Collection split shifts and route timings
A village collection point or bulk milk cooler typically needs staff from 5:30 am to 8:30 am and from 5 pm to 7:30 pm, a split shift of five and a half hours on duty. Route supervisors and tanker drivers follow the route: they leave the chilling plant early, cover the collection points and return, then repeat in the evening. Record each as a split shift, so the midday gap is not counted as absence and extra trips in the flush season show up as overtime.
- Collection point: 5:30 am to 8:30 am and 5 pm to 7:30 pm
- Route supervisor and tanker: 5 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 9 pm
- Credit society branch: 9:45 am to 6 pm
- Plant: three 8-hour shifts starting 6 am, 2 pm and 10 pm
Three-shift plants with rotating crews
Chilling and processing plants run three 8-hour shifts, often with four crews so that one crew is resting while three are on duty. Rotate crews forward from morning to evening to night on a fixed cycle, so no one stays on nights for months. Night crews in a dairy plant receive milk from the evening routes and clean equipment, so keep a qualified operator and a supervisor on every night shift. Swaps between operators should be approved by the plant in-charge and HR.
Weekly offs, market days and seasons
Since milk arrives on Sundays too, collection and plant staff take their weekly off on a staggered weekday, each person on their own day. Credit society branches in market towns may keep the weekly bazaar day as their off, with Sunday working. In the winter flush season, milk volumes rise and plants may add a crew or extend shifts; in the lean summer months, the roster can shrink. Plan each change as a new roster for the season, assigned in bulk, rather than as daily edits.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- In Shifts & Roster, create split shifts for collection points and routes, the branch day shift, and three 8-hour plant shifts, with the night shift flag on the 10 pm shift.
- Build a rotation template for plant crews on the cycle your pattern needs, up to 62 days, staggered per person.
- Give collection and plant staff personal weekly offs on staggered days, and set branch weekly offs to the local market day where that applies.
- Assign the flush season roster in bulk, up to 92 days at a time, and switch back for the lean season.
- Plant operators can request Shift Swaps with a colleague; the roster changes only after the colleague, the plant in-charge and HR have all agreed.
- Check the day grid for each plant and route a week ahead, so every night shift has a qualified operator and supervisor.
Read more about shifts and rosters in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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What shifts do dairy co-operative staff work?
Collection point staff work a split shift around the morning and evening collections, such as 5:30 am to 8:30 am and 5 pm to 7:30 pm. Route supervisors and tanker drivers follow the route timings, and chilling and processing plants run three 8-hour shifts with rotating crews every day of the year.
How do dairy plants give weekly offs if they run every day?
By using more crews than shifts, for example four crews for three shifts, and letting each person take a weekly off on their own weekday. Crews rotate through morning, evening and night on a fixed cycle, so everyone gets rest days and nobody stays on nights for too long.
Can credit society branches work on Sundays?
Some do, especially in market towns where the weekly bazaar day is the natural closing day and Sunday is busy. The branch then takes its weekly off on the market day instead. Set this in the board-approved rules and in each branch's shift pattern, so attendance and payroll treat it correctly.