What Is a Southern Swing Shift?

Businesses that operate 24/7 need a work schedule that ensures continuous coverage while giving employees sufficient time to rest and recharge between shifts. One popular schedule that achieves this balance is the Southern swing shift schedule.

In this guide, we explain how the Southern swing shift schedule works, as well as its advantages and disadvantages, to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your workforce.

What Is the Southern Swing Shift Schedule?

The Southern swing schedule is a 24/7 work schedule that enables businesses to operate around the clock without burning out employees. 

To use this schedule, divide your 24-hour working days into 3 8-hour shifts and group your employees into 4 teams. Each team works 7 days in a row, followed by 2 or 3 days off, cycling through day shifts, swing shifts (usually covering the afternoon to late evening), and night shifts.

Here’s what the schedule looks like:

7 day shifts – 2 days off – 7 swing shifts – 2 days off – 7 night shifts – 3 days off

This creates a 28-day pattern that begins again after employees finish their 3 days off.

A typical Southern swing shift schedule may have a day shift from 8am-4pm, a swing shift from 4pm-12am, and a night shift from 12am-8am. However, you can adjust the timing of these shifts to better suit your business.

As you can see, the Southern swing shift rotation requires employees to transition from day shifts to swing shifts to night shifts each time they return to work after days off. This shift rotation means all employees are assigned equal numbers of day, swing, and night shifts in each 28-day cycle. It also ensures you have consistent coverage 24/7.

To make the Southern swing shift schedule work, each team of employees will start at a different point in the 28-day cycle. This diagram shows how this works in practice: orange indicates a day shift, blue indicates a swing shift, purple indicates a night shift, and white indicates a day off.

The number of hours employees work in a Southern swing schedule varies from week to week. They’ll work 56 hours (7 consecutive days) in 1 week, 40 hours the next 2 weeks, and 32 hours the following week. This means you’ll need to pay overtime to only 1 team per week during the 4-week cycle.

Who Uses the Southern Swing Shift Rotation?

The Southern swing shift is popular among businesses that need employees to be alert and focused throughout their shifts. Under this schedule, employees work 8-hour shifts instead of the 10-12-hour shifts required by many alternative 24/7 work schedules. So, they’re less likely to be tired by the end of a shift.

Industries that frequently use the Southern swing shift schedule include:

• Manufacturing.
• Energy.
• Healthcare.
• Trucking.
• Emergency services.

Benefits of the Southern Swing Shift Pattern

Southern swing shift pattern has several advantages over other 24/7 schedules.

8-hour shifts

The most important benefit of the Southern swing rotation is that it only requires employees to work 8-hour shifts. In contrast, many other 24/7 work schedules—including the DuPont shift schedule and 4 on, 4 off shift schedule—require employees to work 12-hour shifts.

Shorter shifts are beneficial because employees can remain focused throughout their shift and will feel less tired by the end of a workday. That can lead to safer working conditions during each shift—which is especially important if your employees work with dangerous manufacturing equipment or in high-stakes situations such as emergency medical care.

Time to adjust to shift rotation

The Southern swing shift pattern is closely related to the continental shift pattern. The main difference between them is that in the Southern swing shift, employees rotate between day, swing, and night shifts between each 7-day work period. In the continental shift pattern, employees rotate shifts within each 7-day work period.

The Southern swing shift rotation gives employees more time to adjust their circadian rhythm to each shift change. That can be better for employees’ mental health and ensure they don’t show up to shifts fatigued. 

The slower shift rotation pace can also help employees maintain work-life balance. For example, an employee can plan an entire week with friends and family around a fixed shift rather than having to shift their social schedule every other day.

Equal shift distribution

Another nice thing about the Southern swing schedule is that all employees work the same number of day, swing, and night shifts in each 28-day cycle. No employees are forced into working an unfair number of less desirable swing or night shifts.

This fairness is a huge benefit of rotating shifts. It’s good for employee morale and can reduce conflict among employees.

Offers one weekend off per month

The Southern swing schedule is also noteworthy because it guarantees employees 1 weekend off in each 28-day cycle. Many alternative 24/7 schedules offer weekends off less frequently—or not at all.

Drawbacks of the Southern Shift Pattern

The Southern swing shift pattern has a few disadvantages that you should consider before implementing it at your business.

Limited rest periods

The Southern swing schedule requires employees to work 7 days in a row, split up by only 2-3 days off. That isn’t a lot of dedicated rest time compared to other 24/7 schedules—despite the shorter working days. For example, in a Pitman shift schedule, employees get 2-3 days off after working just 2-3 days in a row. Meanwhile, a 4 on, 4 off schedule offers employees 4 days off at a time.

Over the long run, this limited rest can contribute to employee burnout and a high employee turnover rate. As one shift worker wrote, “I’ve worked Southern swing shift and a 2-2-3 schedule. Working shift in a plant is a great way to begin your career. You see a ton of different things and are forced to learn decision-making on the fly. Is it good for your long-term health? Probably not. But for a year or two as a young buck, you’ll be fine.”

Requires overtime pay

Though the Southern swing schedule requires less overtime than most 24/7 work schedules, you’ll still have to pay employees overtime.

For one week per 28-day cycle, employees will work 7 days in a row for a total of 56 hours. That means you’ll pay 16 hours of overtime per week and 64 hours of overtime per cycle.

Requires shift rotation

The Southern swing schedule requires employees to rotate from day to swing to night shifts between each 7-day work period. It cannot be used with fixed shifts, where employees always work the same shift.

While rotating shift work is more equitable for employees, it can also be challenging. Employees must be able to adapt their sleep schedules from one week to the next and can become fatigued. It can also be difficult for employees to set aside time for family and friends when rotating shifts, potentially leading to increased social isolation.

Other 24/7 schedules—like the Pitman shift schedule, 4 on, 3 off, and 4 on, 4 off schedules—offer the flexibility to give employees fixed shifts.

Is the Southern Swing Shift Rotation Right for Your Business?

Here are some important things to consider when deciding if the southern swing shift pattern is right for your business.

Do you need 8-hour shifts?

The main advantage of the Southern swing schedule is that it offers 8-hour shifts instead of 10, 12, or even 24-hour shifts. These shorter shifts are best for situations where employees are working in high-stress or dangerous environments or where fatigue-related mistakes can be extremely costly.

If your shifts aren’t as demanding or require employees to work intermittently, it’s worth considering an alternative shift pattern with longer shifts. Examples include Panama (2-2-3), Pitman, and DuPont shift patterns.

Is work balanced across shifts?

The Southern swing schedule works best if there’s a roughly equal amount of work to do across your business’s day, swing, and night shifts. That’s because you’ll have the same number of employees assigned to work each shift. If there’s a lot less work during night shifts than during day shifts, your employees may not have enough to do when they rotate to night shifts.

You can remedy this by hiring additional employees who only work a single shift—but that increases the complexity of managing your business’s schedule. A better solution may be to break your schedule into 12-hour shifts with frequent rotations between day and night shifts. Panama, DuPont, and 4 on, 4 off schedules work well for this.

How to Implement a Southern Swing Schedule

Transitioning to a Southern swing schedule can be a big change for your employees, especially if you’re not already operating a 24/7 work schedule. Here are 3 things you can do to ensure a smooth transition:

Prepare your team

Pushback from employees is one of the biggest issues businesses face when changing shift schedules. The best way to minimize this is to give your workers several months’ notice before switching to the new schedule, talk with them, and prepare them for the change.

Clearly explain why you chose the Southern swing schedule, including its benefits and drawbacks, and take time to answer employees’ questions. The more employees feel involved in the process, the more receptive they’ll be to the schedule change. 

Consult a labor attorney

In most cases, there are no legal restrictions on switching to a Southern swing rotation. However, some states, like California, have laws requiring employees to approve 24/7 work schedules. Additionally, Illinois has a law that requires employees to have 1 day of rest in every 7-day work period, which makes the Southern swing schedule impossible in that state. 

That’s why it’s a good idea to consult a labor attorney before switching to a Southern swing schedule. They can help you navigate these regulations.

Use scheduling software

Employee scheduling software like Connecteam makes it much easier to implement and manage a Southern swing schedule. Connecteam not only lets you schedule employees in just a few clicks but also sends employees reminders on their mobile devices so they never miss a shift.

Plus, Connecteam tracks employees’ attendance and working hours. That makes it easy to calculate overtime and benefits when using a Southern swing schedule.

Conclusion

The Southern swing shift is a 24/7 work schedule in which employees work 8-hour shifts, transitioning from day to swing to night shifts in a 28-day cycle. It’s a good option for businesses that have high-stress or dangerous work environments and need employees to perform at their best.

You can use Connecteam to easily build and manage your Southern swing schedule. Connecteam offers tools to help you create the perfect schedule, communicate with your employees, track hours for payroll, and much more.

Try Connecteam free today to see how it can help your business operate around the clock!