The benefits of 4 on 4 off include:
Productivity
4 on 4 off shift patterns enable an organisation to have continuous 24 7 coverage for 365 days a year. In many industries this is essential to meeting customer demand or production requirements. The consistency of labour supply provided by a 4 on 4 off shift pattern also helps ensure you have adequate capacity and cover right across the year.
Certainty
For shift workers a 4 on 4 off shift pattern allows them to know well in advance what days they will be working and what days they will be off, therefore creating regularity. This makes it much easier to plan things like childcare and social occasions. For organisations the regularity of a 4 on 4 of shift pattern makes it easier to arrange cover for variables like annual leave.
Personal time
Many shift workers like 4 on 4 off shift patterns because it provides a good amount of leisure time between shifts and allows them to rest and undertake personal commitments.
The disadvantages of 4 on 4 off include:
Night working
Like any shift work system which includes night shifts, a 4 on 4 off shift pattern creates additional operational considerations regarding appropriate and safe working environment for night workers. As identified earlier, a 4 on 4 off shift pattern may mix day and night shifts in a block of four shifts or keep them separate.
Where shifts are separate, four continuous night shifts can be gruelling especially in certain environments. This can cause issues with circadian rhythms, whereas the fast rotation of switching between day and night shifts on a 4 on 4 off shift pattern is generally viewed as more favourable in this regard.
Conversely, the fast rotation of two days followed by two nights means that the first rest day always follows a night shift. The final rest day precedes a day shift therefore resulting in two usable rest days in the middle.
Complexity of shift management
When operating with a 4 on 4 off shift pattern it can be hard to find additional cover at short notice. Shift workers rarely want to interrupt their four days off which potentially creates gaps in cover and may have compliance implications.
Typically, shift workers don’t want to work the two days off in the middle of a four-day rest period, rather working an additional shift at the start or end of a run of shifts. When employees are already working four night shifts a fifth can be particularly impactful from a fatigue perspective.
Similarly, on the fast rotations of two day shifts followed by two night shifts (where each rest day period is always preceded with a night shift as described above), the issue is compounded as every run of shifts finishes on a night shift. In this instance the only option for employees is to work a night shift, which makes your task of finding cover for day shifts more difficult.
Weekend impact
One of the biggest disadvantages of 4 on 4 off is the number of weekends it impacts for employees as the shift pattern rotates across the year. The cycle of a 4 on 4 off shift pattern requires shift workers to work six weekends in succession.
The work-life balance impact this has can be a major bugbear of shift workers, impacting both their wellbeing and your ability to recruit and retain employees. Alternatives to 4 on 4 off shift patterns provide more options to ensure working weekends are better spaced.
Responsible employers should be aware of how these 4 on 4 off shift pattern pros and cons impact their business and workforce.
It could be that tailoring certain aspects of the 4 on 4 shift pattern might help, or perhaps exploring whether an alternative continuous shift pattern might be better suited to your performance goals and shift worker’s preferences.
