7 different types of shifts for staff scheduling

Choosing the right shift type for your coverage needs, as well as finding a willing employee to work that shift, can turn an average business operation into a more efficient one.

When the right staff work the right shifts, staff well-being improves, productivity increases, absenteeism reduces, and the entire operation runs more smoothly.

What are the different shift types?

In order to choose the right type of shifts for your business needs and employees, you need to first understand what the different shift types are.

Shift types refer to the time of day a shift is worked:

1) Day Shifts: The Early Birds

Day shifts (also known as first shift or morning shift) are the most common and typically run from morning to late afternoon. They're great for businesses that operate during standard hours, such as banks and schools. Employees on day shifts can enjoy their evenings off, which aligns well with a traditional family schedule or social life.

2) Swing Shifts: The In-Betweeners

Swing shifts (sometimes referred to as the evening shift) bridge the gap between the day and night shifts (often late afternoon into late evening, e.g., 3pm -11pm). Those who don’t consider themselves a “morning person” tend to prefer this shift type.

3) Night Shifts: The Night Owls

Night shifts (also known as the graveyard shift or third shift) usually cover the late afternoon to early morning hours. Hospitals, manufacturing plants, and 24-hour convenience stores often need workers during these hours.

While working at night can be challenging for some, it offers quiet, less-interrupted work periods and can come with higher pay.

4) Split Shifts: The Flexers

Split shifts divide work hours into two segments with a long break in between, often seen in the restaurant industry (between prep and service for example). These shifts offer flexibility, allowing employees to manage personal tasks or avoid traffic during their break. However, the long day can be a downside for many.

5) On-Call Shifts: The Responders

On-call shifts require employees to be available to work if needed, often outside of regular hours, and may be called in on short notice. Despite the lack of predictability, this is great for employees who want to earn more money and still have personal time (if they’re not needed).

6) Weekend Shifts: The Weekenders

Weekend shifts are shifts worked specifically on Saturdays and/or Sundays, sometimes with different pay rates or rules. Typically, weekend shifts are distributed evenly amongst teams for fairness using a rotating shift pattern.

7) Irregular Shifts: The Mavericks

Irregular shifts describe work hours that don’t follow a consistent or predictable schedule, varying in start and end times from week to week. Despite their lack of predictability, they often bring unique benefits depending on the person’s lifestyle, such as more flexibility.

What are the core shift patterns to work these shifts?

A shift pattern refers to how shifts rotate - the core shift patterns are:

Rotating Shifts: The Adapters

Rotating shifts change between morning, afternoon, and night over certain periods. This variety can keep work fresh and accommodate different personal schedules. But it can be hard for some people to adjust to the changing sleep patterns, as they often include night shifts.

Fixed Shifts: The Stabilisers

Fixed shifts keep workers on the same schedule each week. This predictability is excellent for planning life outside of work, but might not always meet the dynamic needs of a business.

Generally, most shift workers are put on rotating shifts as they offer more flexibility, but this comes with increased scheduling challenges.

Which shifts work best for different employees?

Every workplace is unique, and so are the people who work there.

Some of us are morning birds who love to catch the sunrise, while others are night owls who are most energetic when the stars are out.

And then, there are those of us who need a mix of different times to best fit our lives outside of work.

But with such a wide variety of shift types and employee preferences, how does your workforce plan accommodate so many different variables, and how do you keep things fair?

That’s where an effective scheduling system is needed to provide flexibility but without the administrative burden.

How do you choose the right shift types for your employees?

Modern tools like RosterLab can help model a wide variety of shift types and empower teams with self-scheduling capabilities - this means you don’t have to choose the right shift types; you empower your employees to do so.

This capability allows businesses to create schedules that meet their unique needs while considering the well-being and preferences of their employees. This is more than just filling shifts, but ensuring you are enhancing overall productivity and employee satisfaction too.