Do differentials make up for working 36 hrs vs 40 hrs per week?

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Hi all,

I've tried searching old threads for the answer to this question, to no avail, so I apologize if it's been discussed before.

Basically, working 3 12's (36 hrs) per week gives you a total of 1,872 hours per year vs 2,080 hours if you work 5 8's (40 hrs) per week.

Say you make 30 dollars an hour (which seems to be the going rate around the area I live). If you work 3 12's, you make 56,160 per year. If you work 5 8's, you make 62,400 per year.

That's a difference of 6,240...not exactly chump change.

Do those of you who work 3 12's find that shift differentials make up for that 6,240 difference by the end of the year?

I know it depends on which shifts you work, so let's say you work days mostly during the week, which I guess would be the least amount of differentials earned.

Basically you would just be getting the shift diff for the last 4 hrs of your shift, anything past 8 hrs, right?

Do you still tend to break even with the amount you would earn if you worked 5 8's? Do you make more? Less?

Thanks for any insights!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

What makes the difference for me is spending less time at work. In essence, I'll gladly work less than 40 hours weekly if it means I get more days off per week in addition to substantially reduced face time with patients and their families.

Never in a million years would I want to spend five 8-hour shifts per week on the floor unless I was in imminent danger of becoming homeless. I'll gladly take the pay cut in exchange for four days off per week. I do not want to see my patients' faces or sling their bed pans an entire five days per week.

However, when I was an hourly employee on nights, I typically earned $10,000+ yearly in shift differential. It was a substantial part of my income.

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Specializes in CVICU.

I don't really know how to answer this question as the 36 hour work week model is all I've ever done. One of the reasons I went into nursing was due to having 4 days off a week. As far as 'breaking even', I'm 21 and live on my own in a desirable area of my city, drive a decent car that I can afford, and still have money to contribute to retirement and put into savings. So while I can't reasonably consider how well the differentials make up for those 6 hours, I can say that the 36 hour work week works just fine for me.

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Day shift classically doesn't have differentials attached to it, unless it is a weekend or one is charge nurse.

Night shift or night weekend shift can be substantial.

The differences you are seeing could be benefit based as well. Meaning your benefits are based on 36 hours as opposed to 40.

The bottom line difference in your $6240 calculation is somewhere around $3.00 per hour. Which could be made up by differentials, depending.

The best for this would be Fri/Sat/Sun 7p-7a shifts. Then you could make even more. Providing that those are available for you to work.

But look at your union contract/employee agreement and see exactly what and where differentials apply. See if, for instance, you have a BSN that you get "x" amount of more money per hour. If certifications get you more an hour. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and if so it could be a total of like 50 cents or some other thing, but it is something.

Best wishes!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

For me, nights and working every other weekend add more than 15k onto my salary without a lick of overtime.

I am more inclined to pick up a shift if I am "only" working three days versus four days (12s and 8s) or five eights....especially if it is five days per week.

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I don't really know how to answer this question as the 36 hour work week model is all I've ever done. One of the reasons I went into nursing was due to having 4 days off a week. As far as 'breaking even', I'm 21 and live on my own in a desirable area of my city, drive a decent car that I can afford, and still have money to contribute to retirement and put into savings. So while I can't reasonably consider how well the differentials make up for those 6 hours, I can say that the 36 hour work week works just fine for me.

Thanks for your response, sjalv. I know you said you have nothing to compare it to, but if you take what your hourly rate is right now and multiply it by 2080, that would be your yearly income if you worked 40 hrs/week with no differentials.

If you do that, is that number higher or lower or the same as what you make now?

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Day shift classically doesn't have differentials attached to it, unless it is a weekend or one is charge nurse.

Night shift or night weekend shift can be substantial.

The differences you are seeing could be benefit based as well. Meaning your benefits are based on 36 hours as opposed to 40.

The bottom line difference in your $6240 calculation is somewhere around $3.00 per hour. Which could be made up by differentials, depending.

The best for this would be Fri/Sat/Sun 7p-7a shifts. Then you could make even more. Providing that those are available for you to work.

But look at your union contract/employee agreement and see exactly what and where differentials apply. See if, for instance, you have a BSN that you get "x" amount of more money per hour. If certifications get you more an hour. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and if so it could be a total of like 50 cents or some other thing, but it is something.

Best wishes!

Good advice, jadelpn, thanks!

I thought I had heard that anything over 8 hrs per shift automatically switches to some kind of differential for hours 8-12. I guess that's not the case?

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For me, nights and working every other weekend add more than 15k onto my salary without a lick of overtime.

I am more inclined to pick up a shift if I am "only" working three days versus four days (12s and 8s) or five eights....especially if it is five days per week.

I think I'm definitely going to try to pick up nights and weekends at first. I'm more of a night owl, anyway! I love the thought of only working three days a week and making extra $$$ working an "undesirable" shift. Fine by me!

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Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.
Good advice, jadelpn, thanks!

I thought I had heard that anything over 8 hrs per shift automatically switches to some kind of differential for hours 8-12. I guess that's not the case?

No it's not the case. If you're a 12 hr am shift you get paid the same for those 12 hrs, the last four hours of your shift do not count as overtime or as "evening" pay.

I work nocs and I love it, more money for less work! :) nocs are more quiet and you typically do not have discharges at night, although you do have admits.

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Specializes in Ped ED, PICU, PEDS, M/S. SD.

Personally for me having the extra 2 days off is worth the $6000 difference. Work is not my life, family is. I would rather spend the extra time with them.

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One time we were sitting around at the end of shift and one of the night shift nurses came in. He was working a weekend night, on overtime (time and a half) with a critical staffing bonus (an extra incentive for desperate units). We calculated how much he would earn that one night. It was more than a low wage person could earn in a week.

A lot of departments love nurses who are willing to work extra when staff is short. If you want to make up the shortfall for 36-40 hours, a little overtime here and there helps.

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Specializes in NICU.

In the places I've worked, full-time employees work three weeks of three 12-hour shifts and one week of four, which works out to an average of 39 hours/week. Working straight three-shift weeks only equates to 0.9 FTE.

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