Shift patterns

4 crew 8 hour schedule

Also called 4x8 or continuous 8 hour shifts

The 4 crew 8 hour schedule covers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with 8 hour shifts. Each crew works 2 early shifts, 2 late shifts and 2 nights, then has 2 days off, and each crew starts 2 days after the one before. Every day has one crew on each shift and one off. That is 48 hours every 8 days, 42 hours a week on average.

One cycle

One 8 day cycle of the 4 crew 8 hour schedule, by crew
CrewDay 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7Day 8
Crew AE Early shiftE Early shiftL Late shiftL Late shiftN Night shiftN Night shift· Off· Off
Crew B· Off· OffE Early shiftE Early shiftL Late shiftL Late shiftN Night shiftN Night shift
Crew CN Night shiftN Night shift· Off· OffE Early shiftE Early shiftL Late shiftL Late shift
Crew DL Late shiftL Late shiftN Night shiftN Night shift· Off· OffE Early shiftE Early shift
E Early shift, 6 AM to 2 PML Late shift, 2 PM to 10 PMN Night shift, 10 PM to 6 AM· Off
  • Days 1 and 2: early, 6 AM to 2 PM
  • Days 3 and 4: late, 2 PM to 10 PM
  • Days 5 and 6: nights, 10 PM to 6 AM
  • Days 7 and 8: off
  • Crew B starts 2 days after crew A, crew C 4 days after, crew D 6 days after.
Crews
4
Shift length
8 hours
Cycle
8 days
Hours a week
42 on average
Longest stretch
6 shifts in a row
Time off
2 days in a row, every 8 days

Make it your team's

  1. Rename the crews to your people, in the list on the left (the menu button at the top left on a phone). Or open a shift and add more people to a crew.
  2. Change a shift's hours or first day: every shift of that series moves with it.
  3. Click Share and send the link, or print a month per page. It saves in your browser as soon as you change something, no sign up.

Fast forward rotation

The shift changes every two days and always moves forward: early, late, night. Nobody spends more than two nights in a row awake, and the break after the nights is two full days.

Four crews or five

With four crews everyone averages 42 hours a week, more than many contracts allow. Sites that want fewer hours add a fifth crew: 2 early, 2 late, 2 nights and 4 days off over 10 days, about 34 hours a week.

Questions

Is this the same as a continental shift?
Yes, it is one of them: continental shifts are 8 hour shifts that change every few days and cover every day of the week. This one uses four crews and an 8 day cycle.
How many people do I need?
Four crews for each seat you need filled around the clock. One person per shift means four people, before holidays and sick days.

Other shift patterns

Reminders in Slack

TurnShift is this calendar for teams on Slack: each person gets a message before their shift, and books their own shifts from there.

See TurnShift