What is the difference between shift work and part time

The only law on the books is the FLSA amendment that limits the hours of regular work to Anything over that number is considered overtime and must be compensated as such. How does that affect you as a business owner or manager? It means that you have significant freedom to tailor what full-time means for your unique business.

Some businesses choose the standard 40 hours per week, while others operate more efficiently on 35, 32, or even 30 hours per week. It all depends on what you, your employees, and your business need. You can also build shifts around part-time hours and employees. As we explained above, full-time work is arbitrary, with most businesses setting the bar somewhere between 30 and 40 hours per week.

Part-time work, then, is a repeating schedule in which an employee works fewer hours than are required for full-time. If your business defines full-time as 40 hours per week, part-time is any number of hours less than that.

If your business defines full-time as 30 hours per week, part-time is any number of hours less than that. Which schedule — part-time, full-time, a combination of both — is right for your business? It all depends on your organizational strategy and the unique needs of your business. Many companies operate successfully with only part-time employees.

Others find it valuable to employ a combination of both part-time and full-time employees. Yet other companies only hire employees who can work full-time. For an in-depth look at the benefits and drawbacks of part- and full-time work, take a few minutes to read our article Part-Time Vs. When you realize that you can set your own definition of a typical workweek — be it 40 hours per week, 30 hours per week, part-time, full-time, or a combination of the two — you open the door to a whole host of novel approaches to shift work.

These shifts are spread out over a two-week period so that employees work 80 hours over the course of nine business days. This assumes, of course, that you define full-time as 40 hours per week. For payroll purposes, you apply the first four hours on Friday to the current workweek. You then apply the second four hours on Friday to the next workweek. After a regular weekend Saturday and Sunday , employees come back and work four nine-hour days Monday through Thursday for a total of 40 hours over four-and-a-half workdays.

They then get Friday off. Flextime is a special arrangement in which employees can vary the start and finish of their shift as long as they work a set number of hours each day and are present during specific core hours. That would allow an employee to work 5 a. Flextime shift scheduling allows employees to factor in variables such as personal obligations, work habits, and commutes to tailor their workday for the best results.

During the four-hour break, employees can, and should, leave the premises. They can go home, run errands, or attend to personal matters such as picking up kids from school or taking care of a sick family member.

For the business itself, split shifts help you control labor costs and improve the productivity of your employees. One of the many useful things about shift work is that you can tailor it to fit the needs of your business and your employees.

Or you could alter it even more and have your team members work three hour days Monday through Wednesday and two 5-hour days Thursday through Friday. The possibilities are endless, so get creative and find what works best for all parties involved. This work schedule is not as common but can be seen in many careers like the military, construction work, roadwork jobs, power plants, and health care.

These shifts can cycle weekly or quarterly, depending on the type of work required. For many employees, the transition between the different schedules can be tricky. Sleep and eating patterns change and the employee may see their family and friends less because of their rotating schedule. This type of timetable does have some benefits. Employees are able to spend more time with family and friends during their normal work hours, and may be able to run errands they normally would not be able to complete.

You may even be able to work a varying schedule that leaves room for your other commitments. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors.

Job Searching Career Advice. By Alison Doyle. Evening: This category represents shifts that fall include the hours of 6pm to 10pm. Common occupations with evening shifts include:. Night: Night work includes any shifts that fall between the hours of 11pm and 3am. Common jobs that include night shifts include:.

Early morning: An early morning shift includes the hours of 4am to 8am. Typical occupations that include these shifts include:. Many shift work positions follow a fixed schedule with the same starting and ending times for each shift, as well as the same work days during the week.

The specific requirements of a rotating shift vary by employer. Some of the most common rotating schedules include:. Rotating shifts can be more difficult than fixed shifts because they require workers to readjust their schedule every week or month.

That said, the circadian rhythms guiding your sleep-wake cycle can be adjusted more easily when you rotate forward from day to night to early morning shifts. Rotating backward or in a random pattern tends to be more disruptive to circadian cycles.

For many people, rotating every five to seven days is most difficult. Rotating more frequently — every two to three days or so — causes fewer circadian disruptions, while rotating less frequently allows you to spend more time in one circadian cycle before you need to adjust again. Danielle writes in-depth articles about sleep solutions and holds a psychology degree from the University of British Columbia.

Rehman, M. Women are more…. Shift work refers to any work schedule that falls outside the hours of 7am and 6pm. The term encompasses evening,…. Work schedules that fall anywhere outside the hours of 7 am to 6 pm are considered shift work. These schedules…. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

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Updated October 16, Written by Danielle Pacheco. Medically Reviewed by Dr. Anis Rehman. What Is a Rotating Shift?