Longest work shift

Kevwoody · 13-12-2014 01:27PM

Huh, 18/20 hour shifts, that's nothing!

I've been working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since last January.

The boss is a prick from Mayo and the wage is €188 a week

Jen Pigs Fly · 13-12-2014 01:28PM

Kevwoody wrote: »

Huh, 18/20 hour shifts, that's nothing!

I've been working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since last January.

The boss is a prick from Mayo and the wage is €188 a week

He's even more of a prick to me, he gives me less :mad:

Venus In Furs · 13-12-2014 01:30PM

Nothing mad - just split shifts that started at 8.30am and finished at 10.30pm, but it was a cushy job in a newspaper and I actually enjoyed it.

I'd believe a lot of these posts rather than dismissing them as Four Yorkshiremen-esque. There are some baffling employee conditions still (not referring to self employed, which is very tough - I couldn't do it, much as the romantic aspects of being your own boss appeal to me, but you unfortunately do have to work mad hours when you're not on a payroll).

sam34 wrote: »

As a medical intern I regularly did 57/58 hour shifts... It was madness, and dangerous. Wouldn't be allowed happen now.

Utterly cracked.

Do junior doctors not still do ridiculous shifts though? Not as bad as the above, but e.g. 36 hours?

DEFTLEFTHAND · 13-12-2014 01:44PM

Any commercial fishermen on boards? I've heard they do ridiculous hours out on deck.

Jawgap · 13-12-2014 01:47PM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Any commercial fishermen on boards? I've heard they do ridiculous hours out on deck.

Not a fisherman but I have some experience of the industry - mad hours altogether when the fish are running and it's hard physical, sh1tty, dangerous work. You should see the amount of food they take with them just to keep the calorie intake up!!!!

Venus In Furs · 13-12-2014 01:50PM

I know two guys in the US who worked on the fishing boats in Alaska (what The Deadliest Catch is about) - can't talk about it they're so traumatised. It was like prison too - you were only allowed to make two phone-calls a week.
Massive money for sure, but what price mental health...

ShadyLane · 13-12-2014 01:54PM

Venus In Furs wrote: »

Do junior doctors not still do ridiculous shifts though? Not as bad as the above, but e.g. 36 hours?

Shifts are meant to be capped at 24 hours, which is what NCHDs went to strike over last year.
However, this hasn't been fully implemented across all specialties and hospitals simply due to lack of staff to support more humane working conditions.

Generally speaking, an NCHD will do 1-3 24-hour shift in a given week. It's still fairly widespread practice to have someone on call for the weekend, working 56-72 hour shifts.

The Backwards Man · 13-12-2014 01:57PM

Venus In Furs wrote: »

I know two guys in the US who worked on the fishing boats in Alaska (what The Deadliest Catch is about) - can't talk about it they're so traumatised. It was like prison too - you were only allowed to make two phone-calls a week.
Massive money for sure, but what price mental health...

I'd say they are pulling your leg a wee bit. I know a couple of local lads here that are on the crab boats in the Bering Sea, way better conditions than they have on the trawlers at home.

Venus In Furs · 13-12-2014 01:58PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'd say they are pulling your leg a wee bit. I know a couple of local lads here that are on the crab boats in the Bering Sea, way better conditions than they have on the trawlers at home.

Dunno. They seemed pretty serious to me and others, but maybe you're right.

polydactyl · 13-12-2014 01:59PM

Another NCHD one here 6am Wednesday Morning until 830pm Thursday evening. Got into my car after, dead on my feet and luckily enough had just enough brain power to realise that was stupid. Called my parents who lived an hour away and they had to come collect me and being me to their house. Was back in work the next day again at 6am. So awake 40 hours and working with ill patients for 38 of those hours with not a split second of sleep. Seriously dangerous!

Jawgap · 13-12-2014 02:02PM

Venus In Furs wrote: »

I know two guys in the US who worked on the fishing boats in Alaska (what The Deadliest Catch is about) - can't talk about it they're so traumatised. It was like prison too - you were only allowed to make two phone-calls a week.
Massive money for sure, but what price mental health...

I know a couple of lads who worked those fisheries and they reckon it's better regulated than the EU - mad hours, but decent rewards and the skippers treat you better.

They did tell me if you go overboard in a cage or with a cage they boat doesn't turn, because by the the time they cut the string of cages, turn and get back to you, you'll be dead anyway so they just keep on going.

Venus In Furs · 13-12-2014 03:02PM

Holy crap, much as I get annoyed by aspects of my Monday to Friday office job, it's still well cushy, not a strain on my physical/mental health, out the door every evening, no questions asked.
Money might not be great, but it's not the worst either - I'm never broke - and there are other prices I do not have to pay.

seventeen sheep · 13-12-2014 04:00PM

Daisy03 wrote: »

Accountant by any chance? I am the same! Longest was 15 hours at work followed by working 2 hours at home which I thought was long. I couldnt manage anymore.

I have an astronomical amount of leave in lieu owed to be but it would be so much more if I charged all the time I actually worked.

Yep, how did you guess!

And if anyone dared question their overtime not being approved, the managers would get all nasty and tell them that if they were efficient enough, they would be able to get their job done within working hours with no overtime. But if you ever did ... you'd only have more work piled on you ... so you'd still end up working overtime anyways! The more efficient you were, and the more work you got done in a ridiculously short space of time, the more work was heaped on you. So you'd never get out of working the overtime anyways!

I escaped and am working in industry now. Out the door at 5.30 on the dot, and the working day feels so short to me now!

Steppenwolfe · 13-12-2014 04:52PM

Some people deserve everything they get. What a shower of dopes.

beks101 · 13-12-2014 04:58PM

Venus In Furs wrote: »

Holy crap, much as I get annoyed by aspects of my Monday to Friday office job, it's still well cushy, not a strain on my physical/mental health, out the door every evening, no questions asked.

I actually don't think I'd know what to do with myself if I had one of these gigs. It sounds pure and utter bliss, but I think I'd struggle. I've always worked in an industry where ridiculous hours and overtime and being 'on the clock' all the time is just an expected part of your life and you can get called in and have to drop plans at an hour's notice.

I think there can be an element of Stockholm Syndrome involved in these kind of long hours etc. It can be a distraction and an excuse, and a handy one. It can turn you into a work bore though, one of those people who talks and talks and talks about their work and can't leave it in the office.

I ended up working a 22 hour shift, came home and crashed for a few hours, shower and back in again at 12. Doesn't even seem comparable to these people who are on their feet 30 and 40 hours. And working in the medical profession. That is frankly scary.

steddyeddy · 13-12-2014 05:16PM

I had to follow an experiment over three days. So I got ~2 hours sleep each night. The experiment worked but you have to run an experiment three times to confirm the results weren't a fluke. Yaaaa science

TimRiggins · 13-12-2014 05:19PM

August Bank Holiday weekend this year I did 5 14 hour shifts in a row. 2 in the day till 4 or 5 at night. Rough going. Weddings the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday

seamus · 13-12-2014 05:22PM

Lots of people here need to learn their rights and not be afraid to just walk off and take their lunch or go home.

You are legally entitled to 11 hours consecutive rest in every 24. You cannot work till 3am and be expected to come back in at 9am. The earliest your employer can ask you come back in is 2pm.

On top of that, you are entitled to two full 24 hour breaks in every two week period. This can either be one 24 hour period in each week, or one complete 48 hour period in the second week.

If you have worked 6 hours, you are entitled to a 30 minute break. Seriously, just stand up and go take your lunch. "I'm taking a break, I've been here all day without rest." Don't wait for someone to say OK, just go. Turn off your phone if you have to.

Unless you're a pilot or a surgeon, there is no job in the world that absolutely cannot be stopped for 30 minutes while you take a break. And there's a good reason why in both of these jobs, someone else comes in to take over and give you a break.

Sounds idealistic? Nah. Some bosses just push their luck as far as they can, and will treat you like crap if you allow it. If you take what you're legally entitled to, they can't and won't do anything about it. Will they treat you differently for standing up for yourself? Perhaps. But do you really want to spend your time kissing the ass of someone who doesn't respect you? If they informally punish you for standing up for yourself, then treat them with the same level of respect that they treat you (as ridigdly professional as you can) as dust off your CV.

Aidric · 13-12-2014 05:35PM

Frosty McSnowballs wrote: »

Most iv stayed awake because of work is 10 days. Active all the time for that though.

You must have been melted after that.

exgp · 13-12-2014 05:41PM

beks101 wrote: »

I started work at 7.30am Friday morning.
I've been on-shift for 18 hours.
That's 18 hours with no lunch break, one coffee break where I got pulled back to my desk because of another work crisis, and two toilet breaks.
I need sugar, alcohol, sleep and to punch a wall very hard.

What's the longest shift you've ever worked and why?

ETA: I did get free hula hoops though. BBQ beef flavour. I ate three packets.

Friday morning from 9 until lunchtime Monday (75 hours). Obs SHO in the UK.

leanonme · 13-12-2014 06:13PM

In my job in residential work our usual shift begins at 12.00 noon and finishes the following day at 12.00 noon. Technically we are asleep from 01.00 untill 08.00, but its rare that you would be asleep all that time.

Twice every six weeks we work a double shift, in which you would start work at 14.00 on Saturday and finish at 11.00 on Monday. From 01.00 untill 08.00, we get paid an allowance rather than per hour.

beks101 · 13-12-2014 08:23PM

seamus wrote: »

Lots of people here need to learn their rights and not be afraid to just walk off and take their lunch or go home.

You are legally entitled to 11 hours consecutive rest in every 24. You cannot work till 3am and be expected to come back in at 9am. The earliest your employer can ask you come back in is 2pm.

On top of that, you are entitled to two full 24 hour breaks in every two week period. This can either be one 24 hour period in each week, or one complete 48 hour period in the second week.

If you have worked 6 hours, you are entitled to a 30 minute break. Seriously, just stand up and go take your lunch. "I'm taking a break, I've been here all day without rest." Don't wait for someone to say OK, just go. Turn off your phone if you have to.

Unless you're a pilot or a surgeon, there is no job in the world that absolutely cannot be stopped for 30 minutes while you take a break. And there's a good reason why in both of these jobs, someone else comes in to take over and give you a break.

Sounds idealistic? Nah. Some bosses just push their luck as far as they can, and will treat you like crap if you allow it. If you take what you're legally entitled to, they can't and won't do anything about it. Will they treat you differently for standing up for yourself? Perhaps. But do you really want to spend your time kissing the ass of someone who doesn't respect you? If they informally punish you for standing up for yourself, then treat them with the same level of respect that they treat you (as ridigdly professional as you can) as dust off your CV.

Yeah employee rights is definitely a big thing. Many people don't know their rights and lots of employers are happy to take the piss.

At the same time though, the roll-out of entitlements in practice can be very different to in theory. As in, I know I'm entitled to 2 15-min and 1 30-min break over the course of my shift, but if I were to just feck off regardless of workload because those are my entitlements, I essentially wouldn't be doing my job properly and professional reputation would suffer massively.

I'm in Media so I'm not exactly saving the world but that's just the industry. They're not going to hire extra staff to allow for these breaks and even if they did, the handover of information and contacts that would be required to facilitate just one 15 minute break would just completely slow down workflow. It would be the death knell of any news desk.

Coffee is great though.

freethearmy · 13-12-2014 09:18PM

29 1/2 hrs... the hours drive home was a killer....ahs to stop 3 or 4 times as i was falling asleep

danslevent · 13-12-2014 10:01PM

In the last month, from the 13th of November until now, I have had two days off. They were spent hungover though so I spoiled them....

tomwaterford · 13-12-2014 10:03PM

while not anything like the length worled here...I did 70+ hour weeks all on my feet....for 5 months earlier this year as well as some bits and piecesat home on farm in the evening....being honest I was starting to get worn down by it towards the end...was glad to see the winter come

Copa Mundial · 13-12-2014 10:06PM

Started the silage at 7 one morning, didn't see bed til 8 the following morning, and then it was only two hours until I was up and at it again!

wouldn't change it for the world though, it's great craic.

Littlekittylou · 13-12-2014 10:06PM

seamus wrote: »

Lots of people here need to learn their rights and not be afraid to just walk off and take their lunch or go home.

You are legally entitled to 11 hours consecutive rest in every 24. You cannot work till 3am and be expected to come back in at 9am. The earliest your employer can ask you come back in is 2pm.

On top of that, you are entitled to two full 24 hour breaks in every two week period. This can either be one 24 hour period in each week, or one complete 48 hour period in the second week.

If you have worked 6 hours, you are entitled to a 30 minute break. Seriously, just stand up and go take your lunch. "I'm taking a break, I've been here all day without rest." Don't wait for someone to say OK, just go. Turn off your phone if you have to.

Unless you're a pilot or a surgeon, there is no job in the world that absolutely cannot be stopped for 30 minutes while you take a break. And there's a good reason why in both of these jobs, someone else comes in to take over and give you a break.

Sounds idealistic? Nah. Some bosses just push their luck as far as they can, and will treat you like crap if you allow it. If you take what you're legally entitled to, they can't and won't do anything about it. Will they treat you differently for standing up for yourself? Perhaps. But do you really want to spend your time kissing the ass of someone who doesn't respect you? If they informally punish you for standing up for yourself, then treat them with the same level of respect that they treat you (as ridigdly professional as you can) as dust off your CV.

30 min break every 6 hrs?
When i worked in certain small businesses this was just not possible. If you left you would have been out on your ear for some reason soon enough.
Also you would potentially lose clients.

Working for yourself ...forget it.

If you are working in an industry that is very competitive or based on commission it doesn't work that way. If you want to get ahead then it does not work that way.

Also if you are working in a profession that doesn't have a strong union or no union forget it.

You would be put down as a jobsworth.

A lot of bosses would have made my life very very difficult had I taken full advantage of my workers rights. You are right they do milk and screw the system but you have to balance your approach.

But anyway being known as a jobsworth in most places is creating your own glass ceiling. Being known as a spineless pushover is too. Being known and a pushy ambitious over achiever is a little better. Being known as a pushy ambitious but friendly over achiever with time for everyone is golden.

Littlekittylou · 13-12-2014 10:07PM

Also no one has mentioned full time stay at home parents. That is a 24 hr job!

Tail Docker · 13-12-2014 10:09PM

I headed off to E europe with an important delivery and drove straight back, no stopping - 5k km and 4 days without sleep. I'm still not right from it. Pretty much literally.

To Elland Back · 13-12-2014 10:14PM

Slightly related, but I did 145 hours overtime in a calender month once, had to complete 8 hours each day before you could do o/t.

Longest work shift

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