What is the longest shift you've ever worked?

Worked? Did a week of 16 hours on, 8 hours off in 1986 during flooding here.
Volunteered? 24 hours. Working security at a Scout-a-rama in 1975.
 
My first job after community college was in a new manufacturing facility. I started 4 months after it started up (still there after 27 years.) I joined in working 7-3 shift as a QC tech with the guy I was replacing who was the new supervisor. After the shift we stuck around doing data entry for all the quality paperwork they had built up for 4 months.

My first 6 weeks was 16 hours 7 days a week. After that was regular 8 hours but we were working 7 days a week still for quite a few months before changing over to a 12 hour 4 crew schedule. I worked that 12 hour schedule for 6 years. I'm still paid hourly (I'm fighting them putting me on salary non-exempt) but have been M-F day 8 hour for the last 21 years.

I don't only work 8 hours very often. I work by myself now so I have no schedule other than being their during the day. Could be anywhere from 8 to 14, I don't ever double up for 16 now.

In 2020 I worked somewhere around 1050 hours of overtime. That's 50% more hours worked than just regular 8 hour 5 days a week.
 


When I was a resident being on call meant 28hr shifts. The hardest was we’d do weekends as 28 hrs from Friday 8 am to Saturday noon then come back again Sunday 8 am to Monday noon. It would be rare to be awake the whole time, average sleep was 2-3 hours, but it’d happen. It’s funny how you get used to functioning on so little sleep but since I stopped doing overnights I’m done if I don’t get my solid 8 hours now. Age may have something to do with it…
 
I have done many 12 hours shifts. 13 hours during the time change. I dropped down to 8 hour shifts a year and a half ago and try not to extend beyond 10hours.
 


Worked in tech prior to retiring - conversion weekends were 72 hours straight - from Friday thru to Sunday and then 14-20 hour days for the next week…
 
Scheduled duty day could never be over 14 hours (unless long haul international), however it you could go to 16 hours due to circumstances such as a mechanical or weather. Yes, I went to 16 hours quite a few times as many of our trips were scheduled with 13 hour days. The worst 16 hour day was over a red eye, 5pm - 9am. And with a minimum layover, it was torturous even though I was in my early twenties.
 
Public accounting busy season (audit)...not unusual to go in on, say, Monday morning and work through to Tuesday night, go home get shower, nap, repeat Wed/Thurs. Not all the time but once or twice on each audit.
 
Probably "Y2K" when we were printing backups of everything. 🤣 (I worked in a corporate bank back then.) But it was still nothing like some the answers above - more like got in early that morning (maybe 6:00 or 6:30?) and got home about 10:00 that night.

That wasn't on a regular basis, though. I can't imagine some if the shifts medical personnel do all the time! (Can anyone chime in the reason for that, actually? I would think hospitals would be more aware of the dangers of sleep deprivation.)
 
Years ago, when I managed a printing/publishing company, we had a major printing job that took three days straight, round the clock. The printing staff worked 12 hour shifts but I did a thirty six hour startup shift, went home to generally pass out for 8 hours and went back for another two 12 hour shifts. Almost all of it was hands on, not just supervision. That was in the 80's and I am not sure I have recovered yet.
 
27 hours straight doing security, two different clients. 12 hours at an NCAA Basketball tournament venue, overnight at a grain elevator they were fumigating then back for 7 more at the basketball venue. Then when I got home I could only sleep for 5 hours before my body told me it was time to get up.
 
At Universal we used to have the option to come in early to cycle ride vehicles in the morning (6 am) and the park was regularly rented out for late-night private events. So I would semi-regularly work 6am until about 2am. Always fun doing a couple of those back-to-back.

My favorite shift ever though was at a residential mental health facility. I worked 16 hours (8am to midnight) Saturday and Sunday, 32 hours total, but got paid for 40. LOVED having five days off a week.
 
6:00AM-2:00AM. Got home, went to bed. Got called back in (medical field) at 3:30AM, and worked until 9:00AM. The worst part of it was that I had just gotten to sleep when they called me. I no longer work a job where I take call and I'm SO glad. I couldn't go back to that life.
 
I teach high school so it's different but certain days of the year I go from 7am-8pm. I know that's not the craziest but boy am I pooped when we do it! And of course, I'm back up at 5:30am the next morning ready for another day of teaching!
 
I teach high school so it's different but certain days of the year I go from 7am-8pm. I know that's not the craziest but boy am I pooped when we do it! And of course, I'm back up at 5:30am the next morning ready for another day of teaching!

Parent-teacher conference season in a nutshell!
 

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