Navy Hours?

Question

My friend's husband is in the Navy and he works over 100 hours a week when he isn't deployed. This isn't like a time limited thing...its been this way for him and the other men on his submarine for years now. Is that even legal? What can they do about it?

Forgot to add that during that time, like on duty days, he's suppose to be able to sleep, but he only gets 1-3 hours if any sleep. So he's pullin over 100 hours a week and not getting to sleep... Not just him, most of the guys. Its not b/c they don't work hard/correctly either.

He does something with the nuclear reactor part. I don't know for sure.

Wow, this is a lot of questions for my question. Um, I don't know that they work on anything specific other than they're day to day jobs. And I guess they do duty like every 3-4 days...other than that its Mon-Fri.

I don't know what kind of sub. A nuclear one?

ANYWAY...my question is "Is that even legal? What can they do about it?" The poor guy never sees his family!

Answer 1

100 hour weeks are about normal for nuclear technicians. I was one for 6 years. My advice for him: Live with it and get out of the Navy at his 6 year point. The Navy doesn't follow the normal work place rules.

In his particular field, the Navy is concerned with keeping the reactor plant safe which requires 24/7 monitoring. Safety of a Reactor Plant outweighs a person's family life by about a million times in the Navy's eyes. Due to the limited number of nuclear technicians on a submarine, 24 hour duty days every 2 to 3 days is the only way that they can ensure that the required reactor plant monitoring can be maintained according to the Navy's Regulations. So he's actually lucky that he only has to stand duty days every 3 to 4 days.

When a submarine is in port, there is a ton of work that needs to be done to keep it in tip top shape, and there is a limited time to get it all done. On my duty days, it wasn't unusual to start maintenance at 7 AM, work through the night and go home at 5 PM the next day. I sympathize with his plight, but it isn't exactly like his crew is the only one that HAS to do it.

What can he do about it? Complain to his Divisional Petty Officer or Chief. What will they do about it? Tell him that they can't support his request for more time off due to Navy Regulations.

Answer 2

It's a hard life, being a Navy family. It was hard on mine when I was in. However, ...the only thing your friend's husband is GUARNTEED by the military is:

1. 1 hot meal per day
2. 2 hours sleep per day.
3. Payday observance twice per month.

Anything else is at the convenience of the government. In truth, this sounds a bit over the top. The command must have something they are preparing for; Submarines are notorious for having "alternate agendas" (i.e., classified) which would preclude him from explaining his working hours in any reasonable format to his family and friends.

I guess the answer to your questions are, ...yes, it's legal and there isn't much that can be done about it. Try addressing it with his chain-of-command via the command ombudsman. Sorry to be so blunt, ...but unfortunately he is subject to the directives of his command. That's what the military is all about. It's NOT a 9 to 5 job.

Answer 3

The military in general recommends that duty shifts be arranged in a way to allow members to get sufficient sleep beteween shifts. 100 hours would sound a bit extreme but in a field with limited resources where larger numbers are being deployed it is totally possilbe. The military is not run like a regular job..he has to do as he is ordered. They can go up through the chain of command to file complaints, but if it is as you say and has been this way for so long, am betting they are working the same hours as well.

Answer 4

The Navy is under the UCMJ not the civilian employment laws.
Sub duty is just that. You are married to your duty.
It is a 365, 24/ 7 job.
I am sure that is why people in the submariner field are in such high demand in the civilian world. Besides their schooling, they have to be able to work under stress continuely. 1 mistake can cost the lives of many. Tight quarters, long hours, and trust.
If they want to do something about it, there are a lot of opportunities in the black shoe Navy, on surface ships.
But they know they are a special breed and would not be happy doing anything else.

Answer 5

its legal..and not just the guy you are talking about.. its all submariners everywhere. my husband does the same thing, work work work.. though i do not necessarily agree with some people whom replied that they dont make them stand aroun when the works done.. there have been several times where the crew would be done with the daily schedule and are made to stay until 12pm to start the next days schedule.. its a tough job, and even tougher on the family.. but where would we be without them. Best thing you can do for these people is give them your 100% love and support in everything they do, trust me, as a wife gettin ready to pop, not always so easy,but its not their choice, they would pick being home with their families if they could.

Answer 6

Don't know about Navy, but in the Air Force they guys can work no longer than 14 hours, then 8 hours off, which puts them at 112 hours in a 7 day period. Not saying it's common, but it can happen. Hubby did have a time when he has worked 3 weeks straight of 8 on/8 off, which is permissible.

Answer 7

My husband is a Nuclear Electronics Technician on a deployable submarine for the Navy. While he has had to work those kind of hours on occasion it's not usually the norm.

For him, duty days are typically 24 hours starting at 7am and ending at 7:30 am the next day. Regular days start at 7 am and end at 5pm. So here's how the typical 3 section duty rotation works out:

Week 1: Duty on Sun, Wed, Sat. Regular days Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri. Total hours at work: 105.

Week 2: Duty Tue, Fri. Regular days Mon, Wed, Thur. Off most of Sun, most of Sat. Total hours at work: 86.

Week 3: Duty Mon, Thurs. Regular days Tue, Wed, Fri. Off Sun, Sat. Total hours at work: 78.

The next week you start back with week one.

Now that looks harsh and it can be, especially from the wife's point of view. That's the minimum time he's going to be away from home. When you add in travel time to and from work his work day seems even longer. But bear in mind that not all of that time is spent working. The regular day usually has about an hour for lunch. The duty day includes down time for breakfast, lunch, dinner and sleep. That's all time that he's away from home but it's also time that he's not necessarily working.

Then you add the fact that the schedule is a bit variable. If the guy is new to the sub he has more responsibilities than just his specific job on the boat. He needs to learn at least the basics of every job on the boat and prove that with ship's quals. For subs this is not optional. When something goes wrong you need to be ready and able to fill in at whatever position you're needed in. Its an issue of safety and guys in quals have to make the time to get that learning and testing done. While in quals days can be longer until they're done. Once he's earned his dolphins some of that pressure eases up.

If the sub is undermanned in that area the days are longer. Duty days can be every other day. Usually this happens when guys have to leave the command unexpectedly or have family emergencies and the command is doing everything in there power to get them some time off. For those occasions the best thing to do is suck it up with a good attitude because you don't know when something will happen to make you the next one to need that help.

On the good side, if the sub has plenty of guys fully qualified to do the job you can go down to 4 section or even 5 section duty days. That means you go longer between 24 hour days and have more time off.

A good commander will also try to cut guys loose as soon as possible. Sometimes that means that on the day after duty the guys will get out as early as possible. Sometimes that's right after turnover, sometimes it's at lunch, sometimes it's at 3. You never know. And good commanders don't keep guys standing around once all the work is done correctly even on regular days. They cut the guys loose to get home because they know they don't have much family time.

On the other hand, when the guys are getting ready to go to sea or fixing equipment even the regular days can be longer. Your friend needs to put those times into perspective. They need to get that boat ready and everything in working order because their lives depend on it. If it comes down to my DH working longer hours and coming home safe or being home for a few extra hours now but the boat never coming back at all I'll take the first option.

Answer 8

To be legal they have to allow him an average of 4 hours per day for rest/sleep. So as long as he doesn't work over 140 hours per week, they are legal

And if they are deployed, and the mission requires it, they can be made to work more hours. (In the Navy you are on deployment when you are at sea.)

Answer 9

I served on nuclear submarines. I myself have put in such hours. At sea, my longest work day was about....44 hours. Is it legal? Yes. Service members are on a salary pay. All they are required to give the sailor is one hour of sleep, one meal, and water. Sorry to say, but submarine service is one of the highest divorce rates in all military service. Tell your friend to stay true and supportive.

Answer 10

sorry the military doesnt have a time card for work. It is a 24/7 job