4 On 4 Off rota,is it any good?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi all,I have seen a firm just two minutes drive down the road from me advertising for night drivers on for 4 rolling 12 hour shifts,then 4 off.Brand new scanias,and clean refrigerated work to RDC’s.Now,I’m a bit confused as to how this works out pay wise,as effectively you are only doing 48 hours work over the duration of 2 working weeks.How can people afford to do this,or is it a better crack than it seems.I like the idea of 4 days off every week worked,as you can do things.Before the WTD was implemented,this company when they advertise,usually quote 28 grand per annum for 6 nights on,2 off,so can’t assume that the money will stay the same.What do you think lads and lasses? Cheers again for any replies.

Glenn,

2

Glenn…When I lived in the UK I worked for Tibbett & Brittan and was employed by them on 4 on 4 off and loved it…I used to work 6 on and 2 of the last 2 days being overtime (which done right is legal…or was 4 years ago) and I earned 36,000 in my last year with them. I know all companys are not the same but this was my experience of 4 on 4 off.

Bully

3

4 on, 4 off absolutely rocks!

I used to work alternative blocks of days and nights. This did upset the time off balance somewhat but it was still a fantastic system to work.

What I mean by upsetting the balance was thus:

When finishing nights you lost most of your first day off as you slept it. The flip side of course is that when you switch from days to nights you actually got almost 5 days off (starting nights on the 5th day).

Obviously you need to find out how the money works out but as shift systems go I don’t think it can be beaten. Your quality of life will improve no end.

4

But surely, working this way basically makes saturdays and sundays part of your normal working week, so theres no time and a half or double time for your weekend overtime??

Does seem good for having that amount of time off, but having your weekends in the middle of the week, especially having families, means that you cant do things together…

Just a thought… :unamused: :unamused:

5

I currently work a 4 on/4 off schedule, and I like it. Our department works 24/7, and this way nobody gets stuck always working any particular day of the week. You always get 4 days off between blocks, and believe me, you need it. We are all on salary, so there is no problem with certain days being paid at a different rate.
How this would work under UK law, though, I don’t know.

6

I would assume they will be paying annual hours plus overtime or earned time off.
There is only one way to get the real story … Apply for the job :exclamation:

If it’s crap then don’t persue it any further :exclamation:

7

AndyM:
But surely, working this way basically makes saturdays and sundays part of your normal working week, so theres no time and a half or double time for your weekend overtime??

Does seem good for having that amount of time off, but having your weekends in the middle of the week, especially having families, means that you cant do things together…

Just a thought… :unamused: :unamused:

My 5th day was time and half and my 6th day was double time regardless what day of the week they fell on.

Bully

8

I WOULD DO IT FOR DEFINATE LIKES BEEN MENTIONED YOU CAN WORK YOUR 5TH DAY UNDER WTD AS YOU CAN DO 60HRS BUT AS LONG AS IT WORKS OUT AT 48HRS OVER THE FIXED PERIOD. OK SO YOU WORK SOME WEEKENDS BUT NOT ALL WEEKENDS :laughing:

9

depends if it is fully 4 ON 4 OFF
it could be 1 one one off 2 on 2 off 1 on 1 off

thats rostas for yer …

if it proper 4 on 4 off then snap it up …6 months work a year with unbroken off shifts … lovely

10

Andy, when I worked them it went something like this:

(sorry guys, in an attempt to do the subject justice it’s turned into a mammoth posting)

The days were 12hrs, 0600-1800 & 1800-0600. Forget the nights bit for now and consider what happens when you start your 4 days off after nights.

Day Off No 1:
You sleep in till about 2pm. Then the day is yours. If you have kids you will have a full evening with them.

Day off 2,3,4:
You are about all day and all evening.

Block of working Days 1,2,3,4:
0600-1800. Home every evening by about 1830, much better than a lot of driving jobs I know of and you don’t have to go to bed too early either.

Then another 4 days off (cool!)

Day 1 of nights:
Have a lie in till early afternoon if possible. Whatever, have an easy day as you have a 12hr night to do afterwards.

Days 2,3&4 of nights:
Again if you have kids and they come home from school early enough you get to see them before you leave… and then back to the top again.

And yes, you’re right, the weekends do become part of the working week but if you have a look at the complete shift pattern below you will see that you still get 6 out of 16 full weekends off and 4 single day weekends.

If you book your holidays right you can get some pretty big blocks of time off for not many leave days too. For example, if you took weeks 15&16 off you would get 14days off work for 6 days annual leave!

I’m a big fan of this system and would bite their hands off if I was offered it now.

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11

I work nights, 18:00-06:00. When I finish my 4 days, my time off goes like this:

day 1: sleep until noon, 13:00 at the latest. Go to bed at a regular hour
days 2,3: live like a ‘normal’ person.
day 4: go back to bed after b’fast, snooze until 11:00, do stuff in the afternoon, then get ready for work at about 17:00.

12

i wouldn be put off after 4 days on nights i would sleep till lunchtime and on my last day off i would have a kip in the afternoon. no probs.
to be truthful i sleep like a log so no problem sleeping during the day and i can go without sleep as well. ( bit of a lie i do containers ) i do catch up my sleep at work.

13

Ive worked a 4 on 4 off rota when I worked in the office and didnt get on with it as you work all or part of 5 weekends out of 8. which inc bank holidays etc.
the other thing that also put me off was that my holiday entitlement was worked out by the number days worked in a year, so instead of getting 20/24 days a year annual holiday I only got 17 + bank holidays (in lieu)

14

peirre:
Ive worked a 4 on 4 off rota when I worked in the office and didnt get on with it as you work all or part of 5 weekends out of 8. which inc bank holidays etc.
the other thing that also put me off was that my holiday entitlement was worked out by the number days worked in a year, so instead of getting 20/24 days a year annual holiday I only got 17 + bank holidays (in lieu)

well i havent done 4 on 4off and that bit about the holidays is just sneaky and mean and if that happened to me id be fed up with it as well but they are some off crease that need ironing out when job taken.

15

you actually work 52(?) days a year less compared to 5 from 7, so my previous holiday entitlement was calculated on the number of days worked in the year so I obviously got less PAID leave

16

Thanks guys for the replies.I guess that sounds like an unanimous decision.4 on 4 off is the real deal.I apreciate your input.I have an interview secured for this Friday,so will get to know a bit more info,with regards to the money etc.I will let you know how it goes.All the best.

Glenn,

17

hold your horses sport, it might not be everything you want it to be, it doesn’t suit everyone.
you will work 48 hours for 4 weeks then 36 hours for 4 weeks, your total hours will average out at 42 hours over a year but the big drawback is 3 weekends where you work both saturday and sunday and 2 weekends where you will work a saturday or a sunday, that means you will only get 3 whole weekends when you won’t work either saturday or sunday.
if you like to party or if your other half likes to party then the weekend thing will be a trap for you either because of your desire to be out with the lads or because your working and the other half is out with the lads.
when you get invited to a wedding or engagement or birthday party it’s usually held on a saturday night, if you have a lot of friends and enjoy an active weekend social life then 4 on 4 off won’t be for you.

18

I did 4 on/4 off ( midnight to mid day x 4), absolutely brilliant job but it only lasted 2 years :cry:

As I remember, I was paid something like £8.50 for the first 40 hours then it went to £12.75. I was paid for the full 48 hours no question, however if it looked like I’d be back early (sometimes 4 hours) I would find a layby and sleep :wink:

This was a few years ago and the best job I ever had :smiley: