12-Hour Shift: Advantages, Challenges and Best Practices for Implementation
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2025 9:01 am
Services that need to operate uninterruptedly must work well with employee shifts, ensuring that production is efficient and employees have the quality of life they need.
In this scenario, the 12-hour shift can be a great strategy to adopt, facilitating the company's shift management .
However, there are many doubts regarding its implementation and the legal and regulatory aspects of this type of shift, since the employee works beyond the 8 hours per day that is the standard in the vast majority of organizations.
To help you, in this article we will talk about how this work model works, what cayman islands whatsapp list its advantages are for the company and its employees, as well as the best strategies for adopting it. Let's go!
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Plan your team's work schedules without errors with Sesame HR
Optimize resource allocation, balance workload, and ensure adequate coverage at all times to maintain operational efficiency.
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How does the 12-hour shift work?
Also known as the 12×36 shift , in this workday model the employee works for 12 hours and rests for the following 36 hours, with a mandatory one-hour break for lunch or dinner, depending on the hours worked.
To make it clearer, let's look at the following example:
An employee who worked for 12 hours (from 8 am to 8 pm) on Monday must return to work only on Wednesday at the same time. In addition, it is mandatory that during this work period he has had a one-hour break . If this does not happen, he must receive this period as overtime.
This type of shift is quite common in the healthcare sector , for example, where professionals need to work longer shifts to meet demand. Other sectors that also tend to adopt the 12×36 shift are civil firefighters, security guards and professional drivers.
Legal and regulatory aspects of the 12-hour shift
In the past, the CLT prohibited workers from working more than 8 hours a day, with the possibility of working a maximum of 2 hours of overtime per day. However, many companies needed employees for longer periods to meet the work schedule .
Therefore, in 2012, the Superior Labor Court (TST) approved Summary 444, which allowed a 12-hour workday, as long as it was followed by 36 hours of rest. However, this permission was only granted in exceptional cases, in cases of collective bargaining agreements or conventions.
In 2017, with the Labor Reform , this workday was approved for any type of category, allowing a direct written agreement between employer and employee, without the need for a collective agreement. In addition, it began to be recognized by the CLT, guaranteeing all rights provided for in this law for workers under this regime.
According to Article 59-A of the CLT:
“As an exception to the provisions of Article 59 of this Consolidation, the parties are authorized, by means of an individual written agreement, collective convention or collective labor agreement, to establish a working schedule of twelve consecutive hours with thirty-six uninterrupted hours of rest, observing or compensating for breaks for rest and meals.
Sole paragraph. The monthly remuneration agreed upon for the hours provided for in the caput of this article includes payments due for paid weekly rest and rest on holidays, and holidays and extensions of night work, when applicable, as referred to in art. 70 and § 5 of art. 73 of this Consolidation will be considered compensated .
In this scenario, the 12-hour shift can be a great strategy to adopt, facilitating the company's shift management .
However, there are many doubts regarding its implementation and the legal and regulatory aspects of this type of shift, since the employee works beyond the 8 hours per day that is the standard in the vast majority of organizations.
To help you, in this article we will talk about how this work model works, what cayman islands whatsapp list its advantages are for the company and its employees, as well as the best strategies for adopting it. Let's go!
sesame hr logo
Plan your team's work schedules without errors with Sesame HR
Optimize resource allocation, balance workload, and ensure adequate coverage at all times to maintain operational efficiency.
Free trial
How does the 12-hour shift work?
Also known as the 12×36 shift , in this workday model the employee works for 12 hours and rests for the following 36 hours, with a mandatory one-hour break for lunch or dinner, depending on the hours worked.
To make it clearer, let's look at the following example:
An employee who worked for 12 hours (from 8 am to 8 pm) on Monday must return to work only on Wednesday at the same time. In addition, it is mandatory that during this work period he has had a one-hour break . If this does not happen, he must receive this period as overtime.
This type of shift is quite common in the healthcare sector , for example, where professionals need to work longer shifts to meet demand. Other sectors that also tend to adopt the 12×36 shift are civil firefighters, security guards and professional drivers.
Legal and regulatory aspects of the 12-hour shift
In the past, the CLT prohibited workers from working more than 8 hours a day, with the possibility of working a maximum of 2 hours of overtime per day. However, many companies needed employees for longer periods to meet the work schedule .
Therefore, in 2012, the Superior Labor Court (TST) approved Summary 444, which allowed a 12-hour workday, as long as it was followed by 36 hours of rest. However, this permission was only granted in exceptional cases, in cases of collective bargaining agreements or conventions.
In 2017, with the Labor Reform , this workday was approved for any type of category, allowing a direct written agreement between employer and employee, without the need for a collective agreement. In addition, it began to be recognized by the CLT, guaranteeing all rights provided for in this law for workers under this regime.
According to Article 59-A of the CLT:
“As an exception to the provisions of Article 59 of this Consolidation, the parties are authorized, by means of an individual written agreement, collective convention or collective labor agreement, to establish a working schedule of twelve consecutive hours with thirty-six uninterrupted hours of rest, observing or compensating for breaks for rest and meals.
Sole paragraph. The monthly remuneration agreed upon for the hours provided for in the caput of this article includes payments due for paid weekly rest and rest on holidays, and holidays and extensions of night work, when applicable, as referred to in art. 70 and § 5 of art. 73 of this Consolidation will be considered compensated .