To ask of you would be happy with this shift pattern

[TravellingSpoon]

Thinking of applying for a secondment in another team.

Its shifts so either earlies or lates. The shift pattern is 7 on, 3 off, 7 on, 4 off.

Well surely it depends what you're used to? And what counts as an early and a late? Personally, I'd hate it, but have spent all my working life doing 9-5 jobs Mon-Fri 🤷🏼‍♀️

My husband used to do similar shifts and it was quite nice, you still have some of the day when you're on earlier and you get a lie in on lates. Depends on your situation, we liked it as we were child free at the time, and I also worked shifts so could request my days off to match his, you effectively get a long weekend every 2nd week!

Depends if you'll have to double back from latest to earliest, if so it's a definite no for me.

Would depend on the actual hours

Depends how long the shifts are. 7 x 8 hours is quite different from 7 x 12 hours.

I would really like this as you are getting either 3 or 4 days off in a row every second week. Earlies / lates wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

I used to do shifts like this as a nurse (before long days started), all the time. Sometimes 8 day stretches. It wasn’t too bad as I would have the afternoon off after an early or could have a lie in before a late. Couldn’t do it now.

Are earlier 6am-2pm and lates 2pm-10pm? If so I would say pick earlier as that’s pretty much what everyone where I worked preferred (as long as you can cope with getting up early in the winter). With earlies you can still pick the kids up from school, walk the dog and get some stuff done during the day. With lates you end up either having a lie in then going straight to work. You don’t really get any quality time with kids or family as everyone is rushing out the door in the morning and by the time you are home they are in bed.

7 x 8 hours.

6.30-2.30 or 2-10.

No double backing, all earlies then all lates.

At least you get 3 & 4 days off in a row rather than just 2!

Is childcare an issue for you? It can be tricky to find places that can give you different days in different weeks.

Sounds great!

Childcare not an issue although school holidays might be trickier.

It depends on your situation. Where my ds works the early (6am start) and late (10pm finish) shifts are now in a pattern under the current manager (generally week on, week off) after being a bit 'all over the place' with the previous manager. It's easier that it is predicatable in terms of minor, but a bit annoying things like knowing when he'll be home for dinner and when he will be taking stuff to heat up at work. Obviously that's on a very simplistic level . For many colleagues, shift changing at all is difficult - as pps have said - particularly for childcare. It is much easier to sort that out when everything stays the same. But also, you get people that are 'larks' and people that are 'owls' who always prefer the early / late shift. Is there the option of buddying up with someone like that to always get one or the other shift ?

Overall though, if you have to do shits, that doesn't seem a bad pattern.