Poor ds working hours.

[Summa23]

Ds is a policeman. He has to work 2 days 7am-4pm then 2-11pm for 2 days. Then 4 days of 10pm till 7pm. Plus any over time that happens. He then get 2 days off. Day 1 is spent kind of sleeping. Due to the over night working. 2nd day of. Then back to work . For 7am. Body clock is awful.

Am aware of an officer in a role that makes them 'useful.' They chased a hard specialist role early because they specifically didn't want to be on general response. They showed promise and got picked up fast. They also pulled the wool over their mum's eyes a lot.

Now, they've u-turned and been taking advantage of general shortages to pick up a lot of extra money on response. It got to the point they were told 'no more extra shifts, you're putting us in an impossible position regarding acceptable employment practices.'
Shortages are serious enough they've now quietly been given the nod to ignore that.
People adapt, things change. Mum's will always have concerns.

That’s like my saying I had to work 7 night shifts in a row, then a day off, before back on 2 early shifts. That’s actually a regular pattern of what I did do for a while, but of course I didn’t do it all of the time. I actually then had 4 days off.

Your description of what your ds works, was that he has to work the shifts you described! You now say “I can't see any words that say this is his regular pattern.” What is the point of the thread, if you aren’t actually describing the shifts he regularly does??

Many people work more hours/shifts than they normally would, I was sometimes asked to do an extra night shift (or stay on for longer on my early shifts), but I wouldn’t turn round and then describe my working pattern as 8 night shifts and 2 early shifts and 3 days off, as that wasn’t what I normally did!

I have said several times maybe I did not word it well. as I was just thinking about that I felt bad for the hours/shift he was doing . If people were confused they could have asked is that the shifts he does all the time. As I said I kind of got sucked into what things are called ie not such things as forced work days . Just because we used different words that equal the same thing then the I can't feel bad for my son because hes an adult. I also have learning difficulties so sometimes I get a bit lost in things. I didn't think i would have to explain that as I thought it would just be a standard thread

my dh does night and day shifts for 12 hours-wont get to retir4e early-its shit

I understand.

maybe the hours are only this bad because he is in training and once he is qualified, they will improve.

It can actually work quite well re childcare. Take opposite shifts and although you may not see each other much, you could probably get away with minimal childcare. Take adjoining teams and one will be on earlies, the other lates etc so you can do nursery drop offs and pick ups, plus get days off together.

I did shifts when my kids were young. They had full time nursery places but usually did around 3.5 days as if I was off I dropped them in at lunch time or kept them off. Dh dropped off when I was earlies, picked up when I was on lates. Sickness if I was off I stayed with them, dh took the day off if I was on shift.

worked really well. Plus the full time nursery (same price for 4 days as for the week) meant I had some MH space if I needed to catch up on sleep, jobs, Christmas shopping etc.

eta I find colleagues are very flexible around childcare as well. I’ll often stay late or come in early if a colleague is delayed for childcare reasons, and they do the same. Helps that you get o/t or time for it so you do benefit from helping out.

Swings and roundabouts.
My partner was a PO, and yes, was knackered with shift work. But she was paid overtime and retired at 50 with an excellent pension.

I'm a Social worker, no shifts now although worked shifts when I was younger. However, long hours, overtime is extensive and unpaid - we lose hours all the time as obviously can't place children at risk. And I'll work until 67/8 for a lesser pension.

I know which career I should have chosen! however I would have been a terrible copper, not good at doffing my cap or accepting orders without quibbling!

those kinds of shift patterns suck as much as they blow - i used to have similar shifts when i was in the army.

But, everyone knows the police is a stressful job with odd hours and lots of work. How did he not know that?

I'm guessing they'd say "have your family been living under a rock that they don't know that nurses are thin on the ground and stretched beyond breaking point"

Thanks @VashtaNerada and @Thisismynewusername1 I've a dc interested in joining when he finishes school and I do wonder if he knows about the shifts! He wouldn't like missing his football team play 😂

That's very tame compared to the ambulance service. 7-4 is a short shift!

The fire service definitely have better shifts. Traditionally it's 2 days, 2 nights and 4 days off. And 99% of firefighters will have a second job - and I've met hundreds of them.

As to the reasons, the fire bridâtes are heavily unionised which explains part of it but also the workload of the police is insane! They could fill their days twice over - it's not the same with fire as the number of incidents they attend has been falling due to improvements in fire safety of furniture and home equipment and reduced smoking rates.

It is difficult when we see our kids working that hard. No need for bullying, people!

Apart from the shift work and tiredness, how is your son getting on?