h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i work a schedule called 'continuous work week' or CWW. it is 'continuous' because it allows the business to operate 24-7 year round.

simply put, i work 4 days in a row, then take 4 off. i've been on this schedule for 5 years and i LOVE it!

fortunately, as i work in an office, i work straight day shifts, from 5:30 am to 6:30 pm (because i'm required to be present for both shift changes - 6 am and 6 pm). i share my office with another person who works on the days i'm off.

this schedule has several benefits:
minimum 10 hours overtime every week
4-day weekend every week
a week's holiday/vacation (one rotation) is 12 days long - almost 2 weeks
early and late hours - miss rush hour traffic morning and night
time off during week to take care of personal business without missing work, also time off on weekends to spend time with friends and family
premium pay for weekends and holidays
lots more hootoo time than i would otherwise get

it has it's drawbacks, of course. i have to work some holidays, and about half the weekends in a year, but by maintaining a good relationship with my co-workers days can usually be traded at need.

i am fully convinced this is the best schedule in the world (altho i'm fully aware that there are those who would disagree) and i dread ever having to go back to a 'traditional' schedule.

The four days on, four days off thing sounds great, but I don't think I could handle those early morning starts - you appear to be starting work two whole hours before I even get out of bed.

Liz
~

I used to work in a similar way although it covered nights as well:
5 days on (Thursday to Monday), 5 days off, 4 nights on (Sunday to Wednesday), 5 days off, 2 days (Tuesday/Wednesday), 2 nights (Thursday/Friday) and 5 days off. Shifts were always 7 til 7 day or night and if a Saturday night had to be worked it was always double-time overtime and voluntary. This was a brilliant cycle because there were 4 of us on a shift and on nights two of us were allowed to go home at 2 am assuming that all the work was done. I only remember 2 times when it wasn't!

You're right it was a real drag coming back to a "normal" 9-5 5 days.

I work virtually an identical schedule to the one above except Saturdays are include therefore every 12 weeks worked means we would work 60 hours more than scheduled hours - so we get 5 12 hour shifts off every 12 weeks - plus about 200 hours holiday a year (about 16 shifts) Thus we get about 37 shifts holiday per year. Bank holidays are paid at double time, if a bank holiday falls when your not rostered then you get 12 hours lieu time added onto your holiday.