Days Weekly

• Many workers strive to work a full 40 hours each week. To obtain this goal, workers who put in eight hours per shift need to work five shifts per week, leaving only two days off. By contrast, people who work 12-hour shifts need to devote a little over three days per week to their job to obtain a 40-hour workweek.
  
  

Minors

• According the the Department of Labor, 14- and 15-year-old children are able to work in nonhazardous work environments. These workers are allowed to work an eight-hour shift only on days when they do not need to attend school.
  
  

Breaks

• No federal law requires breaks during the workday. However, in both 12- and eight-hour shifts, if the place of work chooses to grant its employees with a short, five- to 20-minute break during their shift, the workers must be compensated. Longer breaks do not need to be paid.
  
  

Shift Work

• According to a study done by the Department of Labor, people who work eight-hour shifts consider themselves to be traditional, five days-per-week workers. Workers who work 12-hour shifts, even if the hours fall during the day, refer to themselves as "shift workers."
  
  

Second Jobs

• Working eight-hour shifts five days a week makes it difficult to take on a second job. This schedule forces many people pursing extra jobs to work weekends or night shifts. Twelve-hour shifts, on the other hand, leave three to four days open each week to take on a second job.