Shift

A day may be divided into three shifts, each of eight hours, and each employee works just one of those shifts; they might for example be 00:00 to 08:00, 08:00 to 16:00, 16:00 to 24:00. Generally, "first shift" refers to the day shift, with "second shift" running from late afternoon to midnight or so, and "third shift" being the night shift. On occasion, more complex schedules are used, sometimes involving employees changing shifts, in order to operate during weekends as well, in which case there will be four or more sets of employees.

Twelve-hour work shifts are also in use. In a modern steelworks, four sets of personnel are used, working consecutive days in one twelve hour shift (06:00–18:00 and vice-versa). Shift A will work days, and shift B nights, over a 48-hour period, before handing over to shifts C and D and taking 48 hours off. In the offshore petroleum industry, employees may work 14 consecutive days or nights, 06:00–18:00 or 18:00–06:00, followed by three or four weeks free. The svingskift (literally: swing shift) in the offshore petroleum industry in Norway refers to a two-week tour during which employees work 12-hour days the first seven days and 12-hour nights the second (or vice versa).