What are double shifts?
A double shift is a period of time during which you work two consecutive shifts at your job. For example, if one shift begins at 10 AM and goes until 4 PM, and the next shift goes from 4 PM to 10 PM, working from 10 AM to 10 PM would be considered a double shift.
If you're planning on working or scheduling a double shift, it's important that you know how many hours in total this will add up to so that you don't go over the limit set by your employer or local laws.
Overtime laws in Canada
In Canada, employees are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. However, if you have a collective agreement (union) and it covers the double shift situation, then the rules may be different.
In any case, if you have an employee who works 12 hour shifts and they're not getting paid overtime, then that could be considered illegal under provincial legislation.
Which industries typically have them?
Double shifts are common in restaurants, retail, hospitality (hotels and casinos), trucking, health care, EMS, law enforcement, fire services, and at airports.
Potential downsides
The downsides of double shifts are clear. For restaurants, the main issue is paying overtime to employees who work longer hours. This can add up quickly if you have a lot of employees working double shifts every day or even just once in awhile.
For employees, it's important that they take care of themselves when they're on these long shifts--especially if they're working them regularly--because there are many potential downsides to being tired and overworked: mistakes at work, getting sick or injured due to exhaustion (and thus missing out on pay), having less energy outside of work so it's harder for them get things done off-the-clock...and so on.
Conclusion
If you are considering scheduling “doubles” at your restaurant Ameego can help! Using our daily overtime option, simply enter the number of hours that would equate to daily overtime at your restaurant and Ameego's One Touch scheduling will follow this parameter to prevent scheduling an employee overtime.
