Shift patterns

4 on 4 off schedule

Also called 4 days on, 4 days off

On a 4 on 4 off schedule, each crew works four 12 hour shifts in a row, then has four days off. Four crews cover a site day and night: two on days, two on nights, one of each on at any time. The cycle is 8 days, so the days you work move forward by one weekday each week, and you work 42 hours a week on average.

One cycle

• Crew A: days 1 to 4 on days, days 5 to 8 off
• Crew B: days 1 to 4 off, days 5 to 8 on days
• Crews C and D: the same on nights

Crews

4

Shift length

12 hours

Cycle

8 days

Hours a week

42 on average

Longest stretch

4 shifts in a row

Time off

4 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.

Questions

How many hours is 4 on 4 off?

48 hours of work every 8 days, so 42 hours a week on average. A week has 3 or 4 shifts.

Can I make it 8 hour shifts?

Yes, but each crew then works 28 hours a week on average, and covering 24 hours takes a third shift each day and six crews. Change the shifts' hours, then add the third shift on the same cycle.

Other shift patterns

• 2-2-3 schedule
• Pitman schedule
• DuPont schedule
• Kelly schedule
• 9/80 schedule
• 3 shift system
• 2 shift system
• 4 crew 8 hour schedule