Split shift
Also called: broken shift
A split shift is one working day divided into two or more blocks with a long unpaid gap in between — typically a lunch service and then a dinner service, with the afternoon off.
Where it is normal
Restaurants with a clear lunch and dinner peak, hotels, and anywhere demand collapses in the middle of the day. Working 11:00–15:00 and 18:00–23:00 is a split shift; working 11:00–19:00 with a break is not.
The catch for staff
The gap is unpaid but not free. If the break is three hours and the commute is forty minutes each way, the person is tied to the job for twelve hours to be paid for nine. Split shifts are much easier for people who live nearby, which quietly narrows who can take the job.
Pay rules
Several jurisdictions treat split shifts specially — for example by requiring a premium payment when the working day is split. Rules differ widely, so check what applies where you operate before building them into a rota.
Doing it decently
Keep the same people on split days rather than rotating everyone through them, agree the pattern in advance, and avoid pairing a split day with an early start the next morning.