A split shift is a working day broken into two, typically lunch service then a gap then dinner. Kitchens and restaurants have used them for generations because trade comes in two peaks. The gap is usually unpaid, which is lawful as long as average pay for hours worked stays above the National Minimum Wage. The catch is the human cost: staff who live far away can't go home, so they spend three hours drifting around town, and a day that looks like eight paid hours eats thirteen of their life.
Under the Working Time Regulations workers are entitled to a daily rest of eleven consecutive hours, and long split days can collide with that. Good employers keep splits to a minimum, give a proper break space, offer a meal, and avoid putting someone on a late close followed by an early open. Many venues now design rotas around straight shifts instead.
What we ask on the show
- Should split shifts be banned?
- Does anyone actually like working splits?
- How do you fill the dead hours in the middle of a split?
- Can a venue survive without split shifts?