Night shift

hoody

Been covering a night shift in an office for a co-worker for the past 6 months. Originally it was only supposed to be for 1 month but as circumstance and necessity conspired against me, it's been ongoing since. For a massive number of reasons, it absolutely blows. I'm very, very glad to have a job, please don't get me wrong on that, but the night shift is having a very negative impact on life outside work and I've been looking to get out of it, or at least reduce the number of times I have to do it, ever since I started.

So now, I've been asked to write a letter enquiring about the night shift and the possibility of sharing it out a bit better. Just wondering, when writing about the difficulties I have doing the night shift, how much detail should I go into?

Supercell

Can you not swap with colleagues? -I quite like doing the night shift for example as its quiet and a bit of a doddle after the first couple days when the sleepiness is tough. Then again I'm without a wife and kids yet.

mood

Do you get paid more for the night shift? Do you get the same benefits as the person who is out sick (or whatever the case is). I assume you would.

I have a feeling you should put as little on it as possible i.e. if you say you are very tired in work they could let you go for your inability to preform tasks or something. I would focus more on the fact that you feel it would be more fair to share the shifts between the whole team etc.

hoody

Colleagues won't swop and somehow are under no obligation to do so either - its a 24/7 office yet only 4 people out of 15 work on the nights. Very complicated roster with a whole world of problems with it. Don't like the night shift at all as it impacts on home life something terrible - no wife or kids yet either, still not easy on herself though. So how far would you go in this letter I have to write - don't want to give away too many personal details in it?

mood

hoody wrote: »

Colleagues won't swop and somehow are under no obligation to do so either - its a 24/7 office yet only 4 people out of 15 work on the nights. Very complicated roster with a whole world of problems with it. Don't like the night shift at all as it impacts on home life something terrible - no wife or kids yet either, still not easy on herself though. So how far would you go in this letter I have to write - don't want to give away too many personal details in it?

Well, if others are not under an obligation to do the night shift why are you? I would focus on it been unfair.

donkey balls

hoody,

you said that you were just covering for someone else what does it say in your contract regarding hours worked,(nights&days).your employer should also have asked you to fill out a confidential health questionaire before you started working on nights as certain people cannot work nights due to medical reasons.
also if your working constant nights you should be entitled to a shift allowance normally 20-30% of basic salary

Wishbone Ash

Time + 25% would be the going rate in the Public Service for night work (i.e. between 8pm and 8am).

Lillylilly

You could google "negative effects of night work"! I work a month of days and a month of nights and checking out the effects was an eye opener! It increases the risk of different illnesses and diseases as well all of the negative effects it has on your social/ personal life. I find I get sick so much more since I started nights (3.5 yrs ago!!), just general colds and flus. It's the ame with my colleagues. I would include your concerns sbout this in your letter!

Oh, and I only get 10% for working nights

SoupyNorman

I've been working nights for about 18months now (roster consists of both days and nights), and in that time I havnt found there to be too many detrimental effects. I think the type of work you're doing is what causes the problems, say as in a hospital worker would be in a highly physical enviroment whereas I'm working in IT at a computer watching the odd movie.

After this length of time I am ready to rejoin the 9-5ers but there will be sacrifices as I get a 28% shift bonus and as Im doing 12hour shifts I work 16days a month but I've only 2weekends a month off and I seem to miss things all the time now

I cant really comment on the difficulties you might face in your particular circumstances as I dont know what line of work you're in but more generally there is an adjustment phase for sure as you need to fight off your bodies instinctual urge to sleep, you do need to have a quiet place to rest the following day.

Can I ask do you work alone during the night? This could be a health and safety breach if there isnt a security guard in the building at the very least.


There are positives to nightwork also...

Commuting to work can be less stressful as you'll be heading against the flow of rush hour traffic, being off during the day can give you more time to go to the gym/ do shopping, again depending on the type of work you can have more freedom at night, less work to do, no supervisors about to annoy you.


Overall I've liked doing the night work, good money and time off but it's not a long term option...I think you should approach the letter with more of an emphasis on how the load needs to be shared.

experiMental

You're right to change away from the night shift for a while, because you're more likely to get sick when you are working at that time, no matter how fit you are.

donkey balls

experiMental wrote: »

You're right to change away from the night shift for a while, because you're more likely to get sick when you are working at that time, no matter how fit you are.

i worked shifts mostly nights for 8 years i was sick once the nights took a while to get used to though,and as norman said sometimes it works to your advantage no traffic on the rd going to/from work.
last year i had to work 3 weeks on a early evening shift it took me over twice the time to get to work as it did on nights.