To not understand the point of "rotating shifts"

[ForagingForFaerieGold]

My DD has just started a new job. The shifts are 6am to 2pm and 2pm to 10pm. Rotating.

So one week she does the early shift and the next the late. I don't understand the reasoning behind this.

She (and the other staff of course) just get used to one cycle and then it's changed the following week. Why?

Why not have the staff stay on the same shifts each week?

Is there some benefit to this pattern that I am just not seeing? It seems ridiculous and pointless to me. Not to mention inefficient.

Does anyone know why? And would you consent to enlighten me if you do?
Maybe I'm just missing something obvious.

If nothing else, stops people having to be one particular shift all the time if it rotates?

Not ridiculous at all. You get used to it.

Can be a multitude of reasons. Here's 2 for starters....

I wouldn't want to get up early in the morning for a 6am shift every day for the year, the idea of having a lie in every other week sounds lovely!

The same with the other shift, it might be nice to sit down & have tea with the rest of the family every other week rather than getting home once they're going to bed.....

I used to do 8am-4pm then 2pm-10pm. I much preferred finishing at 4 to starting at 2.

However I did enjoy a lie in on those days and could stay up later than normal to catch up on t.v. etc.

I work rotating shifts, 2 days, 2 lates, 2 nights, 4 days off. I would hate to be on just one shift and it would affect your life. If you only did lates for example you would have very few evenings free.

I hated shift work. I’m one of those people who likes a routine and being able to just go on autopilot. I hated having to check every day (because I would forget) what time I was starting the next day. And then having days where I didn’t start until 1pm so the morning was wasted and I wasn’t seeing my kids In the evening. Hated it.

My Dd does 3 shifts Most shift work is rotating surely you realise that is what rotating shifts mean I don't understand what you don't understand

This shifts don’t sound too bad tbh. It’s when you do a 13.30-21.30 followed by a 7.00-15.00 and then a night shift of 21.00-07.30 all in the same week that kills you.

Well. To be fair DD doesn't seem to mind so far (although she has said she would prefer to be on lates all the time)
I guess it's better than if the shifts were diametrically opposed ie. full nights and full days.

No, I'm not thick and that's hardly a helpful reply even if I were, as it tells me nothing. I have never done shift work and I feel personally that I would find the changing hours awkward and tiring. But perhaps that's just me.

I was actually wondering if there was some benefit to the company as opposed to the staff really. But maybe it is more for the staff's benefit after all.

It just is what it is - hence shift work!!
I used to do days and nights in the same week, so maybe 8am - 5pm or 5pm - 3am. That totally wrecks your body clock

Because not everyone wants to do Lates and not everyone wants to do earlies.

Surely she gets shift payments or a slightly higher wage to make up for this.

Literally everywhere has shifts.

I understand what rotating shifts are. I was asking why companies do them. Particularly in this case where there seems to be two fixed full time shifts that don't overlap.

Well 1 of my Dds shifts is 9pm till 7am the night shifts need to be covered so unless they opt in to do permanent nights then it is only fair shifts rotate.

No. She's on min wage. No extra for shift work.

Oh OP it does my head in too. DP does a week of 8-4 and a week of 1-9. Every other week he does one weekend day, and has a random weekday off. We both work full time so on his late weeks it means we don’t see each other for the entire week. It means I can never say for 100% when he is or isn’t working. On his late weeks his entire day is Taken up as he has to be at work for 12, which means leaving the house at 11am.
I honestly hate it so much, but DP enjoys the alternating shifts and says it adds variety to the work day which I suppose is what matters the most.

Sorry he used to do 12-9 not 1-9

I used to manage a team where the staff worked rotating shifts, there were a number of reasons, but one of the main ones was the difficulty recruiting for staff to work late permanently, when we had fixed shifts we had a waiting list of people wanting to transfer to the early shifts, which means we were always recruiting to late, less attractive shift. People like an early finish!

If it was set shifts then some poor bugger would end up working every weekend

Confuzzlediddled ah thank you. Yes that makes sense.
I suppose I was looking at it from my pov that I would prefer the same shifts all the time (if poss) whether it be late or early. With a definite bias towards lates actually.

Enwi this is pretty much what I was thinking. However DD is young and flexible and seems ok with it for now.

I used to work one day 3pm-11pm then the next day 7am-3pm so on. Every second day I slept in and was late (was 18 and irresponsible). That was a pointless shift pattern

They rotate so that nobody gets extra for anti social hours. Some places have set shifts, some rotate, it depends.

Opinions differ about the anti social hours payments - see discussions here about changes to railway workers pay!

DH gets extra for evenings, nights and Sundays, a normal work hours are daylight, 9 - 5. It is amazing how many of his colleagues are outraged at how few hours he is seen in the office some weeks, he casually saunters off home at lunch time!

Yes... to take back the TOIL hours he gets for working weekends and nights, Bank Holiday weekends, the shifts those same colleagues refuse to do!

This is why its so hard for some woman to return to work after DCs, shifts that change mean you can't sort childcare. So many places do this for the reason confused says, because people do't want certain shifts, but that does mean they only get a certain type of staff member. (childfree or those who have a partner/family member who can sort all the childcare)

If it was set shifts then some poor bugger would end up working every weekend - but then someone with young DCs that they spend the week with and a partner who is at home at weekends might want that. OR someone who is studying full time in the week.

set shifts lets people have other commitments other than work, family, study, a 2nd job. Rotating shifts basically gives full demand on your time so you can't make other regular commitments, while not actually paying you for all that time. They only work for a particular type of worker.

I’ve worked in factories before and it is very rare you find people who want to work permanent lates.

2-10 isn’t too bad as it gives you time in the morning to drop the kids at school/go to the doctors/supermarket/hairdressers, etc in the morning