2 week on, 2 weeks off?

Raina - posted on 12/27/2012

I find that even though it is hard on me it is WAY easier on the kids. They are kind of in shock for the first day or two but then they balance out and they are fine just talking on the phone until he comes home.
He gets paid every other Friday and it is for one week of his 2 week hitch, which I think is nice because then the Friday before he leaves he gets paid for the second week of his last hitch and we have money to send him back to Wyoming.
Anything after 40 is OT and pay is time and a half but a bonus is that any time he works on a major holiday he gets double pay!!!

Veronica - posted on 12/20/2012

I'm curious. How many of you have a family support system near by? I have a friend with 3 kids (6, 9, 13yrs old). She lives in the boondocks away from any family. And her closest friend is about to move away. She is really upset about not having hubby nearby and this is coming from a woman that is an ex-military wife who has already had their fill of deployments and TDYs. Any feedback would be appreciated. Please mention kids ages, family, ways that you stay connected as a family while the spouse is away, etc. THX!

Olabisi - posted on 02/05/2010

my husband works in another state 2wks off and on but tha pay is worth it

Courtney - posted on 02/04/2010

My boyfriend and I are expecting our first and although I am so thankful that he has work it has been difficult throughout my entire pregnancy as Dave works 21 days straight and then is off for 7. Really is it is more like 4-5 off as he sleeps for the first two days and then does his transition day before returing to work. It has been tough not seeing each other as I was spoiled for the first 5 months that we dated because the oilfields were all closed down and Dave was off of work so I got to see him and fall asleep with him by my side every second or third day. I know that it has been tough on Dave to be away from me during the last seven and a half months. I guess I am wondering how I can help ease this especially once the baby is here as I think it will be even harder? Also how do you do it on your own? I know that I have the strength and ability but it is just so hard hearing your family and friends talk about the significant others and how they help out everyday. Does it ever get easier?

Jacqui - posted on 01/27/2010

My partner works 2 and 2 he has done for aprox 2yrs at first it was a little hard but now its great.the time he's home is good for us as a family ,you can actually plan things and go away for holidays or short trips
.You learn to appreciate the time to gether and our 6yro son looks forward in seing his dad walk in that door .My partner works on the oil riggs in the bas strait and im not sure if they pay diffrently to Australians or not but he gets laha(liveing away from home allowance .I know he works hard and is doing his best for us as a family unit im very proud of my man,they miss out on so many special times with there familys and yet he does not complain (well maybe a little sometimes ha ha )

Nena LaVan - posted on 01/27/2010

My husband has worked the 28-days on/off, 1-week on/off, and now the 2-week on/off over the years out-of-the-country and out-of-state. It really depends on what type of people you are, your family life, and standing commitments, on which schedule you can both handle. 28-day schedule was really difficult for us because of the length of time apart, missing each other takes its emotional toll. But then we had wonderful long holidays all of the time and we really savored the quality time. The 1-week schedule was disaster for us. It was such a short amount of time to get to know each other again. The week is spent in a chaos of running errands and visiting family and friends. A great deal of time was spent being frustrated and angry due to obligations when all we want to do is relax together. It was horrible. Once he got on the 2-week schedule though things got better. Though he loses two days commuting. It is enough time to get to know each other and spend quality time with the baby. There is time for appointments and visiting (usually) without the feeling of being overwhelmed and frustrated. I do not know anything about OT. My husband has always been salaried.

Nichole - posted on 01/26/2010

My husband works 4 shclumberger in Alaska and he works 2and2 it depends on the company on how you get paid I have seen it go both ways my husband gets base pay of 86hrs then anything over that is OT plus base on off days but its not that way everywhere. I would check into it but theres not alot of jobs right now and everyone is laying people off every month its like hoping its not us

Laurie - posted on 01/24/2010

My husband works out of state, 2weeks on and 2weeks off. We live in Wyoming and he works in North Dakota. He is out there for 14days, but he uses 2 of his days off for travel - 11 hr drive from here to there. There is no OT for this, but my husband is salaried. :( Wish it was OT. It is not too bad.

Melissa - posted on 01/22/2010

My Hubby worked out of state 14 n 14 like that for almost two years. The first couple of hitches were long. But you know it's good to miss each other. So his 2 weeks home we were just happy to be together, and about the time we got sick of eachother from being together 24/7. He was on his way back to missing me LOL. So it takes a little time to adjust, but once you do the 2 weeks fly by. And the moneys really good on a camp job like that. Sorry I'm kind of all over the place babies crying so trying to type fast. Good luck

Missy

Cayla - posted on 01/21/2010

I know that I am not really answering your question but I was wondering if you knew any other companies that split work weeks. My fiance is really interested in working split weeks because he's been driving 2 1/2 hours one way to work (daily!) and he works 7 days a week so he pretty much comes home to eat, sleep, and shower. It sucks because we have an 8 month old. I'm not sure about OT pay but from what I've heard I guess it still adds up to be like working a normal schedule. I hope all goes well and at least you'll have him home for two straight weeks!

Leta - posted on 01/18/2010

This is all we know. It's great b/c you can plan a vacation around it but, not so great for birthdays&holidays. You're 2weeks is your 2weeks. & it's also hard to plan around as far as daycare-b/c why pay for it when he's home? It's kind of like being a single parent for 2 weeks though. And out of state is also nicer on the 2weeks less travel time&aircost. & he works 85hr work weeks anything over 40 is OT, plus prediem on top of that.

Kristina - posted on 01/18/2010

I call this the bi-polar schedule!! Lol my husband has worked it before and I really hated it! By the time I was adjusted to him being gone he would come home and get in the way trying to help then we would adjust to him being there only for him to leave again. I liked 30 and 30 better even though he was gone a really long time for us it helped to adjust. My husband was payed salary for the month so there was no over time but he was paid well.

Shireen - posted on 01/16/2010

Many years ago my husband worked 1 wk on 1wk off. it just seemed the time at home was too short. It took him a couple days to recover and before you know it he is back out to work.

Now he works 2wks on 3 wks off. This is just great! There is more time to spend with the him and we can actually plan a small vacation when he is off.

Casandra - posted on 01/14/2010

My husband is working 20 and off for 10. We liked it better when it was 2 and 2, seems like we got more time when he was off for 2 weeks...

Courtney - posted on 01/12/2010

My husband works in another state on the 2 on 2 off. We love it. The kids ajusted to it better than any other shift and we have tryed them all. For my husband he works for 3 and half days at 12 hour shifts and then goes on overtime pay. He pulls 88 hours a week while on. Only 40 hours are regular pay. It works for his company is one two week shift they work morning tower and then switch to afternoon tower. So one two weeks he works 5:30am to 6pm and then switches to 5:30pm to 6am. The half hour is there safety meeting before crew switch. They also have and hour safetly meeting every Sat. on there two weeks on. Hope this helps. If you have any more questions feel free to message me or post back. Courtney

Shasta - posted on 01/11/2010

Oh, and I wanted to say that its 84hrs per week, so he doesn't work for free one week, lol. When I was reading the post I thought that it might could have been misconstrued that he only works 84 hrs the whole time he's out there! If it was like that, then he wouldn't be out there, lol!!

Shasta - posted on 01/11/2010

I understand! We were in the same boat not too long ago. But we decided to stay with his company since they've been excellent to him. Over 70% laid off and he hasn't taken a cut back like many have, just a paycut. Many have taken jobs way under their expertise and a paycut on top of that. And yes, even if he works over his 84 hrs he does it for free. If its a good bit more, his supervisor sends in a request for him to get paid for those hours, sometimes he does sometimes he don't. He's the electrician for 4 stacked rigs so he puts in alot of hours over his regular hours, but we're just happy to have a job and that the company wants to keep him. Hopefully now that hurricane season is over with, things will start picking up, or so we're praying! Hope everything works out you and your family!

Brieana - posted on 01/11/2010

Shasta: That put it into perspective since we do have kiddos. Yes jobs are hard to come by. That's why we arent sure to go for the new job yet. His current company has been good to him, but we can barely pay our bills. This other company will more than double his salary, but who knows how long it will last. So did they cut your husbands pay after 80 hours even though he's still working? So does he kind of work for free, or did they hire another crew?

Shasta - posted on 01/08/2010

Hi! My husband works 2 weeks on 2 weeks off! This shift works out pretty good for us. It gives us more than 5 days home, but he isn't gone for a full month. It seems to be better on our 2yr old son also. Daddy isn't always leaving as it is when its 7 days on 7off, but daddy isn't always gone as it is when its a month on/off. The way his company does with the pay is for week one anything after his first 40hrs is overtime, and the same with week 2. So you have 80 hours of flat pay then the rest is OT. They have cut anything over 80 hours a week out so no extra OT is given with his company, which was about 15% of his monthly income. Then on top of that they cut out an additional 15% of his hourly pay. But we are thanking God everyday for him just having a job in these times. Maybe this helped some!