Shift patterns that you need to know about

13 of October, 2022

Today we will discuss the types shift patterns that there are, but before that, what are rotating shifts and when are they used? Rotating shifts patterns are those used when a company’s activity or production is uninterrupted for a particular reason. This leads us to differentiate rotating shifts according to their characteristics and patterns.

In this regard, we will differentiate between split shifts, partially split shifts or continuous shifts. The first ones include a morning and an afternoon shift and weekends off. The second ones include a morning shift, an afternoon shift, an evening shift, a night shift and working on Saturdays. The last ones are those that contemplate a continuous duration of 365 days a year, either with morning, afternoon or night shifts.

What are rotating shift patterns?

Based on the above, we understand that rotating shift patterns are a reality in many companies in both the public and private sectors. In this line, the most important aspects are human capital and its operation or performance, which we must measure and analyze. Rotating work shifts are also a reality in work time tracking systems such as Sesame. Thus, in  Sesame we can create work shifts directly from the tool.

We should classify rotating shifts as follows: 

• Double shift or two shifts: which would be a morning and an afternoon shift. Normally, these shifts are worked from Monday to Friday.
• Three shifts: morning, afternoon and night. This type of shift can be worked from Monday to Friday or Monday to Sunday.
• Natural or inverse rotation: morning, afternoon and night or night, afternoon and morning.

By knowing these types of rotating shift patterns, we will discover how to distribute working hours based on them. We see that good organization and a good software will be the two keys to manage entry and exit times, vacations, absences and, of course, shifts. In this sense, having and creating rotating shifts in Sesame will give us security in terms of planning working hours and work schedules.

4×3 shift pattern, based on longer working hours

It’s a shift pattern that generates some confusion because it accumulates workdays of up to 10 working hours. It is usually linked to high production and productivity levels. In this scenario, 3 or 4 days would be worked during the week, with longer working days and the rest of the days of the week would be days off.

5×2 shift pattern, different formulas and 7 days

In this case, for example, morning or afternoon split shifts can be worked from Monday to Friday, or rotating morning or afternoon shifts from Monday to Friday. In another case, two days could be days off and five working days.

6×2 shift pattern, different formulas and 8 days

Six days are worked in the morning, afternoon or night and for those six days worked, there will be two days off, respecting which was the last shift to resume it in the following two days.

In the following shift schedule table, you can see an example, this consecutive shift pattern is created with 8 employees and 2 per shift, and we have three different shifts M, morning, N, Night and A afternoon. This way two employees always share the same rotating shift.

A working weekend

This type of work shift is characterized by a maximum of 12-hour shifts on Saturdays and Sundays.

Four days of work and four days off

We are talking about those cases in which employees usually work for four consecutive days and about 12 hours a day. In exchange, after these four days, employees will have another 4 days of uninterrupted rest.

Four days of work and one or two days off

If employees work four days 12 hours a day, they will have two days off. Otherwise, if the work shifts are 8-hour shifts for four days, the employee will have one day off. The first case is usually found in companies in the industrial sector with little physical activity. In the second case, we are dealing with companies that want to be open every day of the week.

Work for specific days off

This type of work shift is particularly common in industrial companies, where days off are usually both on weekends and during the week. This type of rotating shift is usually found in factories and in the industrial sector.

Night shifts

These rotating work shifts occur especially in two situations. On the one hand, when the company or the sector of dedication has seasonal work. On the other hand, these jobs are demanded by people who need to combine this work with particular personal situations or morning shifts.

Teamwork, known as “continentals”

This kind of shift usually exists in teamwork situations. These are consecutive and rotating shifts of 7 days for 8 hours or 4 days for 12 hours, after employees typically have two or three days off.

How to organize shift patterns and their records?

Faced with various shift patterns, you may wonder:

• Am I meeting legal requirements?
• How do I assign the corresponding days off to employees without making mistakes?
• How should I plan the schedules of my team if everything needs to be operating?
• How can I daily assign shifts and patterns to all employees?

The answer to all these questions can be found in Sesame HR and its functionality for recording workdays by shifts, since the tool allows you to create and organize all work shifts and work schedules in an easy and, above all, flexible way.

All this in an interactive environment that will allow you to manage each work shift in the company properly.