Shift pattern calculators

Choose your rotation to see a full 12-month personalised calendar.

What is a rotating shift pattern?

A rotating shift pattern is a recurring sequence of work and rest days that covers an operation running outside the standard Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 model. Whoever invented your pattern was solving for two things at once: keeping the operation staffed 24/7 (or close to it), and giving staff defined runs of rest. The pattern is the compromise.

There are about a dozen patterns that account for the vast majority of rotating shift work in the UK, US, EU, and beyond. They differ in three main ways:

Cycle length — the number of days before the same person works the same shift again. 6 days at the short end, 28 days at the long.
Shift length — 8 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, or compressed variants like 9-hour shifts on a 9/80.
Coverage model — how many teams are needed to staff the operation around the clock.

The MyShiftCalendar tool supports the patterns below as presets, plus a custom builder for anything else.

How to find your pattern

If you know your employer's name for the pattern, click through to its page. If you don't, work through these clues:

8-day cycle, 12-hour shifts, days alternating with nights? That's 4-on-4-off.
14-day cycle, blocks of 2-2-3? That's 2-2-3 Pitman / Panama.
A 28-day cycle with a 7-day off block? That's DuPont.
A 21-day cycle with 8-hour shifts in a 2-2-3 sub-pattern? That's Continental.
12-day cycle, 12-hour shifts, 3 on then 3 off? That's 3-on-3-off.
6-day cycle, day-only, 4 on then 2 off? That's 4-on-2-off.
5-team rota with every other weekend off? That's EOWEO / Kelly.
9 working days across a fortnight with every other Friday off? That's 9/80.
None of the above? Use the custom pattern builder and enter your real cycle as D/N/O.

Cycle length, at a glance

Pattern	Cycle	Teams	Shift length	Hours/week
4-on-2-off	6 days	3	12	40
4-on-4-off	8 days	4	12	42
EOWEO / Kelly	10 days	5	10	40
3-on-3-off	12 days	4	12	42
2-2-3 / Pitman / Panama	14 days	4	12	42
9/80	14 days	1	9 (one 8)	40
Continental	21 days	4	8	40
DuPont	28 days	4	12	42

Where to go from here

You know your pattern: click the card below and use the calculator to lay out your year.
You don't know your pattern: use the custom builder — enter your actual rota as a sequence of D (day), N (night), and O (off), and the calendar fills in.
You want help choosing or comparing: see Which Shift Pattern Is Right for Me?
You're trying to understand the health and safety side: start with Fatigue, Safety and Shift Work and Shift Work and Sleep.

A word on names

Pattern names are not standardised. "Panama" and "2-2-3" and "Pitman" describe the same shape. "Continental" describes one shape in European manufacturing and a different shape in US transit. "DuPont" comes from the chemical company that introduced it in the 1950s — and other companies running the same 28-day shape still call it DuPont because the name stuck. If your employer's name for a pattern doesn't appear here, look at the structure: cycle length, shift length, and how rest days are distributed. The structure is the pattern; the name is just a label.

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