Getting up at an ungodly hour or working late into the night when all your mates are down at the pub or your wife and kids are tucked up in bed is part of airline life, regardless of the company that you work for! FR is no different, however the structure of the roster is very stable. A week of earlies is followed by a week of lates with a 5/4 pattern.
Should you be on a 'floating contract' the pattern is 5/5, however there is no guaranteed early/late/early structure.
Scheduled departure and arrival times vary from base to base, however the earliest that I have departed at during the summer schedule is 04.55z
Arrivals from lates tend to culminate between 2100z and 2230z. However late running arrivals touching down well past midnight can and do occur.
While the roster is stable, you can be asked to work days off, have duty periods swapped (3 earlies, 2 lates in a five day period), asked to work away from base at short notice and carry out additional duties beyond those that you had orignally anticipated for that day (happens more frequently at larger bases).
On your five days on, crew control own your ass. You are just another cogg in the wheel and will be treated as so. This is especially prevalent for FOs. Don't expect many niceties, agree to what needs to be done and get your head down and get on with it. Kicking up a stink with Ops or Crewing doesn't bode too well and is regarded as risky business, especially if you are on a BRK contract.
Sad, I agree, but true.
On the plus side, the flying, aircraft, crew, career path and training are all great. The roster works well with my family life and I make enough money to keep them secure. The jumpseat travel system is an asset too. All in all FR has the makings of a very good place to make a living. BALPA recognition could indeed be one step towards a better place to work.