A "clopen" is when someone closes at night and comes back to open the next morning. Close a restaurant at midnight, drive home, and be back at 7 a.m. to take the bread delivery. On paper, you've got a person on both shifts. In practice, you've got a tired person on both shifts.
Managers don't usually schedule these on purpose. They happen when the two people who can close and open are the same person, or when the schedule was filled in one day at a time.
Why they cost more than they seem to
They shorten the real rest. A shift ending at midnight and one starting at 7 a.m. looks like seven hours off. Take out finishing the close, the drive home, unwinding, the morning routine and the drive back, and it might leave four or five hours of sleep.
Tired people make more mistakes. Mistakes on a register, with a knife or behind the wheel all cost money. And you can't really fix them by telling someone to pay attention.
They push people out the door. If your best closer keeps getting Saturday night and Sunday morning, you're using your most reliable person the hardest. Hourly workers with other options tend to take them.
They might trigger extra pay. See the next section.
Where the law steps in
There's no federal rule against clopens. Some places have rules of their own, and they often appear as part of "fair workweek" or "predictive scheduling" laws. Rules we're aware of, which may change, include:
- New York City requires 11 hours between shifts for fast food workers who close and open, unless the worker agrees in writing, and then it requires a premium.
- Seattle and Oregon give covered employees 10 hours between shifts unless they agree otherwise, with extra pay when that time is shortened.
- Chicago sets a 10-hour rest rule for covered workers, along with similar rights.
Those laws usually apply only to certain industries or larger employers. Read the details in our guide to predictive scheduling, and check your city's own page.
Even if no law applies to you, a minimum rest rule is a good idea.
Pick a rule and stick to it
Most scheduling problems get easier with a rule. Pick a minimum, such as 10 or 11 hours between the end of one shift and the start of the next. Tell your managers. Then only break it when someone asks, not because it was convenient for the schedule.
If someone wants the extra hours and is willing to do a clopen, that's different from being assigned one. Some people really do prefer it, because it lets them have a full day off afterward. Let them say so, and keep a record if your local law requires written agreement.
How to schedule around them
Train more key holders. Clopens often happen because only a few people can run a close or an open. Train one or two more. It costs a few hours, and it pays you back every week.
Split closers from openers. Plan the week with some people as mostly closers and others as mostly openers. Many people have a preference anyway, and night owls and early risers can each get what they want.
Build the week in one pass. Rather than filling each day as you get to it, look at the closing and opening rows together. Clopens stand out when you can see Friday night and Saturday morning side by side.
Use swaps with care. A swap can create a clopen that wasn't on the original schedule. Whoever approves swaps should check for it.
Check it automatically. People miss things on a Sunday night. Let software look for it.
What about split shifts?
They're a cousin of the clopen, and restaurants use them a lot: a lunch shift, a few hours off, then a dinner shift. Those hours off are often unpaid, as long as the person is truly free to leave and use the time for themselves. Some states add a premium for split shifts, including California in some cases. Check your state's rules.
What the math says
Say your closer gets a clopen because it saves you from training someone else. You keep saving those few training hours. But you run the risk of errors, a worn-out employee and, eventually, a replacement. Hiring and training a replacement takes far longer than training a second key holder ever would have.
Very few businesses need clopens. Most just haven't spent the hour it takes to fix the schedule.
How PinkLinq helps
Under Settings, then Labor compliance, you can pick a state preset or set your own minimum rest between shifts. Then the schedule flags any shift that's too close to the last one, while you're still building the week. It flags and doesn't block, so you can still make the decision. Staff can see their shifts ahead of time, and swaps go to a manager for approval, where a problem can be caught.
This is general information, not legal advice. Local scheduling laws vary and do change.