I work for a large company with various shifts. I was on mid morning starts but got moved to lunchtime, so I finish late evenng or early the next day. I am at home every day, but I am finding I rarely see anyone. Morning are taken up sleeping then getting ready for work, and late finishes mean I don’t have any social contact then. Of couse I have days off but I work most weekends so am presented with the same problem.
The big gripe is between girly and me. We don’t live together so are finding we are drifting apart as our lives don’t have any connection. She has kids, and frankly I am happy to have my own space, but I would like to have more time with her just for talking about the days events etc. She works in an office 3 days a week.
I have done agency work for some time before this job and can handle most shift times (albeit just for week before starting something new) so was thinking of a change to night work. If anyone is in a similar position to me could you please comment. My thoughts were along the lines of start at 11pm to 2am, work, go home, sleep, go round to hers for tea and chat, then go to work as she puts kids to bed and goes to bed herself.
Starting around midnight has to be an awful time to start and no good to anybody and i have done a few so i know, why can’t you get a morning start time say between 05.00 07.00 that’ll be a much more social time to all involved.
For whats it worth I used to work shifts like that and be in a very similar situation. Used to start at between 0030 and 0230 usually finished for 1000hrs - 1730hrs so there was days when it worked and other days when it didn’t work so good. What I found was to try and get up at around 4pm if I got an early finish, go see the girlfriend and family and then leave around 2230hrs when she went to bed. It worked even better when she gave me house key and I used to crash there during day. In end though the hours killed it as I too worked weekends and school holidays and when she wanted to go out as a ‘family’ I was in bed. Look for something different whether that be job or ultimately girlfriend - sorry couldn’t be more positive!
My start time is 1am,get up midnight,get home mostly 2/3 p.m,go to bed at 6/6.30 p.m,do you really want to be getting up at midnight ,do you want to be going to bed art 6.30 pm 5/6 days a week.
Think you’d be better to get a 4/5 a.m start as stated above,don’t think midnight starts and bed at 6.30 p.m are the answer too your problems to be honest.
Works perfect for me as there’s a lot of weekend work and the wife works Mon-Fri.
I sleep in the afternoons for a hour or two then go to bed at 8ish. We have our own place though so are together every evening, anything we do socially (this is the compromise) is organised around my days off.
On the other hand on the weekend… When she’s got up and walked the dog, ran the vac round I’m back and we have the day together.
Sometimes the job just has to give way for family life/sanity. I worked for wisemans 4am starts 1530 finish, every weekend in with tues/weds off for two years, I found I wasn’t spending any time with the wife and kids so dropped 10k a year in pay and have gone on agency permanently based with the same firm still 4 am starts but 1430 finish mon to fri with every weekend off. made a huge difference for me you just need to work out what is important to you then just do it.
Depends how well you cope with different sleep pattern. I did 20:00 starts for about 8 months and found it hard work. Biggest problem is your days off; do you sleep all day after last shift? If so then you will not be tired at bed time. Alternative is stay up and feel like ■■■■ all day, or have a couple of hours and then get up and still feel like ■■■■. Then the first night back at work do you stay up all day beforehand or try to get a few hours sleep in. One driver I knew just stayed on his nights pattern at the weekends, videoed all his favourite programmes then slept all day and watched telly all night!
If a shift change done without your consent is ruining your life, AND there are still others at the same workplace who work what used to be your former hours, you might have a case for constructive dismissal - should you actually decide to quit of course.
Alternatively, they might just be thick-skinned, and didn’t realise they were ruining your life. Approach them and find out for sure one way or the other.
It’s reasonable for an employer to alter start times if it applies to everyone, i.e. your former start time is no longer available at all to anyone. Indeed, you could even say your old job with it’s shift pattern has become redundant…
On the other hand…
Giving your old start times to someone else, whilst kicking you onto some Godawful shift smacks of favouritism/discrimination, which shouldn’t be tolerated in any workplace.
This in turn is far more likely to be the case at any shop floor with some weak Union running the show.
I wanted to thank you all for the replies which gave me food for thought.
After much deliberation and a chat with the girly, I am going for 2.30 to 3am starts. A friend at work has just left this shift for an even earlier one due to family commitments so the slot should be available. 4am to 7am is too popular so I need to be realistic. At least with this start time I will try and keep to some semblance of daily routine with a little cat nap to boost the sleep. The shifts are not that long compared to general haulage, it’s just the start time which is balsing things up. Many guys got moved around a few hours as the needs of the business changed, so I wasn’t singled out.
I will have a chat with the rota guy tomorrow when I return to work .
The company i work for currently have two shifts late’s and earlies.The early shift can start at anytime between 03.00am to 05.30am and the late’s from 12pm to 5pm.The problem is you do not know your start time or length of shift till the day before and for late’s you are texted plan in the morning.With the unpredictable start times you cannot plan anything and childcare is hard to organise.When i’m working late’s i do not see the kids or missus for six days then i have a 24 to 30 hour break before starting earlys.I have lasted 3 years but i can safely say it has had a detrimental effect on my health and family relationships.I have decided to my notice next week.Money and plant have been top rate but at the end of the day your health and family come first.My advice ask for a different ships or ship out.It will be worth in the long run.
You’d think that employers in these austere times would jump at the chance to be more “shift friendly”, in exchange for us putting up with supressed wages and overtime - but no.
Find an employer who has your own best health and well-being at heart.
Even agencies don’t “force” you to work shifts you don’t want to work, because they know there are plenty of others you’ll defect to if you get mucked around too much at their agency.
It’s simple … I’ve said it many times.
I’m like Cinderella, if I’m in “my carrage” at midnight, I swear it’ll turn into a pumpkin.
So being in " in my carrage" at that time night doesn’t & should not happen.
I don’t want to be stuck at the side of the M1 trying to round up a bunch of mice in the dark
,do you want to be going to bed art 6.30 pm 5/6 days a week.
