Pros and cons of a 4 on/4 off job?

[AintNobodyHereButUsRavens]

DH has a job interview next week and at the moment he works 7am-4pm Mon-Fri. The job he's applied for is 4 days on, 4 off, 4 nights on, 4 off etc etc, 12 hour shifts. We can think of a few pros and cons of these hours, like he'll have more full days at home and be able to spend more time with the kids, but I'll probably have to do bedtime by myself quite a lot and there'll be weekends where we won't see him.

What other pros and cons are there that we've not thought of?

Is there a reduction in travel costs, by making fewer daily journeys? Not sure what it works out at annually?

Minor issue .... but difficult to commit to the proverbial MN hobby, or club, as you can't guarantee being at home every Thursday evening or Sunday morning etc.

What does everyone else work? Having more days off seems great, but not if there's no-one else to spend time with.

Sounds like the old fire service shifts, lots of them picked up a second job like taxi or electrician!

If he starts, he will probably not want ever to change back to the traditional 8-4 or similar Monday to Friday shift pattern.

My FIL had a job like this for years. His rota never change so it was very predictable. Handy for childcare.

6 months ago my partner changed from a 6/7day a week job with no holiday. It was hell he hardly ever saw his son.
He is now a porter at a hospital he does 7am-7pm 4 days, then 4 days off, then 7pm-7am.
It's been an adjustment but it's been better for our family life.
Our only gripe is his wages are different month to month depending on how many nights he does as you get paid extra enhancements for weekends and nights.

My best friend’s husband has worked exactly like this for years - 4 nights then 4 off then 4 days. 7am till 7pm days and 7pm till 7am nights. He ABSOLUTELY loves it!! He doesn’t go to sleep as soon as he gets back so when he’s on days he can spend time with my friend in the evenings before bed and when he’s on nights he gets back and helps sort out the kids in the morning.

The only thing I would say is yes, he’d probably find it difficult going back to a standard working routine.

He will be based further away from home, 40 mins by car as opposed to the current 10 mins by bicycle. We only have 1 car so he's planning on getting himself a small van or something to get himself there. I'm a SAHM so no worries about other peoples jobs clashing and DH has no hobbies or clubs so no problems there either.

All sounding pretty positive so far

Any more thoughts and opinions?

I used to have a job like this and to be honest I didn't really like it.

I hated not necessarily having weekends off and being out of synch with most other people.

It means you're free to go the shops/doctors/dentist when they are open so you don't have to take annual leave

If it's a physical job, or a high pressure desk job, after 4x12 hour shifts, he may well be wasted and just need rest on the first day off.

Especially when you add an hour and a half commuting each day.

Depends on if you plan to be a SAHM or not. If you plan on working at some point then shifts would make organising your days really hard as you’d always be juggling who will do drop offs on which days.

There are currently no plans for me to get a job, I'll be a SAHM at least until DS is 3 (he's only 6 months at the mo).

I think the fact you're at home will make it a lot nicer.

When DH did the same we often had 4 days in the week we didn't see each other if he was on nights - we'd pass like ships in the night on the trains.

I'd have weekends all by myself because he worked 7-7 in the day with an hour commute each end. Bit lonely... and if it was a bank hol that was worse . I'd have to 'busy' myself - no kids though so that makes a diff

oh - and Christmas could be a right bugger. If you're scheduled on then tough....

My DH does 4on/4 off 8am-8pm. He’s done it for years and we really love it.
Our only cons are: he only gets 24 days AL when he technically works full time hours.
If he’s on at Christmas he’s on and that’s that but that can be the nature of any shift work type job.

It’s honestly been fantastic for our family life but I appreciate it mainly works as my work is very flexible and I’d likely really resent it if I worked 9-5 type hours.

I used to work this shift pattern - loved it! Half a year off and when combined with leave.....you're only working 1/3 of the year. Would definitely work it again.

My DH does this but they are all day shifts. Really useful have days off to do stuff like dleiveries, small house jobs, popping to the bank etc. When kids were small i worked around as self employed and we saved childcare too. We wouldnt want to change but of course no night shifts are a big bonus.

Have you considered how difficult it will be to be quiet in the day with a baby while he is sleeping off nights? I remember as a child having to be quite while dad slept of nights. He was however always home for school run etc before he went to bed but the weekends were harder as we were all around.
I've also done these shifts, they are ok, get the working week done quicker etc. It was just sleeping in the day I struggled with due to noise.

What happens with holidays?
The guys I know doing a similar shift pattern get chunks of time (18 days iirc) off after a certain number of shift blocks. So, I'd want to know how leave worked, and if it was fixed blocked of time or a free for all.

No experience of that pattern, but when my horrifically light sleeping husband was on nights being out the house all day, because I couldn’t be silent with dd was a bit miserable.

DH is a gritter driver during winter so he's often sleeping off a night shift. Plus he's a very deep sleeper which is lucky as DD can sound like a herd of elephants just on her own :o

Hi I did work constant nights, for around 6 years doing 10 pm till 7 pm. Monday till Friday! I didnot like losing some of the weekend to being in bed on Saturday morning?
I am now working longer 50 hour weeks on day's to earn similar salary!
I think a 4 on 4 off shift pattern, is probably the better option...if you like a good salary with a good rest period inbetween? And am now considering this pattern myself!

If he's around in the daytime in the week fairly regularly, you can do things like days out, lunch, shopping, IKEA visits, tip runs etc together when things are quieter and not have to join weekend crowds with everyone else.