I was sold on the idea of 24 hour shifts, the benefits being more days home from work, and the chance of sleeping at work while on the clock, which frees up even more time at home. I thought that the opportunity to sleep at work would mitigate the 16 hour increase per week. My first taste of 24's was on a 24/48 work schedule (56 hours/week), no kellys, EMS Third Service, on busy units, with frequent mandatory holdover. At my current department, which is fire based, it's the same hours, just structured differently, where we work on/off/on/off/on/off x 4 days. My first full time EMS job was hospital based, NYC, which has a mandatory 16 hour cap on consecutive hours worked in a 24 hour period. I've worked 12x2/8/2, and 16/12x2 for a 40 hour week. This is what I've discovered:
A 40 hour week (give or take) where you're showing up to work every day is preferable for someone who doesn't need to do any OT, someone who doesn't do well with broken sleep, or someone who wants to take traditional college classes (not asynchronous distance learning).
If you're going to do 24's, you're typically going to get paid at a lower rate than a 40 hour employee (day work) in most places. This can work to your advantage only if you're fire based and receive FLSA; otherwise, you're getting the bone. With FLSA, the employee gets paid straight time on 53 out of 56 work hours/week, or more specifically, over 212 hours every four weeks. If two systems, one fire based, and one EMS only, each pay $40k/ yr,, the fire employee will make a little more than $13.25/yr, and the EMS employee will make only $12/hr. The fire employee's OT rate will be abut $2/hr more than the EMS employee's rate, even though their base pay is the same. My fire department, and probably all the others, will quote that $40k as the base, with the FLSA (3 hours OT per week average) as a bonus. That now makes the fire employee's base rate $13.73/hr, $20.59/hr OT rate ($2.59 more than EMS), for a true base rate of $41070/yr. In my system, if we do OT, that is immediately paid at 1.5 time, and those hours also count towards FLSA. So, if I do 24 hours of OT, 24 more hours of my regular hours are OT, so that's essentially 12 extra hours of straight pay at the end of the four week cycle.
I thought that working 24's, even on a 56 hour schedule, would give me more time off duty for family, activities, etc. What really happened is that I would get up a few times a night, spend half the next day recovering, and then have to go back to work the next day. There's also the joy of being up much of the night, and then being held over for an additional 12-24 hours. It's nearly impossible to take traditional college classes due to rotating shift work, unless you can get the time off, or do a bunch of exchanges. Forced mandatory OT, not getting leave approved, or not getting the exchanges you need, can get you thrown out of a program due to absences. You also have to much of your leave, that can't be used for R&R, and co-workers expect you to pay back your exchanges, often at the most inopportune times. I'm basically restricted to doing most if not all of my coursework through asynchronous distance learning. Any degrees that require my regular physical presence are out of the question.
Reduction of hourly rate for shift work is a huge scam that works in favor of the employees, particularly for the 56 hour/week people. For every five employees hired, the employer saves on pay, benefits, retirement, hiring, and training on two additional employees (56x5 = 40x7). They're saving a bunch by using 56 hour employees (140% more hours worked than the 40 hour employee), so the lower pay is not justified. IIRC, a 56 hour employee, over 25 years, works the equivalent of 33.75 40 hour work years. That's pension savings for the employer, paying out at 25 years, but really paying out after 33.75 years. Think about that for a minute. Don't get me started on the pay-on-call issue for the overnight hours. If you're not in your own bed at home, you're working, and should be paid your regular rate. If you are home, and on call, then you need to at least get an hourly stipend.
