feel undervalued and bored. Being bored is so exhausting, especially for 12 hours! And what about everyone else on that shift? If you’re working and someone else isn’t, it feels vastly unfair.
Now there is an alternative to a holidays excluded shift
pattern. That is a holidays included shift pattern. On a holidays included
shift pattern everyone gets all of their holidays included in the shift pattern
at the start of the year.
Now I know what you’re thinking, “That doesn’t sound very
fair. What if I don’t like the time I have off, or I need the first week in
August because I have a time share?”
Well on a holidays included shift pattern, the holidays are
rostered in a very fair manner. Everyone is rostered off in turn. They are
designed with you in mind. So if you want your time off in blocks of a week, that’s
what you get. You want a two week break in the Summer, that’s what you get.
Most shift workers once they experience a holidays included shift pattern love
it.
There are three main reasons for a holidays included shift
pattern, firstly there’s the privacy, then you get better quality time off and
lastly it minimises stress and fatigue.
- A holidays included shift pattern is very private. Have you ever felt that you had to tell your boss your entire life story to explain why you need a holiday? Well that is no more. On a holidays included shift pattern you don’t have to tell anyone anything. You just go. Your time off is you own.
- You get better quality time off on a holidays included shift pattern. Your time off is designed to be long enough to recover from your previous shifts and still have time to get away, do the garden or just spend a few days in the beach with a book.
- You get more holidays on a holidays included shift pattern. I know that sounds strange. How can you get more holiday? Have you ever studied your shift pattern and seen that some shifts will give you more time off? Well that’s what happens on a holidays included shift pattern, the holidays are put with your rostered days off to give you more time off for less.
- You get better Summer holidays on a holidays included. During the Summer everyone wants that two week break. The weather and school terms make it a prime holiday season. Fitting in everyone's holiday, so that they can get a two week break is hard work, when people can select their own holidays. The only way it works is if everyone gets together and negotiates their time off. Not something you want to do every year. But on a holidays included shift pattern it is a normal part of the shift pattern. Everyone can have that two week break.
- However the main reason for a holidays included shift patterns is that it is so relaxing. Everyone knows who will be on each shift. This means that you never have to dread going into work and finding that half the shift failed to turn up. On a holidays included everyone who should be in will be in. So every shift; no one gets left out, no one has to be stressed. Your manager can ensure that every one is in with the right skills, and then match the work to the people. Something that is impossible on a holidays excluded shift pattern because no one knows from one shift to the next who will turn up.
And if you were wondering what the best holidays included
shift pattern looks like, then it’s the 554. On the 554 holidays included you
can work four or five shifts and have a week off. Here is an example of the 554
holidays included. This is a typical shift pattern that you would work as a
full time equivalent on 12-hour shifts.
On this version you get about 29 weeks off. In the summer
the shifts have been changed so you give up two normal weeks off and get an
18-day break.
Oh and if you don’t like your weeks off, then you can swap
shifts, so that you can tailor your shift pattern to your own life style.
If you want to introduce a holidays included shift pattern
to your department, tell your manager about C-Desk Technology and direct them
to our website at www.oranalysts.com or
email at alec@oranalysts.com or our book explaining a holidays included shift pattern is available on Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment