4 On 4 Off Shift Pattern Calendar

Ready-made examples

• Crew A on days, from Jan 5, 2026

  1. D
  2. D
  3. D
  4. D
  5. O
  6. O
  7. O
  8. O

  Four day shifts from Monday, January 5, then four days off. The next block starts on Tuesday, January 13 — one weekday later.

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• Across New Year: Dec 28, 2026 to Jan 8, 2027

  1. D
  2. D
  3. D
  4. D
  5. O
  6. O
  7. O
  8. O

  Same start, year set to 2027. The day shifts that begin on December 31 carry on through January 3, the four days off follow, and January 8 is back on days.

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• UK rota: 4 days, 4 off, 4 nights, 4 off

  1. D
  2. D
  3. D
  4. D
  5. O
  6. O
  7. O
  8. O
  9. N
  10. N
  11. N
  12. N
  13. O
  14. O
  15. O
  16. O

  The rotating version common on UK rotas: a 16-day cycle that alternates a block of days with a block of nights, with UK bank holidays and Monday weeks.

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• Warehouse on 10-hour shifts

  1. D
  2. D
  3. D
  4. D
  5. O
  6. O
  7. O
  8. O

  Four 10-hour shifts on, four off: 35 hours a week on average and 1,810 hours in 2026, never more than 40 in a week.

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How to make your 4 on 4 off calendar

1. Keep 4 on 4 off selected. The generator opens on 4 on 4 off with 12-hour shifts: crews A and B on days, crews C and D on nights.
2. Choose your crew. Pick A or B for days and C or D for nights; A and C work the same dates, as do B and D.
3. Enter your crew's cycle day 1. With your crew picked, enter the first shift of any of your own blocks of four (with "Rotate day and night" ticked, the first of your four day shifts). The other crews are worked out from it. The 8-day cycle has no fixed weekday, so any first shift you know will do.
4. Days and nights?. Tick "Rotate day and night" for the 16-day version: four days, four off, four nights, four off.
5. Read and export. Look up any date, check which weekends you have off this year and print, save or export the calendar.

The 8-day 4 on 4 off cycle

The 4 on 4 off shift pattern is the simplest of the 12-hour rotations: DDDDOOOO, four shifts and four days off, 8 days in all. Four crews share the clock. Crew B works the four days Crew A is off, and crews C and D do the same on nights, so each date has one day crew and one night crew.

Why your work days drift through the week

A 7-day week and an 8-day cycle never line up for long. Each block of four shifts starts one weekday later than the one before — Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday — and your shifts only return to the same weekdays after 8 weeks. That drift is why people on this pattern say they "never know what day it is", and why weekly hours and weekends off move around:

Out of every eight weeks, 4 are 48-hour weeks and 4 are 36-hour weeks, so with overtime after 40 hours a week you earn 32 overtime hours every eight weeks — 216 hours for Crew A in 2026. Common examples: the US FLSA rule of overtime after 40 hours in a workweek; your employer's rules and your contract decide. Set your own period and threshold in the hours panel above.

Hours and weekends in a year

Every crew works half of all days: 181–184 shifts in 2026 depending on the crew, an average of 42 hours a week and about 2,190 hours a year on 12-hour shifts. Crew A in our example works 181 shifts for 2,172 hours. The drift costs weekends: Saturday falls on every cycle position in turn and only three of the eight give a full Saturday and Sunday off, so each crew gets 18–21 full weekends off in 2026 instead of the 26 that the 2-2-3 gives. In exchange, every break is four whole days.

* Crew A in 2026 with overtime after 40 hours in each Sunday-to-Saturday week. Your employer's rule decides; set your own period and threshold in the hours panel above.

The 4 on 4 off rota with days and nights

In the UK, a 4 on 4 off rota usually rotates between days and nights: four days, four off, four nights, four off, DDDDOOOONNNNOOOO. The four crews are spaced four days apart, so there is still one crew on days and one on nights every day, and every crew shares the nights equally — 89 night shifts for Crew A in 2026. The four days off after a block of nights are often counted as three, because the first one is spent catching up on sleep. Tick "Rotate day and night" to use this version, and set the holiday region to the UK to see bank holidays on the calendar.

Pros and cons of 4 on 4 off

4 on 4 off compared with DuPont, 2-2-3 and Continental

All three 12-hour alternatives average the same 42 hours. The DuPont mixes shorter and longer blocks to give a 7-day break each month; the 2-2-3 and Pitman keep blocks to three shifts and give every other weekend off. The Continental shift pattern covers the same 24/7 operation with three 8-hour shifts. The 12-hour shift schedule guide compares them all, the Panama schedule explainer covers the 2-2-3's other name, and for 24-hour shifts see the firefighter shift calendar and Kelly schedule.

Add 4 on 4 off to your phone calendar

Because the days drift, a phone calendar is the most useful place for this pattern. Download the free .ics file and import it into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook; each shift becomes an event with its start and end time. The Pro sync link adds new months automatically, so the drift is never a surprise.

Who works 4 on 4 off

Frequently asked questions

More shift pattern calendars

• Shift calendar generator

  Every preset and your own custom cycle in one generator.

• DuPont schedule calendar

  28-day 12-hour rotation for four crews, with a 7-day break.

• 2-2-3 schedule calendar

  2 on, 2 off, 3 on over 14 days; every other weekend off.

• Pitman (2-3-2) schedule calendar

  2 on, 3 off, 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off: a 14-day loop common in policing.

• Firefighter shift calendar

  24/48, 48/96, Kelly and 24/72 for platoons A, B and C.

Guides

• Panama schedule

  How the Panama name relates to the 2-2-3 and Pitman.

• Continental shift pattern

  8-hour earlies, lates and nights over 28 days.

• Kelly schedule

  The 9-day Kelly cycle and what a Kelly day means.

• 12-hour shift schedule guide

  Every rotating 12-hour pattern compared side by side.