According to the HSE[1] there are currently 3.8 million shift workers in the UK. It is often assumed that shift workers choose these jobs as they offer more flexibility and are a better fit for their lifestyles.
New research conducted by Breakroom, the people-powered job site, in collaboration with Surfboard, a fairer scheduling software provider, has revealed that this is not the case and shift work often offers less flexibility and is damaging their health.
Breakroom has a community of over 225,000 front-line workers who have provided reviews and ratings of their jobs, enabling job seekers to find out what a job is really like.
As part of their research Breakroom surveyed 5,000 of their shift-working community to uncover the truth about shift work from the people doing it. The results dispel common misconceptions about shift work.
| Breakroom Finding | % Percentage |
| Had their physical or mental health suffer because of their roster | 68% |
| Have no input into their shifts | 50% |
| Breaks are non-scheduled | 58% |
| Get one week or less notice of shifts | 33% |
| Do unpaid overtime | 30% |
| Often have less than a 12-hour break between shifts | 48% |
| Work shifts because the job must be done during these hours | 73% |
| Don’t get paid breaks | 61% |
One misconception is that shift workers choose to work shifts as it fits their lifestyles, in fact when asked 74% of shift workers revealed they work the shift hours as that is when the Job needs to be done and not because it fits their lifestyle.
In fact, 50% of shift workers have no input into their shifts and are unable to schedule them around their needs.
56% of shift workers think their shifts are poorly planned and don’t take their needs into account, this is supported by the 48% of shift workers who have revealed they often have less than 12-hour breaks between shifts (the legal minimum is 11 hours) and 30% getting one week or less notice of their shifts.
Poor workforce management is an overlooked issue with shift workers with employers taking an ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ approach to shift planning.
Anna Maybank, CEO of Breakroom, said; “Since starting Breakroom, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to shift workers. A lot of these workers are parents with children or students looking to work around their studying. The people I’ve spoken to often said they took their job as it had been advertised as flexible, but they then discovered that their employers often push them into taking last-minute shifts at inconvenient times. Too often, what is ‘flexible’ for an employer isn’t flexible for a worker. Employers claim shift work is flexible, but with 50% of workers reporting they don’t get any say over their shifts, that’s clearly not the case. Our research shows that there is a gap between what an employer thinks is a ‘good’ job and what is actually a good job. Thanks to our community of over 200,000 front-line workers, we’re able to help job seekers find out what a job is really like before they apply”.
Natasha Ratanshi-Stein, CEO of Surfboard commented, “Shift workers are often left in the dark about their schedules, leading to stress and burnout. This research shows that 78% of shifts are planned locally at the branch or team level and it is frequently being done last minute. Poorly organised shifts are a huge hidden cost to businesses both from employee morale and retention but also down to proper planning and making sure you have the right number of staff in at the right time. Organising shifts on spreadsheets makes it hard for managers to ensure shifts are fairly distributed and allocated in advance. Surfboard’s advanced tools can help managers rapidly improve their processes to achieve fairer, more sustainable outcomes for teams.”
It was also revealed that 30% of shift workers are also undertaking unpaid overtime and 61% don’t get paid breaks during their shifts.
The most concerning finding from the research was that 68% of shift workers reported that their physical or mental health had suffered from working shifts. This is compounded by less than 20% of businesses offering training around the effects of shift work.
With 4 million Brits currently doing shift work, it’s more important than ever that people in frontline roles can make better-informed decisions about work and find a good job that is right for them. You can find good jobs with employee ratings on Breakroom.cc and help others by taking our quiz and getting your own job score.