First shift is the shift that starts the day in an operation that runs more than one: it covers the morning and early afternoon and hands over to second shift. The usual 1st shift hours on an eight-hour pattern are 7 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon, with 6 to 2 and 8 to 4 depending on the operation; on a twelve-hour pattern first shift is simply the day shift, 6 to 6 or 7 to 7. It is the shift most people want, which is why a fair schedule has to decide who gets it and for how long. This page sets out what first shift is, the day shift hours it runs by industry, and how it is shared out on a rotation.
What first shift is and the hours it runs
First shift is named for its place in the day rather than its hours: it is whichever shift starts first. In manufacturing and distribution that is commonly 6 or 7 in the morning to 2 or 3 in the afternoon; in offices that run shifts it is 8 to 4; in hospitals on twelve-hour patterns the day shift runs 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening. Retail and hospitality rarely number their shifts and call the same window the opening shift or the morning. Whatever the hours, first shift is the one that overlaps with deliveries, management and daylight, and that overlap is why it is the easiest shift to run and the hardest to give up.
Sharing first shift out on a rotation
An operation with three eight-hour shifts can either fix people to a shift, so that seniority decides who works days, or rotate everyone through first, second and third over a cycle. A rotation spreads the day shift fairly and costs the operation the settling-in that every shift change brings. A twelve-hour 2-2-3 rotation goes a different way: two crews on days and two on nights, swapping every two to four weeks, so that everyone gets a long run of days. The rotating schedule generator on this site shows the hours per person and the crews needed for each shape from the shift length and the days worked, which is the arithmetic that has to be right before fairness is even discussed.
What the schedule has to carry for the day crew
The start time, exactly, because first shift is the one that decides when everything else starts. The handover to second shift. The overtime position for the week under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, since a day crew asked to stay late is the crew most often over forty hours. And the published version with its date, because the day shift is where the schedule is usually changed and the change is usually not written down. A published first shift schedule with the swaps recorded against it is what the crew, payroll and any dispute all read from.
Questions people ask about 1st shift hours
What time is first shift?
Usually 6 or 7 in the morning to 2 or 3 in the afternoon on eight-hour shifts, 8 to 4 in offices, and 6 to 6 or 7 to 7 on twelve-hour day shifts. The employer sets it.
Is first shift the same as the day shift?
On a twelve-hour pattern, yes: the day is split into days and nights. On an eight-hour three-shift pattern, first shift is the first of two daytime shifts and second shift covers the afternoon.
Who gets first shift?
Whoever the schedule says. Fixed shifts usually go by seniority or by the employee's preference; a rotation gives everyone the same share of days over the cycle. Neither is required by federal law.