The 9/80 work schedule can boost your operational efficiency while taking care of your surfers’ (agents’) well-being. It’s a concept that can potentially transform your call centre’s performance with longer shifts and extended weekends. 

This blog explores the 9/80 work schedule and how it can reduce turnover rates, enhance customer service, and ultimately drive success in your call centre.

What is a 9/80 work schedule?

A 9/80 work schedule is an arrangement where employees work nine hours a day for nine consecutive days, followed by a day off every other Friday. This schedule maintains an average of 80 hours of work over two weeks.

Here’s how a typical 9/80 work schedule might function:

Regular Working week (Week 1):

• Monday to Thursday: Employees work nine-hour shifts daily, totalling 36 hours per week.
• Friday: Employees work eight hours (a regular workday), totalling 44 hours for the week.

Extended Working week (Week 2):

• Monday to Thursday: Employees work nine-hour shifts daily, totalling 36 hours per week.
• Friday: This is a day off. 

The 9/80 work schedule benefits often include longer weekends and potential improvements in work-life balance. However, it may not be suitable for all industries or job roles, and its adoption depends on the policies and preferences of the employer. 

Some organisations use variations of this schedule, such as a 4/10 schedule, where employees work four 10-hour days per week and have a 3-day weekend.

Example of 9/80 work schedule

Assume a company, “XYZ Corporation,” implements a 9/80 schedule. Here’s the 9/80 work schedule example.

In this 9/80 schedule example, here’s how employees at XYZ Corporation follow their work schedule. 

During week 1

• The employees work nine-hour shifts from Monday to Thursday, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. 
• On Friday of Week 1, they work eight hours, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This is their day off for that week.

During week 2

• Employees work nine-hour shifts from Monday to Thursday.
• They get the entire day off on Friday (CDO). 

During week 3 & 4th

In the 3rd & 4th week, employees followed the same schedule as in previous weeks. They work nine-hour shifts from Monday to Thursday and have a day off on Friday. 

The two-week cycle repeats, providing employees with a three-day weekend every alternate week.

Pros and cons of working 9/80 work schedule

A 9/80 work schedule offers several benefits that can help teams work more effectively:

Enhanced flexibility

9/80 schedules often come with flexible start and end times. This flexibility can help employees align their work hours with their peak productivity periods, leading to more efficient and effective work.

Extended work hours

Some employees can accomplish more within a single workday by working nine-hour shifts. They can focus on time-consuming tasks and get them done without rolling over.

The longer work hours in a day can create uninterrupted time blocks for employees to tackle complex tasks or engage in deep work ghostwriting.

Cost savings

With fixed off days, businesses can reduce or even shut down operations every alternate week. This helps to reduce the overall operational costs incurred by the business. 

While the 9/80 work schedule offers several advantages, it’s also important to consider the potential drawbacks. 

Longer workdays

The most significant downside of a 9/80 schedule is the long workdays, with nine-hour shifts. Some employees may find it physically and mentally exhausting to maintain productivity for extended hours, leading to fatigue and burnout.

Limited time for personal activities 

Employees working nine-hour shifts may have limited time for personal activities or family commitments on working days. This can eventually lead to a stressful personal life.

Coordination challenges

If not managed well, the alternating schedule of 9/80 can create coordination challenges for teams. It may get harder for managers to track surfers’ off days and schedule meetings or training sessions according to their availability.

With Surfboard’s diplomarbeit schreiben lassen draft and publish tool, you can collaborate with your team before publishing schedules. Track your surfers’ availability, their day offs, and edit schedules in a secure space before sharing. 

Not suitable for small businesses

The 9/80 schedule may not be suitable for small-sized businesses. With fewer employees, they may find it difficult to split the day off and manage coverage.

What are 9/80 alternative work schedules?

Here is the list of 5 common 9/80 work schedule alternatives in practice.

5×8

In the 5×8 schedule, employees work five days a week, with each day consisting of 8 hours. This schedule is similar to the traditional Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 working week. It offers a consistent routine and two consecutive days off, typically on the weekends.

Pros	Cons
Predictable work hours and days.	Limited flexibility in scheduling.
Helps maintain work consistency.	It may not accommodate the team’s unique needs and preferences.

4×10

The 4×10 schedule has employees working four days a week, with 10 hours each day. This results in a total of 40 hours per week, just like the traditional schedule. Employees often have three consecutive days off, providing extended weekends and lower commuting expenses.

Pros	Cons
Longer weekends with three days off.	Longer daily work hours.
Reduced commuting time and expenses.	Employees may not be able to manage time for daily activities like going to the gym, childcare, etc.

Rotating Shift

Rotating shifts involve employees working different shifts on a rotating basis. 

For example, an employee might work the morning shift (e.g., 7 AM to 3 PM) for one week, then switch to the evening shift (e.g., 3 PM to 11 PM) for the next week. This schedule is common in industries that require 24/7 operations, such as healthcare, to ensure continuous coverage.

Pros	Cons
Provides continuous coverage.	Frequent shift changes can disrupt sleep patterns.
Employees can experience more work variety during different shift times.	Challenging for employees with families due to irregular hours.

Planning rotating shifts is no easy task. However, with Surfboard, managers are no longer required to spend 10+ hours planning shifts. 

Surfboard helps you plan rotating shifts based on your team’s needs. Once you set up, Surfboard automatically schedules shifts without further manual input. 

➡️Learn more about managing rotating shifts here. 

Split Work Schedule

A split work schedule typically involves two distinct work periods within a day, separated by a longer break. For instance, an employee might work from 6 AM to 10 AM, have a break until 2 PM, and then work from 2 PM to 6 PM.

Pros	Cons
Longer break time.	Difficulty in scheduling personal activities.
Can accommodate non-standard working hours.	Coordination between employees working in different splits can be challenging for managers.

Plan your work schedules intuitively with Surfboard

Are you planning a 9/80 work schedule or any other alternative work schedule for your employees?

Surfboard’s automated and fairly distributed shift scheduling feature can help you regardless of the schedule type you choose to implement in your organisation. 

Surfboard enables accurate forecasting to help you plan coverage and create schedules. Here are some of Surfboard’s top shift scheduling features👇

✅Workforce scheduling – Create custom shift patterns and rohrreinigung berlin plans from scratch for all your team’s needs across the year. Create separate shifts for different campaigns, peak seasons, or even weekends. Send shift reminders and notifications to managers and support surfers during schedule changes.

✅Intraday scheduling– Plan shifts once and automate your scheduling across days, weeks, and months. Get 100% control and flexibility of your team’s activities.

✅Round-robin scheduling – Distribute the less popular shifts, like Friday night shifts, fairly among all surfers using Surfboard’s round-robin scheduling tool.

Moreover, Surfboard seamlessly integrates with your existing systems like Intercom, Zendesk, Slack, Twilio, and more to boost operational efficiency. You can also add custom integrations at no additional cost. 

💡Want to learn more about Surfboard?

Check out how Surfboard helped Lick, a home decor provider, reduce planning time by 75%. The company managed part-time and full-time staff schedules with forecasting and provided heatmaps for manual adjustments.

Book a demo with us to explore how easy it is to schedule shifts with Surfboard.

FAQs

How does a 9/80 work schedule work?

A 9/80 work schedule typically involves working nine hours daily for nine days within two weeks, with every other Friday off. Employees work longer hours to enjoy a three-day weekend every other week.

What are the benefits of a 9/80 work schedule?

The benefits of a 9/80 flexible work schedule include increased work-life balance, extended weekends for personal activities, and potential productivity gains due to longer uninterrupted work hours.

Is a 9/80 schedule worth it?

Whether a 9/80 schedule is worth it depends on individual preferences, job requirements, and business size. It can be advantageous for those who can adapt to long working hours, mid-sized companies, and enterprises with adequate employees.