Rotating shift pattern guides

How each pattern works, how many days off it really gives, and what's good and hard about it. The figures are worked out over a full year, not copied from anywhere.

4x4 shiftFour days on, four off. The most widespread rotation, and the one that never lines up with the week.8-day cycle · 181 days off a year · 18 full weekends off 7x7 shiftA week on site and a week at home. Predictable, because the cycle matches the week.14-day cycle · 182 days off a year · 26 full weekends off 14x14 shiftThe large-scale mining pattern: fourteen days away and fourteen at home.28-day cycle · 182 days off a year · 26 full weekends off 2-2-3 (Panama / Pitman) shiftNever more than three days in a row, and a long weekend every other week.14-day cycle · 182 days off a year · 26 full weekends off DuPont shiftA four-week cycle that ends with seven consecutive days off.28-day cycle · 182 days off a year · 13 full weekends off Days, nights and restThe full rotation: four on days, four on nights and four off.12-day cycle · 120 days off a year · 13 full weekends off

What nobody explains when you start

There's one difference that splits these patterns into two groups, and it's the one that affects life outside work most: whether the cycle fits the week or not.

The 7x7, the 14x14, the 2-2-3 and DuPont run fourteen or twenty-eight days, which is two or four exact weeks. That means you always start on the same weekday and can commit to fixed things: a class, training, Friday dinner.

The 4x4 and the days-nights-off rotation run eight and twelve days. They don't fit into weeks, so your day off drifts every turn. You can't say "I have Thursdays off", and keeping track in your head stops working by the second month. That's what the tool is for.

General information. Every company and agreement applies these patterns its own way, with different hours and rest periods. Always check against your contract and current legislation.