1st, 2nd and 3rd shift hours: times, pay and who works them

If a job posting says “2nd shift,” it almost always means an afternoon-to-night schedule, and 2nd shift hours are most often 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. The numbering comes from workplaces that run around the clock: the first shift works the day, the second takes over in the afternoon, and the third works overnight. Below are the standard hours for each, the variants you will see, what the shifts are like, and the pay, overtime and scheduling rules that apply to all three.

1st, 2nd and 3rd shift hours at a glance

There is no legal definition of a first, second or third shift. The US Department of Labor regulates overtime, minimum wage and child labor, not the clock times a shift starts and ends. These are the conventions most US employers follow.

Two things move the times around. Many employers schedule a paid handoff, so shifts run 6:45 to 3:15 or 2:45 to 11:15 and the outgoing crew can brief the incoming one. And employers on 12-hour shifts, such as hospitals and many plants, collapse the three shifts into two: days from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and nights from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Retail and restaurants more often say “open,” “mid” and “close.”

First shift hours: the day shift

First shift hours usually start between 6 and 9 a.m. and end eight hours later. In a factory or distribution center the day shift typically runs 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. so the night crew can hand over before the plant hits full pace. Offices and banks run 8 to 4 or 9 to 5. Hospitals on 8-hour shifts often run 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with an unpaid half-hour lunch.

Who works it: most office staff, school and daycare workers, bank tellers, construction crews, delivery drivers, and the largest crew in any 24-hour operation. It is the shift most people want, so employers rarely pay a premium for it and seniority often decides who gets it.

What it is like: supervisors, maintenance, HR and vendors are all on site, so problems get solved faster. The trade-off is traffic, a 5 a.m. alarm for a 6 or 7 a.m. start, and the least flexibility, since meetings, inspections and deliveries all land on the day shift.

Second shift hours: the swing or afternoon shift

What is second shift? It is the shift that starts in the afternoon and ends late in the evening. Standard 2nd shift hours are 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., with 2 to 10 and 4 to midnight as the usual alternatives. Because it straddles afternoon and night it is nicknamed the swing shift, and in hospitals it is simply “evenings.”

Who works it: production workers in plants that run two or three shifts, warehouse pickers and loaders who process the day’s orders for overnight trucks, hospital nurses and techs, hotel front desk and restaurant staff, security guards, call center agents covering West Coast hours, and janitorial crews who clean offices after they empty out.

What it is like: the morning is free, which suits parents who handle school drop-off, students with morning classes, and anyone who hates early alarms. Commutes are lighter and fewer managers are around, so the shift is quieter and more self-directed. The cost is evenings: dinner, kids’ games and most social life happen while you are at work, and you get home close to midnight.

Second shift is also the shift most likely to carry a small premium, because employers find it harder to fill than days but easier than nights. In the US Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Wage System, for example, trade and craft employees earn a 7.5% differential when most of a scheduled shift falls between 3 p.m. and midnight, and 10% when most of it falls between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. Those rules bind federal agencies only, but they are a useful reference point for how employers rank the shifts.

Third shift hours: the night or graveyard shift

Third shift hours run overnight, most often 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., with 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and midnight to 8 a.m. as the common variants. It goes by night shift, overnight, graveyard shift and, in hospitals, “nights” or “NOC.” On a 12-hour pattern it is 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Who works it: hospital and nursing home staff, police, fire and 911 dispatchers, hotel night auditors, 24-hour grocery and convenience store clerks, bakers, overnight warehouse and parcel sorting crews, plant operators in continuous processes such as refining, paper and food manufacturing, and data center and IT operations staff.

What it is like: the quietest shift, with the fewest interruptions and usually the highest differential. Daytime is free for appointments, classes and errands. Against that, sleeping during the day is hard for most people, the shift runs against the body’s internal clock, and days off often get spent switching back to a daytime pattern. The health and safety section below covers what the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says about this.

One date quirk trips up new night-shift workers and new payroll clerks alike: a shift that starts Tuesday at 11 p.m. ends Wednesday morning. Most employers label the shift by the day it starts, so “Tuesday night” means Tuesday 11 p.m. to Wednesday 7 a.m. Write that convention into the schedule so nobody shows up a day late.

Swing shift hours and split shifts explained

Swing shift has two meanings, so check which one your employer uses:

• In most workplaces, swing shift is just another name for 2nd shift. Swing shift hours are the same 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., give or take an hour.
• In some workplaces, especially police departments, utilities and smaller plants, a swing shift is a floating or rotating assignment. The swing-shift employee covers whichever shift is short that week, swinging between days, evenings and nights. The pay and health considerations here are closer to those of a rotating schedule, covered below.

A split shift is a single workday broken into two blocks by an unpaid gap longer than a normal meal break, set by the employer. The classic example is a restaurant server who works 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. A school bus driver covering morning and afternoon routes works a split shift too. Federal law does not require any extra pay for a split shift, but a few states do. California’s Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders require a split-shift premium of one hour of pay at the state minimum wage ($16.90 an hour in 2026, or the local minimum if it is higher). The California Department of Industrial Relations explains that any pay above minimum wage for the day is credited against the premium, so higher-paid employees may be owed little or nothing. Check your state labor department if you schedule split shifts outside California.

Shift differentials and overtime across shifts

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the clock time of a shift changes nothing about minimum wage or overtime. The Department of Labor puts it plainly: the FLSA does not require extra pay for night work, and the FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or regular days of rest unless overtime is actually worked on those days. Nor does federal law cap hours for adults; there is no limit on the hours an employee 16 or older may work in a workweek. Three pay rules do matter.

Shift differentials are optional but common

A shift differential is extra pay for working a less popular shift, either a flat amount per hour (say $1.50) or a percentage of base pay (say 10%). It is a matter of agreement or policy, not law, for private employers. The clearest written rule is the federal government’s own: General Schedule employees receive night pay of 10% of basic pay for regularly scheduled work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. under 5 CFR 550.121, and Federal Wage System employees receive the 7.5% and 10% differentials described above. Our guide to shift differential pay covers the types, the math and how it appears on a pay stub.

Differentials raise the overtime rate

For a non-exempt employee, overtime is 1.5 times the regular rate, and the regular rate includes shift differentials. An employee at $18.00 an hour with a $2.00 night differential who works 44 hours, all on nights, has a regular rate of $20.00, so each overtime hour is paid at $30.00, not $27.00. Run your own numbers in the overtime calculator, which has a field for differentials.

A night shift can straddle two workweeks

Overtime is counted per workweek, which DOL regulations define as a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It need not match the calendar week and may begin on any day and at any hour of the day, but once set it stays fixed, and hours cannot be averaged across weeks. Each hour counts in the workweek in which it is worked. That matters for the 3rd shift, because a night shift can start in one workweek and end in the next.

An illustrative example: Northfield Coffee in Austin adds an overnight bake shift, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and its workweek runs Sunday 12:00 a.m. to Saturday 11:59 p.m. Sam Rivera works the Saturday night shift. The two hours from 10 p.m. to midnight belong to the week that is ending; the six hours from midnight to 6 a.m. Sunday open the new week. If Sam already had 40 hours by Saturday evening, those two late hours are overtime at 1.5 times his regular rate, and the six Sunday hours start the next week’s count at zero. The payroll system has to split the shift at the boundary, not book all eight hours to the day the shift started.

Employers can avoid the split. Because the workweek may begin at any hour, a plant whose night shift starts at 11 p.m. can define its workweek as 11 p.m. Sunday to 10:59 p.m. the following Sunday, so every shift falls entirely inside one week. The change must be intended as permanent and not designed to dodge overtime. Our guide on how to calculate overtime walks through the workweek rule and multiple-rate examples in more depth, and if you are in California, daily overtime after 8 hours adds another layer; see California overtime law.

Rotating shifts and 12-hour patterns

Employers assign the three shifts in one of two ways.

Fixed shifts. Each employee always works days, evenings or nights. Bodies adapt better, people can plan their lives, and the day shift becomes a reward for seniority. The downside is that nights are permanently staffed by whoever is newest or most willing, and turnover on 3rd shift tends to run higher.

Rotating shifts. Everyone cycles through the shifts over a fixed period. A common 8-hour rotation is a week or two on days, then evenings, then nights. Rotation shares the unpopular hours fairly and keeps everyone familiar with every part of the operation, at the cost of constant readjustment.

Many 24/7 operations have replaced three 8-hour shifts with two 12-hour shifts and four crews. The well-known patterns are:

• DuPont schedule: a four-week cycle of 12-hour days and nights with a seven-day break in each cycle. See the DuPont schedule guide.
• Pitman schedule: 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, repeating every two weeks, with every other weekend off. See the Pitman schedule guide.
• 2-2-3 (Panama) schedule: the same 2-2-3 rhythm on a 28-day cycle, often with crews rotating between days and nights. See the 2-2-3 schedule guide.

Twelve-hour patterns mean fewer handoffs and more full days off, but they also mean 36 hours one week and 48 the next on most patterns, which produces overtime under the FLSA’s 40-hour weekly rule unless the employer pays it or uses a lawful alternative. Compressed schedules for office staff, such as the 9/80 work schedule, raise the same question.

Health and safety on 2nd and 3rd shift: what NIOSH says

NIOSH, part of the CDC, is the federal agency that studies work schedules. Its guidance is the safest reference for employers writing a shift policy, so this section sticks to what NIOSH publishes.

NIOSH states that research indicates shift work and long work hours increase health and safety risks by disturbing sleep and circadian rhythms, and that the resulting fatigue promotes stress, negative mood, discomfort and poor health behaviors, which can lead to illness and injury. It links shift work to digestive problems, heart problems and strain on family and social life. On cancer, a 2021 NIOSH summary of a National Toxicology Program report says the workers who appear to be at highest risk are those with at least 3 hours of work between midnight and 5 a.m., 3 or more nights a week, 10 or more years of night work, or who began night work before about age 30. NIOSH notes that specific cancer risks tied to night work are not yet known and that other factors common among night workers, such as smoking, poor diet and inactivity, may contribute.

NIOSH’s training for nurses on shift work and long hours collects the scheduling guidelines researchers have proposed. For a manager building a three-shift schedule, the practical ones are:

• Forward rotations (days to evenings to nights) are easier to adjust to than backward rotations.
• Avoid quick changes. Researchers recommend at least 11 hours between two shifts, so do not schedule someone off evenings at 11 p.m. and back on days at 7 a.m.
• A weekly rotation is the most difficult speed and is best avoided; rotate faster or every two weeks or more.
• Keep consecutive night shifts to a minimum on rotating schedules, and use permanent night shifts with caution. During evenings and nights, shifts of 8 hours or less are better tolerated than longer ones.
• Plan one or two full days of rest after five consecutive 8-hour shifts or four 10-hour shifts, and consider two rest days after three consecutive 12-hour shifts.
• Early start times of 6 a.m. or earlier tend to shorten sleep; avoid them where possible, and schedule some weekends off.
• Reduce demanding tasks between 2 and 6 a.m. and late in a long shift, give employees some control over their schedules, and avoid pressuring people into extra shifts.

Two legal points sit alongside the health guidance. Federal child labor rules allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day), so minors under 16 cannot work a full 2nd shift or any 3rd shift; 16- and 17-year-olds have no federal hour limits, but many states set their own, and the stricter rule applies. And meal and rest breaks are a matter of state law; in states that require them, such as California, the night crew is owed the same breaks as the day crew.

How to write shift times on a schedule

Most shift mix-ups come from a.m. and p.m., not from the shift itself. A few habits remove them:

1. Use 24-hour time for 2nd and 3rd shift. Write 15:00 to 23:00 and 23:00 to 07:00 rather than 3 to 11 and 11 to 7. Hospitals, plants and public safety already do this, and it is the format most time clocks export.
2. Never write “12 a.m.” or “12 p.m.” without context. Write “midnight” and “noon,” or use 00:00 and 12:00. A schedule that reads “Sat 12 a.m.” is read two different ways by two reasonable people.
3. Label overnight shifts by the start date. “Tue 23:00 to Wed 07:00” leaves nothing to interpret. If your schedule template only shows one date per shift, state the rule once at the top: shifts are listed on the day they begin.
4. Show the unpaid break. “07:00 to 15:30, 30-minute unpaid meal” tells the employee the shift is 8 paid hours and tells payroll what to deduct.
5. Mark handoff time as paid. If the incoming crew arrives at 14:45 for a 15:00 start, the 15 minutes are hours worked and go on the time card.

Our shift schedule templates are laid out this way, with separate rows for days, evenings and nights. If employees clock in on a shared tablet at the door, a time clock kiosk records the real start and end time in 24-hour format and removes the question entirely.

Pros and cons of each shift for employees

No shift is best for everyone. Here is how the three compare from the employee’s side.

If you are choosing between offers, compare total pay for the shift, not base rate. An $18.00 base with a $2.00 night differential pays more than a $19.00 day job, and the differential also lifts the overtime rate. Then weigh the hours you would lose: a parent who needs evenings may take the day job at $19.00 and be right to.

How employers staff three shifts

Running 2nd and 3rd shift well comes down to coverage math, clean handoffs, and the pay and policies that keep people on the night crew.

Work out the coverage first

Three 8-hour shifts cover 24 hours, but a seat that must be filled 24 hours a day, 7 days a week needs 168 hours of coverage a week. At 40 hours per employee that is 4.2 full-time equivalents per seat before PTO, sick time and training, so most 24/7 operations plan on 4.5 to 5 people per seat or use four crews on 12-hour patterns. A 5-day plant that runs two shifts needs two people per seat plus relief. Our warehouse and manufacturing page covers coverage planning for distribution centers, and the healthcare scheduling guide covers 24-hour patient care.

Build paid handoffs into the schedule

A sloppy handoff costs more than 15 minutes of overlap. Schedule the incoming shift to start 15 to 30 minutes before the outgoing one ends, pay that time as hours worked, and give it a structure: open issues, equipment status, orders or patients in progress. Where overlap is not affordable, a written shift log does the same job.

Set the premium and write it down

Decide whether 2nd and 3rd shift carry a differential, how much, and exactly which hours qualify (for example, hours worked between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., or the whole shift when most of it falls at night). Put the rule in the handbook and show the differential as its own line on the pay stub. Decide too whether PTO taken on a night shift is paid at base or base plus differential; either is legal, but it must be consistent. Policies on lateness and absence hit night crews hardest, so make sure the attendance policy and the no call no show rules spell out how a 3rd-shift employee reports an absence at 10 p.m. when the office is closed.

Fixed or rotating, and who decides

Fixed shifts are simpler and healthier for most people; rotation is fairer. Whichever you choose, NIOSH’s guidance favors giving employees some control, so let people state shift preferences, post open shifts for pickup, and allow swaps within rules you set (no 1st-shift start within 11 hours of a 2nd-shift end, for instance). Publish the schedule as far ahead as you can. Oregon’s predictive scheduling law, enforced by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, requires retail, hospitality and food service employers with 500 or more employees worldwide to post schedules 14 days ahead and pay extra for late changes, and several cities have similar ordinances.

Track hours per shift, not just per day

Differentials, split-shift premiums and shifts that cross midnight all depend on knowing which hours were worked when. A time clock that records exact punches, tags each punch to a shift, and splits a shift at the workweek boundary does that for you. The FLSA requires employers to keep payroll records for at least three years and time cards for at least two, and a dispute about a night differential is far easier to settle from punch data than from a paper sign-in sheet.

Frequently asked questions