Rotating Shift Schedules Explained: 2-2-3, Pitman, DuPont and 4-on-4-off
Updated 17 October 2026 · 9 min read
A rotating shift schedule moves crews through a fixed cycle of shifts and days off so a business is covered around the clock. Most 24/7 patterns use four crews: two on and two off each day with 12-hour shifts, or three on and one off with 8-hour shifts. Either way each person averages 42 hours a week. The patterns differ in how those hours are bunched, which changes days off, weekends and fatigue.
How rotating shift patterns work
Covering 24 hours a day, seven days a week takes 168 hours of cover for every position you need filled. Split across four crews, that is 42 hours a week each on average. Every pattern in this guide hits that average; what changes is the rhythm: how many shifts in a row, how often people switch between days and nights, and how long the breaks are.
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Shift length: 12-hour patterns (2-2-3, Pitman, DuPont, 4-on-4-off) need two crews on each day; 8-hour patterns (continental) need three.
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Fixed or rotating: in a fixed pattern a crew always works days or always nights; in a rotating pattern the same crew moves between them.
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Cycle length: the number of days before the pattern repeats, from 8 days (4-on-4-off) to 28 days (DuPont and continental).
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Crews: a crew is everyone who works the same pattern, from one person to a whole team per position.
In the grids below, each row is a crew and each square is a day across four weeks. Teal is a day shift, violet a night, amber an early, pink a late and an empty square a day off.
The 2-2-3 (Panama) schedule
The 2-2-3 schedule repeats every 14 days: work 2, off 2, work 3, off 2, work 2, off 3. Two crews share the days and two share the nights, each pair working opposite halves of the cycle, so exactly one crew is on days and one on nights every day.
2-2-3 (fixed days and nights) · 12-hour shifts · 4 crews
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Crew A
Crew B
Crew C
Crew D
Day
Night
Off
Average 42 hours a week per person
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Pros: never more than three shifts in a row; with the cycle starting on a Monday, every other weekend is a long Friday-to-Sunday off; easy to explain because the cycle is only two weeks.
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Cons: 12-hour shifts are long, especially on nights; the pattern of days off changes week to week, which makes regular commitments harder.
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Fatigue: three consecutive 12-hour nights is at the limit of Safe Work Australia’s advice to keep consecutive night shifts to three.
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Coverage: one day crew and one night crew every day, so two crews and 24 hours of cover per position.
Who it suits: sites that need steady day and night cover and a team that likes short runs, such as manufacturing, security, care homes and 24-hour venues. Because it is the best-known 12-hour pattern, new starters often already understand it.
The Pitman schedule
Pitman is often used as another name for the same 2-2-3 cycle, and you will see the two terms used interchangeably. A common variation, shown here, keeps the 2-2-3 rhythm but rotates each crew between days and nights every two weeks, so nobody works nights permanently.
Pitman (2-2-3, rotating every two weeks) · 12-hour shifts · 4 crews
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Crew A
Crew B
Crew C
Crew D
Day
Night
Off
Average 42 hours a week per person
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Pros: shares night work fairly across everyone; keeps the short runs and long weekends of 2-2-3.
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Cons: switching between days and nights every fortnight means bodies keep re-adjusting; some people would rather work nights permanently and be paid for it.
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Fatigue: give people as much notice as possible before a run of nights, and plan the switch so there is a break before the first night.
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Coverage: the same as 2-2-3, one day crew and one night crew every day.
Who it suits: teams where nobody wants permanent nights, or where night work has to be shared for fairness or skills. It is a good fit when the same people need to know both the day and night routines.
The DuPont schedule
DuPont runs on a 28-day cycle: 4 nights, 3 off, 3 days, 1 off, 3 nights, 3 off, 4 days, then 7 days off. The four crews start the cycle a week apart, which keeps one crew on days and one on nights at all times.
DuPont · 12-hour shifts · 4 crews
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Crew A
Crew B
Crew C
Crew D
Day
Night
Off
Average 42 hours a week per person
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Pros: a full week off every four weeks, which people value for holidays and family time without using leave.
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Cons: the busy stretch before that week off is demanding, with nights and days close together; the cycle takes a while to learn.
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Fatigue: the four-night run is longer than Safe Work Australia’s suggestion to limit consecutive nights to three, so consider breaks, lighter duties and fitness-for-work checks on those shifts.
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Coverage: one day crew and one night crew every day.
Who it suits: teams who value long blocks of time off over a steady weekly rhythm, and workplaces that can support people through the demanding stretch before the week off, for example with lighter tasks or extra breaks on the fourth night.
The 4-on-4-off schedule
The simplest 12-hour pattern: work four shifts, then have four days off. With fixed shifts, two crews alternate on days and two on nights. Many sites rotate it instead (four days, four off, four nights, four off) so night work is shared.
4-on-4-off (fixed days and nights) · 12-hour shifts · 4 crews
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Crew A
Crew B
Crew C
Crew D
Day
Night
Off
Average 42 hours a week per person
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Pros: very easy to understand; four days off in a row every time; works for small teams.
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Cons: the eight-day cycle doesn’t line up with calendar weeks, so weekends off move around and weekly hours swing between 36 and 48.
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Fatigue: four 12-hour nights in a row is more than Safe Work Australia’s suggested limit of three, which is one reason many sites use the rotating version or shorter night shifts.
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Coverage: one day crew and one night crew every day.
Who it suits: small teams that want the simplest possible pattern, and people who prefer four days off in a row to a regular Monday-to-Friday rhythm. Payroll needs to handle weeks that alternate between three and four shifts, so check how overtime is worked out under your award or agreement.
The continental schedule
Continental patterns use 8-hour shifts (earlies, lates and nights) and rotate quickly through them. In the version below, four crews start a week apart and each moves forward from earlies to lates to nights, with three crews working and one off every day.
Continental (8-hour, fast rotation) · 8-hour shifts · 4 crews
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Crew A
Crew B
Crew C
Crew D
Early
Late
Night
Off
Average 42 hours a week per person
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Pros: shorter shifts are easier on demanding or safety-critical work; no more than three nights in a row; rotates forward from earlies to lates to nights.
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Cons: more shift changes and handovers each day; the pattern includes a run of seven working days, so one week in every four has no day off.
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Fatigue: the seven-day run is longer than ideal; Safe Work Australia suggests limiting consecutive workdays and allowing at least one full day off a week.
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Coverage: three crews on (early, late and night) and one off every day.
Who it suits: work where long shifts are a poor fit, such as demanding physical tasks, safety-critical monitoring or roles with frequent customer contact, and teams who would rather work shorter days more often. It also suits sites that need three handovers a day for operational reasons.
limit shift length and allow at least 12 hours between shifts for recovery
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avoid long weekly hours, limit consecutive workdays and allow at least one full day off a week
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keep shift patterns as regular as possible and avoid last-minute changes
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limit consecutive night shifts to three, and give as much notice as possible before nights
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provide regular breaks, and a way for managers and workers to check fitness for work before a shift
In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive publishes detailed guidance in Managing shift work (HSG256). Awards, enterprise agreements and local law may also set limits on shift length, breaks between shifts and night work, so check what applies to you before you commit to a pattern. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Common mistakes when introducing a rotating roster
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Planning with exactly four people for four crews. Leave, sickness and resignations leave gaps immediately; plan relief cover or a fifth person per position from the start.
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Ignoring handovers. Every change of crew needs a few minutes to pass on what happened; build that time into shifts rather than expecting people to stay back unpaid.
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Changing the pattern at short notice. Rotating rosters only work if people can plan their lives around them. Publish the full cycle well ahead and keep swaps to approved changes.
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Letting swaps break the pattern. An informal swap can leave someone working five nights in a row. Check fatigue limits and skills before any swap is approved.
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Forgetting paid time. Overtime, penalty rates for nights and weekends and public holidays change the cost of a pattern; work it out before you commit, and see our labor cost percentage guide.
How to choose a pattern for your team
1.
Count the cover you need. Write down how many people each shift needs, not just whether the site is open; four crews per position is the usual minimum for 24/7.
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Decide on shift length. 12-hour shifts give more days off; 8-hour shifts are shorter and easier on demanding or safety-critical work.
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Choose fixed or rotating. Fixed nights suit people who prefer them; rotating shares nights fairly but asks everyone to adjust.
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Check it against fatigue guidance and your award or agreement, especially consecutive nights and breaks between shifts.
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Ask the team. People know which runs and weekends they can live with, and a pattern they helped choose is easier to keep.
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Trial it for one full cycle and review: sickness, swaps, overtime and how people feel are all signs.
Rosterly doesn’t generate rotating patterns for you, but it makes them easy to run. Build the shift times for one week, copy them forward a week at a time (copies come across unassigned), then assign each crew or let auto-fill pick people who have the right skill and stay under the weekly hour limit you set. Skills are checked before anyone is assigned, and overlapping shifts for the same person are blocked.