4-on-4-off schedule
The simplest continuous pattern there is: work 4, rest 4, forever. Four teams on 12-hour shifts cover 24/7 with a cadence anyone can remember.
Also known as: 4 on 4 off, four on four off, 4x4 shift pattern
- Shift length
- 12h
- Rotation cycle
- 16 days
- Teams
- 4
- Avg hours/week
- 42
- Longest stretch
- 4 days
- Longest break
- 4 days
The full 16-day rotation
One complete cycle for all 4 teams. Coverage is 24/7: every day has exactly one team on each shift.
| Team | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | D | D | D | D | N | N | N | N | ||||||||
| Team B | D | D | D | D | N | N | N | N | ||||||||
| Team C | N | N | N | N | D | D | D | D | ||||||||
| Team D | N | N | N | N | D | D | D | D | ||||||||
- Each row is one team across the 16-day cycle: 4 day shifts, 4 off, 4 night shifts, 4 off, staggered by 4 days per team.
- At any moment one team is on days, one is on nights, and two are resting.
- Because 16 days do not align with calendar weeks, the blocks land on different weekdays each cycle and repeat their weekday positions every 8 weeks.
Build your 4-on-4-off calendar
Pick the date your rotation starts (day 1 of the grid above) and a team to see the next six weeks as real dates. Download the result for your calendar app or as a spreadsheet.
Calendar exports cover 26 weeks from the start date. Shift times use this page's defaults and can differ from your operation's clock times.
How the 4-on-4-off schedule works
The 4-on-4-off schedule covers round-the-clock operations with four teams working blocks of four consecutive 12-hour shifts followed by four full days off. In the rotating version shown here, each team works 4 day shifts, takes 4 off, works 4 night shifts, takes 4 off, completing a 16-day cycle.
Its appeal is pure simplicity. There is exactly one rule, and employees can project their working days years into the future. Half of all days are days off, and every break is 4 days long, enough to genuinely recover from a 48-hour block or take a short trip without leave.
The pattern is a staple of UK policing, security, and manufacturing. Its one structural quirk is that the 8-day on-off rhythm does not divide into the 7-day week, so your workdays drift through the calendar and weekends off arrive in an 8-week repeating pattern rather than a fixed cadence.
How many people you need
Every position staffed 24/7 on this pattern needs 4 employees, one per team, before you cover holidays, sick leave, and training. A planning buffer of around 25 percent on top is a realistic starting point; the exact number depends on your absence rates, which you can work out with our shrinkage calculator.
| Positions per shift | Minimum headcount | With 20% shrinkage buffer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | 8 | 10 |
| 3 | 12 | 15 |
| 5 | 20 | 25 |
| 10 | 40 | 50 |
Pros and cons of the 4-on-4-off schedule
Works in its favor
- Radically simple: one rule, no exceptions, predictable for years ahead
- Every single break is 4 days, long enough for real recovery and short trips without leave
- Half of all days are off, with only about 15 workdays a month
- All nights come in one clean block per cycle instead of being scattered
- Fair by construction, since every team works the identical sequence
Watch out for
- Four consecutive 12-hour shifts, especially nights, sit at the fatigue limit many regulators recommend
- Workdays drift across weekdays, so employees cannot commit to any fixed weekly activity
- Full weekends off only come around on an 8-week rhythm
- The 42-hour average builds overtime into a 40-hour cap jurisdiction
- Handover quality tends to sag on day 4 of a block when everyone is tired
Who runs 4-on-4-off
Police and fire services
UK forces run 4-on-4-off widely because response strength stays identical every hour of the year.
Security and facilities
Guarding contracts price cleanly on the pattern since every post costs exactly 4 heads of coverage.
Manufacturing and logistics
Distribution centers and continuous lines use it to keep throughput flat across weekends and holidays.
Airports and transport
Ground handling and control teams like the block structure for managing early starts and night work.
Whichever industry you plan for, the hard part is rarely the pattern itself but keeping it fair as people join, leave, and swap. That is worth reading up on before you commit a team to one; our guide on making shift schedules faircovers the rotation-fairness tradeoffs in depth.
Common variations
- Fixed 4-on-4-off
- Dedicated day crews and night crews keep the 4-4 rhythm without rotating, the dominant version in UK security work.
- 6-on-4-off
- Stretches the work block to 6 shifts to reach higher average hours where demand or pay expectations require it.
- 4-on-4-off with 8-hour shifts
- Runs the cadence on 8-hour shifts with 6 teams for operations that cannot use 12-hour shifts, dropping the average to 28 hours and requiring part-time contracts or top-up shifts.
Compare with other patterns
2-2-3 schedule (Panama)
Four teams on 12-hour shifts work 2 days, get 2 off, work 3, in a 14-day cadence that gives every team a full weekend off every other week.
12h shifts · 28-day cycle · longest stretch 3 days
View pattern →DuPont schedule
A 4-week rotation of 12-hour days and nights whose signature feature is a full 7-day break every cycle, paid for with one 72-hour work week.
12h shifts · 28-day cycle · longest stretch 4 days
View pattern →Continental schedule
A fast-rotating 8-hour pattern: four teams move through mornings, afternoons and nights in short 2-3 day blocks across a 4-week cycle.
8h shifts · 28-day cycle · longest stretch 7 days
View pattern →Kelly schedule
Three platoons on 24-hour shifts: work one full day, get two full days off, forever. The standard rotation for fire and EMS crews.
24h shifts · 9-day cycle · longest stretch 1 days
View pattern →Frequently asked questions
- How many hours a year is 4-on-4-off?
- About 2,190 scheduled hours: the pattern averages 42 hours a week across all 52 weeks. In practice annual hours land slightly lower once leave entitlement is taken out.
- Is 4-on-4-off a good schedule?
- It is the most predictable 24/7 pattern available, and the guaranteed 4-day breaks are unmatched. The tradeoffs are 4 consecutive 12-hour shifts and workdays that drift across the week, so weekly commitments like a class or club night are hard to keep.
- How many teams does 4-on-4-off need?
- Four teams for 24/7 coverage with days and nights. Each position staffed continuously needs 4 people before absence cover, the same headcount rule as other four-team 12-hour patterns.
- Do you get weekends off on 4-on-4-off?
- Yes, but on a rolling basis. Because the 8-day rhythm does not divide into 7-day weeks, full Saturday-Sunday pairs off recur in an 8-week cycle rather than every other week like 2-2-3 patterns.
- What is the difference between 4-on-4-off and the Panama schedule?
- Panama (2-2-3) breaks work into 2s and 3s and gives every other weekend off, while 4-on-4-off uses longer 4-shift blocks with longer 4-day breaks and rolling weekends. Same headcount, same 42-hour average, different rhythm.
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