Shift workers feel strain of irregular schedules; Wonky sleep patterns, lack of family time among complaints, study finds
Vancouver Sun
August 28, 2008 
By: Tobin Dalrymple

A daily nine-to-five grind is what many Canadians consider to be a "normal" job, but nearly one in every four full-time workers in this country is punching the clock on shift work, results of a Statistics Canada study suggest.

Compared to regular daytime workers, Canada's 3.3 million full-time shift workers are less satisfied, deal with wonky sleep schedules, and don't see their family enough, says Cara Williams, author of the study released Wednesday titled

Work-life balance of shift workers.

"Working nine to five may be what many consider a normal full-time job. However, in an economy that often demands 24-7 activity, shift work remains common," wrote Williams, an analyst with the business and trade statistics section of the agency.

Overall, 76 per cent of full-time day workers aged 16 to 64 were satisfied with their work-life balance.

But only 69 per cent of shift workers could say the same, the study said.

Within the different types of shift work -- such as evening, irregular, rotating or irregular schedules -- there were marked differences.

On-call or casual workers had the lowest likelihood of being satisfied with their job schedule, with 62 per cent saying they were satisfied.

But 73 per cent of regular evening workers, whose schedules remained relatively stable, said they were content.

Shift workers were also "significantly" more likely to feel overloaded with responsibility, lose sleep or feel they weren't spending enough time with their family, said Williams.

"Working shifts can have negative health effects, and complicate scheduling of family activities," Williams wrote, adding that countless studies have noted this impact.

And "because shift work is rarely restricted to weekdays, finding child care on weekends or making plans for holidays and social activities can be difficult."

…"Women, in general, are more likely to be dissatisfied with their work-life balance, and are more likely to state they suffered from role overload," Williams said.

Role overload -- too much to do and not enough time to do it -- was felt by 32 per cent of female shift workers, and by just 23 per cent of male shift workers.

And about eight-per-cent more women shift workers felt dissatisfied with their work-life balance than did men: 27 per cent versus 19 per cent.

The study is an analysis of a general social survey conducted in 2005, with a sample size of 19,600.