The 7x7 shift: a week on site, a week at home
Seven days on, seven days off. It's the site pattern par excellence: mining, construction, rigs, camps. What defines it isn't the hours, it's that you live away from home half your life.
- Days worked a year
- 183
- Days off a year
- 182
- Full weekends off
- 26
- Longest break
- 7 days
- Sundays worked
- 26
Worked out over a full year on this pattern, counting from 1 January. The figures shift a little depending where in the cycle you start.
How it works
The cycle is fourteen days, so it fits exactly into two weeks: if you start on a Monday, you'll always start on a Monday. That makes it far more predictable than a 4x4 — it's one of the few rotating patterns where your day off doesn't move.
The good part
A whole week at home, every other week. Enough to properly rest, not just sleep. And because the cycle matches the week, you can commit to fixed things on the days you know you'll be around.
The hard part
You miss half of everything: birthdays, matches, school events. Travel days often eat into the rest period and aren't always paid. And seven shifts in a row, frequently twelve hours long, build up a tiredness that the first day off doesn't fix.
Load it and tell me a day you remember: I'll work out your whole calendar, forwards and backwards.
Load the 7x7 patternFrequently asked questions
Is the 7x7 legal?
Seven-on seven-off rosters usually run as an exceptional working-time system, which needs authorisation. They aren't automatically governed by the general weekly limit: what governs is the resolution authorising them and your contract.
Do travel days count as worked?
It depends on the contract and the agreement. It's one of the things most worth getting in writing before you sign, because in practice it changes your real rest time quite a bit.
Do I always start on the same weekday?
Yes. The fourteen-day cycle fits exactly into two weeks, so your start day repeats. That's the big advantage of the 7x7 over the 4x4.
General information. Every company and agreement applies these patterns its own way. Always check against your contract, your approved shift system and current legislation.