Are people having to work 24 hours a day now to survive? 😮

[Passthecheeseboard]

Just got off the phone to DH, he works in security and apparently the guy he should have been taking over from went AWOL about an hour before his shift was supposed to end (agency staff). I told him how the guy sounds like he just couldn’t be arsed and wanted to go home early, however DH told me no he wanted to get to his other job. He asked DH at the start of the shift if he could come in early to let him go to his other job for another 12 hour shift. DH explained they are not allowed to pick and choose their hours and have to work their shift unless they have authorised leave. So this guy ignored that and just left the site unmanned to get to his other job.

Anyhow I just can’t get over the fact that this guy has just finished a 12 hour day shift to go straight to a 12 hour night shift at another site. Is this the lengths people are having to go to to survive now? Anyone else here do 24 hour shifts (going straight from one job to another) or know of anyone that does? Is sleep now a luxury not everyone can afford? 🤔

You can opt out of the wtd. Every job I’ve had lately asks you to sign to say you opt in or opt out of it. Breaks aren’t optional. But there is nothing to stop you working back to back jobs and being over the wtd. It only applies to that job/employers that you signed to, it’s not one signature agreeing to opt in applies to all your employers.
Also, haven’t employees argued for years that an employer cannot dictate what the employee does in their non employed hours?. - so volunteering / 2nd jobs are not the business of the first employer to police. I was under the impression that so long as it isn’t in a competitive role, they really could not tell you what you could or couldn’t do outside of their paid hours.
So many people do multiple jobs now - what really annoys me is when the government insinuates people are lazy and need to work harder - they need be aware that people are and having been doing so for a long time just to survive, often in very physical roles, which must come back to bite the government arse when they need the nhs to fix the ailments caused by overworking in the first place. (Moany Monday rant over)

My DB did this for years. His main job (twilight hours) had a round of redundancies every Christmas for about 5 years. They all had to reapply for the reduced number of jobs and often if they got a job they were demoted. In order to protect his income he took on another unrelated day job. So he worked from early evening to about 2.00am then started his other job at 9.00am until 3. He really didn't look well on it and survived on coffee. Thankfully at the last round of redundancies he took the package and left.

My dad used to do two jobs in the 70s into the mid 80s, however he seemed to have the energy to do it so that it didn't ruin him.

I think these days most jobs are more 'full on' with companies wanting their pound of flesh. I know I certainly wouldn't have the energy to work two jobs.

You’re wrong (as far as paid work is concerned). Each employer is responsible for ensuring rest breaks aren’t breached.

worknest.com/blog/second-jobs/

I used to work with a couple of guys who would form straight from a 12 hour night shift in a care home to a full day on a building site, a couple of hours sleep in their car then back to the care home for another night shift.

Also people who would do 2/3 private care calls each side of 12 hour shifts.

I quite often used to work 8pm - 8am night shift and be asked at some point in the night if I could cover the day shift too, so didn’t go home until 4pm.

This is so sad …

I mean it’s known fact that it’s not safe to be driving when tired, scary to think of the amount of people on the roads who are doing these back to back shifts and are in a constant state of exhaustion.

I imagine it’s also not good for their health either. To be honest I don’t know how people function without sleep 🤔

Give it a few minutes and some nurses and teachers will be along to claim they do - all for no pay and because they care so so very very much

Precisely why the EU brought in the WTD. And why

Give the tories time and they will scrap it, I’m sure, along with paid holiday etc.

When I was a nurse I often worked over 60 hour weeks including paid overtime shifts.. it was worth it financially but also I enjoyed the work. So I really overdid it, but then had a psychotic breakdown and lost my career....

Now I'm on so many meds and still so paranoid that I'm part time in my current job, can't work at night but at present get PIP luckily.. unfortunately due for a reassessment of my award soon so I may lose the PIP until appeal at least (most claimants do). Then what.

Just look after your health people.. please don't end up like me!

Longest shift was 36 hours as a nurse in a care home. I did get 'permission' to sleep on the night shift though so caught a few hours between rounds. I regularly do 24 hour shifts when agency nurses don't show or someone calls in sick. I don't do it for the money, I'm pretty much forced to.

This government is so out of touch
They don't care.
Filling their pockets from the public purse and driving people to an early grave with the increased poverty simply to make themselves and their cronies richer .

It's so bad now that they don't even try to hide their greed.
They celebrate it and go on reality TV in their quest for more.
Disgusting

As soon as the WTD was brought it one of the largest pharmaceutical companies you can think of that I worked for ...made us all sign away our rights to it. You don't really have a choice you're given the form and you're option out!!
I found this for so many companies though - workers are NOT protected and not given the option of not opting out. It's just a form ticking exercise.

Also illegal.

And you can’t opt out of anything but the 48 hour week. The rest breaks still stand.

Good in theory. But employers do not know who the other empower is. You don’t need permission unless in a conflicting role. Rest breaks can only be policed inside the employees place. Even hgv drivers can escape the rules by taking a non hgv second job - eg pub work.
Also the fact that you can sign away the wtd makes it all good in theory but useless in practice. Neither does it cover those of us who work unpaid also known as volunteering - (see the paramedics story up thread. A full time job needs to pay enough to pay the bills for one person plus child. Minimum.

I posted the paramedic story…..

I work in security and have opted out of the WTD because when festivals are on an 18hr day is the norm. However that may only be 6 days of that then off the rest of the month so it balances out.

Also security is exempt from it if you are working somewhere that requires 24hr cover. But I've always had adequate breaks. However we get paid breaks.

It sounds incredibly difficult to me! 10 hour days 6 days a week long term would be hard enough, but having that split up with the school run/tea etc in the middle makes it so much harder. Huge respect to you.

Why is this?

I once did a full 48 hours awake as a junior doctor in paediatrics. I did my own 24 hour on-call (that was standard), then the next day the person who was due to take over called in sick. HR never tried too hard to get a locum because they knew the previous doctor would cover, which would be cheaper (we weren't paid any extra to be on call, so I did it for literally nothing, saving the hospital money).

I was carrying the crash bleep for all paediatric cardiac arrests so I had to physically hand it over to someone else, and if there was no one to hand it to, I had to keep it.
I complained to HR that it wasn't fair, and got a bollocking the following day from my consultant. Honestly you couldn't make it up!

I used to be in a relationship with someone who worked in video games. I know that sort of industry might be the dream for many a teenage lad... don't do it.
During "crunch" time (so the months leading up to a new game realise), all their employment rights went out the window.
My ex would do a massive shift, leave his office at 11pm, come home, and be expected to be back at 5am... for weeks at a time.
One morning, he fell asleep at the wheel and wrote off someone else's car. Could have been a whole lot worse.

Wow that’s scary, I’m now wondering how many people are behind the wheel of a car in a state of exhaustion 😱

He’ll be working zero hours a day if he keeps pulling stunts like that.

When I was in hotel work I often did 24 he shifts due to staff absence. I'm a teacher now and teach adults 8am -9pm mon-Fri then 8-6 Saturday. I'm single with the rent and bills to cover on my own. I still went overdrawn last month without having any heating on. I can't work more hours, I'm exhausted!

You can only opt out of the 48 hour working week. Not the other rest provisions.