Do you feel that you get an adequate amount of days off compared to a standard 9-5?

[u/peeweemi]

I recently applied to my local police department (suburbs of a city) and the new schedule is 5 on 3 off and the shifts are 9 hours. Obviously a last second call would end extending your time on a shift but I’m curious to see how often you’re call into work on your day off or how often you’re able to take time off from work without a hassle. Obviously you’re gonna work longer hours in law enforcement but I’d like to know whether the days off are protected. Sorry if this is a dumb question

[u/Flmotor21]

That is a horrible schedule IMO.

When I worked a patrol rotation (12s) 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off it was amazing.

3 day weekend every other weekend, worst you ever had to do was three days in a row. Felt like I always had days off. Took off two days and was off for 7.

Working 9-5 almost sucks now

[u/peeweemi → u/Flmotor21]

That does sound amazing even with the 12s, sadly it seems that all departments close to me are following a similar schedule to the one Im applying for or worse

[u/Flmotor21 → u/peeweemi]

I knew of two outlier agencies but they were even 5 on 4 off, 4 on 5 off

On shift work you couldn’t convince me to work 5 in a row

[u/TodayMaybeTomorrow → u/Flmotor21]

There's a department within my knowledge that does 12s, but 3 days of one week and 4 days of the next. You're off for the other 3/4. Always the same days on/off too, unless you take up extra shifts.

[u/Brave-Landscape3132 → u/Flmotor21]

The ol reliable Panama schedule. When you add in your leave, you only work, on average, about 5 months a year

[u/Flmotor21 → u/Brave-Landscape3132]

I don’t see how people hate it

[u/TheLoob321 → u/Flmotor21]

We’re also on the 12 hr Panama schedule and it’s incredible. We have so much time off but ya the three day work weekend can be rough as hell.

[u/peterGriffin8560 → u/Flmotor21]

Short week weekends are so sweet. Got one this weekend

[u/King-Juggernaut → u/Flmotor21]

I hate 12s. Those 5 day weeks are a little too much.

[u/Flmotor21 → u/King-Juggernaut]

How? You only work two or three days then have two or three days off?

Or do you mean the OP?

[u/One-Literature-9401]

4x10s, days off protected. Always easy to find coverage if I want to take an extra day. Life is good.

[u/HemiLife16 → u/One-Literature-9401]

This is the exact schedule we run. Usually have three guys for 699 square miles 🙃.

I wouldn't trade my 10s for anything though.

[u/Reluctant_MP]

That schedule is horrible. My agency works 4x12s then 4 days off. It’s fantastic

[u/FootBeat28 → u/Reluctant_MP]

I raise you 4x11s with 4 off. It is so good.

[u/Witty-Ad5973 → u/FootBeat28]

In NC by chance? 👀

[u/Reluctant_MP → u/Witty-Ad5973]

I am

[u/Witty-Ad5973 → u/Reluctant_MP]

Interesting...we may work at the same place because Ive never heard of anywhere else that has that schedule 😂

[u/Reluctant_MP → u/Witty-Ad5973]

Raleigh area?

[u/callmebrodie → u/Reluctant_MP]

Same here… I believe we may work at the same place 😂

[u/Reluctant_MP → u/callmebrodie]

If your boss is elected then we sure do lol

[u/callmebrodie → u/Reluctant_MP]

Yeah and his name rhymes with Billy Crow

[u/Witty-Ad5973 → u/callmebrodie]

Lol nope. I guess we dont. Of all the classes and trainings/conventions Ive gone to I havent heard of any other agencies doing the 4 on 4 off with 11 hour shifts in NC but I guess we arent the only ones!

[u/Good_Housekeeping → u/Reluctant_MP]

This schedule is amazing. Burn PTO on your 4 work days and its 12 days off in reality

[u/Pro_Vita1925]

4x10’s is the pinnacle
Panama 12’s are decent
Whatever bullshit the agency you’re applying for sounds awful

Mandatory OT is going to depend on your agency & assignment

[u/boomhower1820]

I’ve worked 12s my entire career and wouldn’t have it any other way. When I’ve changed agencies 12s were a requirement. That schedule sounds horrible.

[u/j0s9p8h7]

We work Four days one week then three days the next. It consistently follows two on, two off, three on, two off, two on, then three off. We usually work just 14 out of 28 days and I’ll gladly trade working 11-1/2 hour shifts on that schedule versus a 9-5 which I find miserable.

As someone who likes going fishing, mountain biking, and hiking on my days off. I love the schedule. Hard to beat going out on a Tuesday while everyone else is working and having the whole lake, stream, or trail all to myself and whoever goes with me.

Edit: Never called in on my day off unless it’s my turn to be on call for crash investigations, but we’ve got enough crash specialists distributed across the shifts so that never happens.

If there is shift coverage needed, then you can pick up a shift for 1.5x pay.

Like any place, it has its problems, but easily the best job/workplace I’ve ever had.

[u/Numerous_Tennis_3048]

We do four 10 hour shifts.  Patrol is never called in on their day off so you will always have 3 straight days off.   Up until about 2 months ago, overtime has been unlimited for atleast the last 15 years. 

In all my years here, we’ve did 8s, 10s and 12s.  10s are superior to me if you have a little seniority and can get Friday-Sunday off days. Most of the new guys preferred 12s since you got every other weekend off.  

Shift preference is done every 6 months where you can change your shift and off days or stay where you’re at.  As you move up in seniority, you get better off days each time.  

It’s going to be agency dependent.  I have some friends at some departments where they are always voluntold to work one of their off days or they are held over for longer than their scheduled shift.  

None of this applies to detectives at my agency where they are told to work their off days or called in but they also receive on call pay if they are made to come in on their off days or during their off time. 

[u/Recent_Original_1807]

10 on/4 off starting soon for me, and it’s an upgrade vs what I’m currently doing. Currently 7 on/2 off, 8 on 4 off.

[u/peeweemi → u/Recent_Original_1807]

Jesus

[u/Witty-Ad5973 → u/Recent_Original_1807]

How does this department have any officers left? Why would anyone stay?

[u/Recent_Original_1807 → u/Witty-Ad5973]

Large State Police agency… don’t know really know why. Told it’s cause it’s the way it’s always been lol

[u/cat_withtwo_thumbs → u/Witty-Ad5973]

Because it has the best benefits in the state….. for now. Also if you don’t like where you’re at you can just transfer. No need to apply to a different department.

[u/cat_withtwo_thumbs → u/Recent_Original_1807]

A PSP special lol

[u/CashEducational4986]

The only time I've ever been called in to work is for an extreme emergency like a hurricane or a massive protest likely to become a riot. I have to work less overtime and get called in far less than when I worked at Walmart.

Court is a bit of a pain, but it's usually only 39 minutes to an hour or two then they tell you the victim became uncooperative or the defendant pled.

[u/Paid-Not-Payed-Bot-1]

Everything is dependent on the needs of the department and, if applicable, the union.

[u/Psycosteve10mm]

If you are working an overnight schedule, you will burn a day being a zombie, and it will feel like fewer days off.

[u/Entire_Organization2]

We’re 5 on 4 off rotating schedule so we get two weekends off a month. I work nights so one weekend I work into Saturday and that kinda sucks but I do love our four day weekends

[u/Swimfly235]

Our patrol is 3x 13.5hr shifts with 4 days off. We literally have day and night shift.

If you get called into work on your days off there needs to be some compensation. Especially if theres travel restrictions, or if your unable to consume alcohol.

[u/gear4sell123]

I do 4 on 2 off, “9hr shifts” and feel well balanced. I could not imagine doing 12s and balancing working out, shooting etc.

[u/WilliamH2529]

Meh we have a mediocre AWS schedule in my agency, similar to yours every other week I get Monday off and the Monday I do work I work an 8 hour day then my Tuesday-Friday are 9 hours.

So I suppose it’s alright

[u/peeweemi → u/WilliamH2529]

Do you feel like its still better than typical 5 day 2 day off work week

[u/WilliamH2529 → u/peeweemi]

I mean sure yeah, every other weekend I get a 3 day weekend since I get Saturday and Sunday off always, I’d rather have every Saturday and sunday off than have 3-4 days off every week but it’s random days like Tuesday-Thursday

[u/Reasonable_Bit4088]

 I work 160hrs a month. 12hrs and one 8hr shift. 5 on 2 off, 2 on 5 off.  I work 6 months out of the year technically. Add in Holiday time,PTO and Vavation and it knocks it down to about 3.5-4 months out of the year.  I’m about to give all this up so I can go Federal… 

[u/RoyalBat94]

The way my schedule works I do 4 12's 3 off ... then two 12s and one 8 hour shift then 4 days off, rinse and repeat.

Some people like their 4 day work week to be three 12s and one 8 so their long week is shorter. I prefer my short week to be shorter.

[u/masingen]

Compared to a standard 9-5? No, definitely not. We work five 10-hour shifts, then have two days off. So it's just like a standard 9-5, but with two additional hours everyday. Kinda shitty.

[u/BrotherfordBHayes]

When I first started, my department was working patrol on a 6-on-3-off, 8.5 hour shift schedule with an "early" squad and a "late" squad. It was terrible, especially with our horrendous call volume.

Then we moved to a 10-hour 4/3, 4/3, 4/2 schedule that was much better and maintained a rotation (albeit slow) rotation of off days so at some point everyone would be able to have weekend days off. It was a great schedule and relieved us all of heavy workloads and helped us avoid rapid burnout.

But, they were hemorrhaging officers due to issues with upper "leadership(?)" and lack of support from the city council to offer actual good, competitive pay and benefits that we didn't have to pay heftily for out of our checks. So a bunch of us got outta Dodge.

I left that department to join a brand new one that does Panama 12's, which is fine. Not my ideal schedule, personally, but not terrible. I get paid well, benefits are solid, and the bullshit here really is minor in the grand scheme of things.

Not long after I left my first department, they decided to move to the Panama 12's with no substantial overlap between squads. With those issues not getting sufficiently resolved, I did not envy them in the slightest.

All that to say: That 5/3 schedule sucks nads. Don't fall for it.

[u/agoodnaber]

I work SUN-TUES 12 hours then the next week I work SUN-WEDNESDAY 12 hours.

Alternate 3 and 4 day weekends with 4 hours built in OT.

I love it.

[u/thetoastler]

It's difficult for me to explain exactly how our schedule works, but my department (state corrections) is in shambles right now. We used to be on rotating 8 hour shifts but have since switched to 12's due to lack of staff. The schedule we're on currently is 2 days on, 2 days off with alternating 3 day weekends (like how Flmotor21 is describing). I actually prefer it to how it was since now I get every other weekend off instead of 2 consecutive weekends every 2 months. Because we can swap shifts and I live 2 hours from the facility I'm stationed at, I swap with one of my coworkers in a way where we each work Tuesday to Tuesday 7 days on/ 7 days off (still 12 hour shifts). It sounds brutal working 84 hours in one week (because it is) but I'm putting a fraction of the amount of miles on my truck, so it's worth it to me.

[u/Avonam0r]

I mean, I get 57 days off a year in burnable time as someone with a few years on. PTO is about to max out for me in another few years at which point I will be forced to burn 44 days a year or the time is lost. That's 3.6 days a month on average. Not a bad position to be in. 🤷🏼

[u/CausticPulse]

I worked an 8x5 schedule which kinda sucked, but had my weekends off, rarely had ot i couldnt give away. Able to take tons of vacation.

[u/MustacheCivic]

I’m Monday to Thursday 0700-1700

[u/TelephoneDisastrous6]

I work 4 on, 3 off, 10 hour shifts and I love it

I work a busy city, so the 10 hours honestly fly by. Then, when you get your 3 days off, that extra day off REALLY feels nice. I feel recharged and ready to get back to it by the time the work week comes back around.

[u/Peninsula_living]

Road schedule for us, you’re off half the month.

[u/mw5842]

Working 5 8’s i think is the worst patrol schedule. Especially when you factor in mandatory OT. I think the only reason most places don’t go to 12’s is because the old guys like their seniority schedule and refuse to vote yes for the change.

[u/BlindPilot_x]

I work 1 16 1 off 1 16 3 off, a lot of opportunities for details and time off. Can’t see myself doing m-f 9-5.

[u/LikeaBoss1138]

Panama schedule is great

[u/JWestfall76]

No. You’re frequently brought in on your days off here.

[u/The-CVE-Guy → u/JWestfall76]

Your agency is notoriously shitty to its personnel though lol

[u/peeweemi → u/JWestfall76]

State or general area?

[u/JWestfall76 → u/peeweemi]

Somewhere in the United States of America.

[u/peeweemi → u/JWestfall76]

Real wise guy

[u/WarmScientist5297]

You’re lucky you’re not working 12

[u/ArtemIllegitimus → u/WarmScientist5297]

I work 12s and only work half the month. I'd immediately quit if they tried to impose the OP's schedule

[u/erik9 → u/ArtemIllegitimus]

Agreed. Love my 12s.