Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Because day shifts are preferred by most workers. Hence, many employers incentivize 2nd and 3rd shifts.
Something to also keep in mind... People who work nights tend to suffer from higher rates of depression, among other ailments. Some of this probably has to do with vitamin D deficiency, which most of us get from the sun.
... I mean, could employers theoretically pay all employees the same regardless of what hours they work in a 24/7 operation?
When I was growing up, my dad worked in a steel mill in Western Pennsylvania. He cycled through all three shifts the mill ran. He worked 7 am to 4 pm for a week, the next week he worked 4 pm to 11 pm, and the third week he worked 11 pm to 7 am. Then he'd start over. Almost everyone in the mill (except the department managers and executives) worked that way and they were paid the same no matter what shift they were on. Their union agreement did afford them extra pay for weekends and holidays.
I think it was the hourly salary plus 50% extra to work on weekends (called "time and a half"), double-time for some holidays, and double-time-and-a-half for some special holidays when a lot of people were taking vacation and it was hard to entice volunteers (such as Christmas). My brothers worked in the mill summers when they were home from college. I remember they used to volunteer for double shifts on the 4th of July because that was a double-time-and-a-half-day. So by working a "double" and getting paid all that extra, they earned the same salary in that one day as they made in a normal week.
Cycling through shifts is a difficult way to make a living. It can really have a negative effect on some people's sleep cycles. It can even cause clinical depression. My father was quite depressed for much of my childhood. His depression went away when he retired and could sleep the hours that were natural to him.
Another interesting thing, in most steel mill towns there were always bars that opened at 7 am so the guys coming off "night turn" could stop in for a drink before going home to bed. To this day, Jack's on Carson Street in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood still opens at 7 am, even though there are no longer any mills in the South Side. People still work night turn, though, and somebody always wants a drink, so Jack's is a popular place. It's still required by Pennsylvania law to close at 2 am. This is Jack's: http://www.barsmart.com/Jacks/
Last edited by Jukesgrrl; 03-20-2015 at 03:38 AM..
Reason: added link
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
