Third shift is the overnight shift in an operation that runs around the clock: it takes over from second shift late in the evening and hands back to first shift in the morning. On an eight-hour pattern the usual 3rd shift hours are 11 at night to 7 in the morning, with 10 to 6 and midnight to 8 as the common variations; on a twelve-hour pattern it is simply the night shift, 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning or 7 to 7. Third shift is also called the graveyard shift and the night shift, and the three names describe the same hours. This page sets out what third shift is, what time it runs, how it is scheduled so the crew that works it is not the crew that always works it, and what the schedule has to carry for a night crew.
What third shift is and the hours it runs
In a three-shift day the shifts are numbered in the order they start: first in the morning, second in the afternoon, third at night. Third shift hours on an eight-hour pattern run 11 to 7 in most plants and warehouses, 10 to 6 or midnight to 8 where the day shift starts earlier or later, and 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning in hospitals and other twelve-hour operations that call it nights. A third shift crosses midnight, which matters for the workweek: the hours before midnight belong to one day and the hours after to the next, and the schedule and the timekeeping have to agree on which workweek each hour falls in.
How third shift is scheduled
Three ways, and the choice decides how the crew feels about it. A fixed night crew, which suits people who choose nights and pays a differential to keep them. A rotation through all three shifts, so that a person works a stretch of days, then seconds, then nights, which shares the burden and is hardest on sleep. A twelve-hour rotation such as a 2-2-3 with day and night crews that swap every few weeks. The rotating schedule generator on this site shows the average hours and the crews a pattern needs, which is where the choice between a fixed crew and a rotation usually turns: a fixed night crew on eight-hour shifts needs its own headcount, and a rotation spreads the same hours across everyone.
What the schedule has to carry for a night crew
The handovers at both ends, because third shift starts when the office has gone home and ends before it arrives. The rest between a night shift and whatever follows on a rotation, since turning a crew from nights to days in the same week is the transition that produces the most sick calls. Overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, owed on hours over forty in the workweek, which a shift that straddles midnight makes easy to miscount. A differential if one is paid, which federal law does not require. And the published version with its date, because a night crew that finds the schedule changed on the whiteboard has nobody to ask at 2 in the morning.
Questions people ask about 3rd shift hours
What time is third shift?
Usually 11 at night to 7 in the morning on eight-hour shifts; 10 to 6 and midnight to 8 are common; 7 to 7 or 6 to 6 on twelve-hour nights. The employer sets it.
Is third shift the same as the graveyard shift?
Yes. Graveyard shift, night shift and third shift name the same overnight hours; which one a workplace uses is habit rather than a difference in the hours.
Are 3rd shift hours paid at a higher rate?
Only where the employer or the agreement pays a night differential. Federal law requires no premium for night hours, only overtime on hours over forty in the workweek.