A graveyard shift is a work shift that starts late in the evening and ends early in the morning. Examples of this shift would be 10:00 p.m. until 6:30 a.m. or midnight until 8:00 a.m. Other names for the graveyard shift include the midnight shift, third shift or simply the night shift.
There are several stories to explain the origins of the term graveyard shift. One such story involves people who watched graveyards in the 19th century. They supposedly needed to rig caskets with bells in case a “corpse” happened to wake up on their shift. This story does not seem to have a basis in truth, however. The term graveyard shift is used, instead, simply to compare the quietness of the late night hours to that of a graveyard. It is also a relatively new term, having much to do with industrialization. It has been estimated that in developed countries, nearly twenty percent of the working population work night shifts.
A graveyard shift can be available for many different types of work. There has been an increase in the amount of late shift jobs due to many employers choosing to keep their doors open throughout the night. Some workplaces have no choice but to have night shifts. A prime example of this is a hospital that must stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The employees of a hospital, such as doctors, nurses and orderlies, must sometimes rotate their shifts so that the hospital can remain staffed at all times. Other careers that often require late hours include police officers, gas station attendants, convenience store clerks, airline crews, and several facets of the media. If not for the graveyard shift, the insomniac would have nothing to watch on television at three o'clock in the morning.
Employees are often paid a premium for working the graveyard shift. It is sometimes necessary because of the unpopularity of the graveyard shift. This reputation is due largely to the simple fact that most people are sleeping in the middle of the night and prefer this over working. The night shift is also often associated with more of a criminal element, making the night shift a more dangerous shift to work.
It certainly takes a special kind of person to work at hours when most of the population is not around. There are also several benefits associated with the graveyard shift that the worker can take advantage of. These include being able to avoid rush hour traffic, do errands with less people around and make appointments without having to take time off of work.