Work hours & pay
Shift pattern calculator
Pick a rota, set the shift length and the first working day to see the next fortnight laid out and the average hours a week it averages.
The average is taken over the repeating cycle; the two weeks shown may hold more or fewer on-days than the average, because 14 days rarely divides evenly into the cycle.
How the rota and the hours are worked out
A rota repeats on a fixed cycle. The grid below starts on your first on-day and marks each of the next fourteen days On or Off by stepping through the pattern. The average hours a week come from one full cycle, not from the fortnight on screen: average = on-days in the cycle ÷ cycle length × 7 × shift length.
Take 4-on-4-off with twelve-hour shifts. The cycle is eight days long and four of them are worked, so the worked fraction is 4 ÷ 8 = 0.5. Over a seven-day week that is 3.5 shifts, and at twelve hours each the average is 3.5 × 12 = 42 hours a week. The 2-2-3 pattern (two on, two off, three on, then the mirror) also works seven days in every fourteen, so it averages the same 42 hours on twelve-hour shifts. A 5-on-2-off week on eight-hour shifts averages 40.
| Pattern | Cycle | On-days per cycle | Average week (12 h shifts) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 on, 4 off | 8 days | 4 | 42 h |
| 2-2-3 | 14 days | 7 | 42 h |
| 5 on, 2 off | 7 days | 5 | 60 h |
Reading your schedule
The fortnight shown can hold more on-days than the cycle average suggests. A 4-on-4-off cycle is eight days, so fourteen days spans it unevenly and often lands eight worked days in the window rather than the seven the average implies. That is normal: judge your pay and fatigue on the full-cycle average, and use the grid only to see which actual dates you are rostered. Patterns that average the same weekly hours can feel very different; back-to-back twelve-hour days tire people faster than the same hours spread over five shorter days, which is why many continuous rotas keep runs to three or four shifts. If your rota rotates between days and nights, run it once per shift length to compare.
Frequently asked questions
What does a 4-on-4-off shift pattern average per week?
Four worked days in every eight means half your days are shifts, or 3.5 a week. On twelve-hour shifts that is 42 hours a week on average; on eight-hour shifts it is 28.
Why does the two-week grid show eight on-days when the average is seven?
The 4-on-4-off cycle is eight days long, so fourteen days does not divide evenly into it. The window can start part-way through a run and catch an extra on-day.
Is the 2-2-3 pattern the same as the Panama schedule?
Yes. The 2-2-3, DuPont and Panama names all describe a fourteen-day cycle that works seven days with a mix of two- and three-day runs, giving every crew a long weekend each fortnight.