Shift Pattern Examples

A brief summary of some common shift patterns

Shift pattern examples

There are so many shift pattern examples that it’s almost impossible to detail them all.

This article provides a brief summary of some of the most well-known shift pattern examples that will provide 24 hour coverage for your continuous operational environment.

We’re regularly asked: ‘what is the best shift pattern’?

The answer is rarely: ‘4 on 4 off’, ‘Continental’ or ‘Panama’.

Instead it’s usually: ‘the one that balances your operational requirements with the needs of your shift workers’.

In our experience it’s never as straightforward as using a shift pattern template…but understanding more about the different shift pattern examples that exist is a useful platform to help design your own tailored solutions.

Continental shift pattern

The continental shift pattern is extremely common in 24 7 operating environments such as manufacturing, utilities and distribution.

It is an example of a relatively simple shift pattern that provides continuous coverage.

A Continental shift pattern typically describes a shift pattern that covers a 24 7 period with a flat staffing structure.

The Continental shift pattern can either be built with 8 hour shifts or 12 hour shifts and is described as a ‘fast forward rotating’ shift pattern.

The period that the Continental shift pattern rotates over depends on whether you are using a 4 crew, 5 crew or even 4.5 crew system.

A 12 hour Continental shift pattern will see your employees work a shift schedule with the following sequence:

2 day shifts >>> 2 night shifts >>> 4 days off >>> 2 day shifts >>> 2 night shifts >>>4 days off

In an 8 hour Continental shift pattern your employees work a shift schedule in this sequence:

2 morning shifts >>> 2 afternoon shifts >>> 2 night shifts >>> 2 days off >>> 2 morning shifts >>> 2 afternoon shifts >>> 2 night shifts >>> 2 days off

In a 4 crew system Continental shift patterns see this shift schedule repeated across 8 weeks.

Meanwhile in a 4.5 crew or 5 crew system employees have a long break at the end, which adds another 7 days or 14 days onto the final 2 days off.

The benefits of a Continental shift pattern are that it gives you certainty of cover for 24 7 operations and a regular pattern which your shift workers can plan their personal lives around.

Its limitations include a low percentage of weekends off and, because it always finishes on a night, this impacts the rest period.

It is especially the case for 8 hour shifts as the rest break in between runs of shifts is only 2 days.

With this shift pattern example you might find that arranging cover for absence can be difficult, so a degree of mandatory overtime is often a feature of Continental shift patterns.

Shift Patterns

Finding shift patterns that balance the needs of your organisation and shift workers can be a slow and painful process.

optashift’s Shift Pattern Design service combines data science, expert insight and collaboration to create shift patterns that are fully optimised for your performance and people.

Panama shift pattern

The Panama shift pattern (sometimes referred to as a 223 shift pattern) is another example of a shift pattern widely used to cover 24 7 operations.

It’s frequently associated with the US military and security organisations but is also used in emergency services and healthcare.

Unlike Continental shift patterns, a Panama shift pattern’s defining feature is a slow shift rotation that spans 4 weeks or 5 weeks (depending on if you are running a 4 crew or 5 crew system).

A Panama shift pattern will typically require four teams or crews to work two 12 hour shifts, with the day and night teams swapping round at the end of the 28 day cycle.

Shift workers follow this shift schedule with a Panama shift pattern:

-First 7 days: 2 day shifts >>> 2 days off >>> 3 day shifts

-Second 7 days: 2 days off >>> 2 day shifts >>> 3 days off

-Third 7 days: 2 night shifts >>> 2 days off >>> 3 night shifts

-Fourth 7 days: 2 days off >>> 2 night shifts >>> 3 days off

It’s worth noting that with the Panama shift pattern you can operate with two separate teams made up of two different crews.

One of these teams can cover days whilst the other works nights.

The benefits of a Panama shift pattern are that it provides you with a consistent supply of labour for 24 7 operations.

Some shift workers like Panama shift patterns as they provide shorter runs of shifts.

Your employees will also benefit from a three-day weekend every two weeks and alternate weekends off.

However, the Panama shift pattern’s slow rotation can be problematic when it comes to circadian rhythms and the impact this has on shift worker wellbeing.

As is the case with Continental Shift patterns, securing absence cover with a Panama shift pattern can be tricky, particularly ensuring any additional shifts worked don’t breach compliance or best practice.

Dupont shift pattern

Like the Panama shift pattern, the Dupont Shift Pattern is another example of a 28-day rotational cycle that sees four teams working 12-hour shifts to provide 24 7 coverage.

It’s arguably less common than other types of shift pattern examples in the UK, but it is used in certain manufacturing and emergency services environments.

Shift workers typically cover 14 shifts across the 28-day rotation, creating an average of 42 hours per week.

However to achieve balance the Dupont shift pattern requires employees to work for 72 hours over one 7-day period every month.

A Dupont shift pattern sees shift workers follow a shift schedule that runs:

-First 7 days: 4 night shifts >>> 3 days off

-Second 7 days: 3 day shifts >>> 1 day off >>> 3 night shifts

-Third 7 days: 3 days off >>> 4 day shifts

-Fourth 7 days: 7 days off

The benefits of a Dupont shift pattern are that it provides you with 24 7 coverage and can be quite popular with employees.

This is due to the fact it is predictable and that, like all 12 hour 24 7 shift pattern examples, they only need to present at work 180 days of the year within a 4 crew environment (5 crew has additional rest through rostered holidays and therefore less shifts across the year).

Some shift workers also like the Dupont shift pattern due to it providing a three-day weekend every other week and providing a full 7 day break every month.

However as an employer you must be cautious about the fact that the Dupont shift pattern requires shift workers to regularly work four 12 hour shifts without a break and a 72 hour week.

This can create shift work fatigue risk, compliance issues and health challenges.

4 on 4 off shift pattern

When it comes to shift pattern examples, 4 on 4 off is arguably one of the most frequently used shift patterns in environments that need 24 7 shift coverage.

It really is as straightforward as the name implies, with shift workers working four shifts across four consecutive 24 hour periods, which is followed by four consecutive days off.

You can also schedule 4 on 4 off shift patterns so they mirror the Continental shift schedule sequence detailed above (ie: DDDD >>> OOOO >>> NNNN >>> OOOO)

If you want to know much more about the 4 on 4 off shift pattern then check out our detailed article 4 on 4 off a closer look.

Shift Work Assessment

Optimising shift patterns and shift work delivers huge benefits…but complexity and competing priorities sees many organisations leave things as they are.

Our Shift Work Assessment is a streamlined process which quickly analyses all relevant operational and HR factors to give you a tailored plan for immediate improvement.

24 5 shift pattern

The 24 5 shift pattern is a classic manufacturing shift pattern example that sees operations run 24 hours a day for just five days of the week instead of seven.

Typically the 24 5 shift pattern uses 3 crews who work 40 hours per week.

A 24 5 shift schedule can be designed around either 12 hour or 8 hour shifts.

An 8 hour shift schedule can be fully rotated across a three week period (e.g. a week of morning shifts…followed by a week of afternoon shifts…followed by a week of night shifts).

Alternatively a 24 5 shift pattern can be fixed, with teams that align to each shift type, or can be ‘double days’ (mornings and afternoons) and fixed nights.

A key issue we regularly see with 24 5 shift patterns occurs when more capacity is needed to meet demand.

This means your shift workers having to work overtime and weekends.

We’ve come across situations where people regularly have to work 12 consecutive shifts (e.g. 5 mornings, working the weekend and then working afternoons the following week) which has significant implications for compliance, shift work fatigue and job satisfaction.

It’s also worth noting that 24 5 shift patterns make it difficult to arrange absence cover, as all shift workers are already scheduled to be in.

5 on 3 off shift pattern

This shift pattern example delivers a regular rotation of 5 shifts and then 3 rest days.

The 5 on 3 off shift pattern can involve a supplementary day shift being added to the 4 on 4 off shift pattern as described above.

The 5 on 3 off shift pattern is often found in environments with phased shift start times in order to cover an extended operating window.

For example the 5 on 3 off shift pattern may involve one team working 06:00-14:00, another two teams working 08:00-16:00, one team working 10:00-18:00 and one team working 12:00-20:00 across the seven days.

The 5 on 3 off shift pattern will then rotate across 8 weeks (8 teams) and based on the shifts above it will generate average contract hours of 35 per week.

Nine hour shifts would increase the 5 on 3 off shift pattern to 39.38 hours per week.

5 over 7 shift pattern

5 over 7 shift patterns are interesting as the run of shifts mirrors the ‘typical’ working week of five days at work followed by two days off.

However, 5 over 7 shift patterns don’t result in a Monday to Friday work patten with weekends off.

Instead the two rest days can vary and rotate.

For example your shift workers might start the working week on a Thursday and work shifts on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Their weekend (two consecutive days off) then become Tuesday and Wednesday.

From an employee’s perspective this can pose significant work-life balance challenges as days off can vary, even if you try to ensure they do occasionally get typical weekends off (Saturday and Sunday).

This shift pattern example can also be referred to as ‘any 5 from 7’, ‘5 7 shift pattern’ or ‘5 2 shift pattern’.

Shift Work Health

The effects of shift work on physical and mental health are clear…so responsible employers need to provide shift workers with tailored support across sleep, nutrition, exercise and social issues.

optashift will help you deliver a programme that blends strategic, operational, practical and technical solutions that are designed in collaboration with your workforce.

In brief - other shift pattern examples

As you can see there are numerous shift pattern examples that can be used to provide either 24 7 cover or to support different length weeks.

There are also many other examples and variations on these patterns that can be referred to by different names.

Some of these include…

2 cycle shift pattern

The 2 cycle shift pattern can be thought of as ‘half a Panama shift pattern’.

In effect there are two crews who work mornings seven days across the week, whilst the other two cover nights.

3 shift pattern

This is an 8 hour shift pattern example than can run across 5 days or 7 days.

It is often referred to as the 24 5 shift pattern which is covered earlier in this article.

6 on 3 off shift pattern

6 on 3 off is an example of an 8 hour 24 7 shift pattern worked by a 4.5 crew.

The shift schedule runs:

morning shift >>> morning shift >>> afternoon shift >>> afternoon shift >>> night shift >>> night shift >>> day off >>> day off >>> day off.

It typically generates an average working week of 37.33 hours.

6 on 4 off shift pattern

6 on 4 off is an example of an 8 hour 24 7 shift pattern using a 5 crew system.

It can also be referred to as a 3 shift pattern.

A key feature of this shift pattern is that there will often be a period where employees work 6 on 2 off, so they get a long break of 16 days every 10 weeks.

As this means shift workers are only having 2 days off the rest of the time, you may decide to work other periods with the shifts more spread out (e.g. MMAANN>>>OOOO)

16 5 shift pattern

Also commonly referred to as ‘double days’, the 16 5 shift pattern provides cover for mornings and afternoons (eg: 06:00-14:00 and 14:00-22:00…or…07:00-15:00 and 15:00-23:00)

This shift pattern example can be fixed or rotate.

Help with shift pattern examples

Whilst exploring different shift patterns examples is useful, every organisation and workforce is unique.

Shift patterns that work well in a specific scenario with certain workforce don’t necessarily translate well, even in similar industries and environments.

It’s important you tailor shift patterns to ensure they balance the operational requirements of your organisation with the needs and preferences of your workforce.

If you are looking to assess your current shift patterns or want help with shift pattern design, contact one of our experts.

They’ll quickly help you understand more about the shift pattern examples out there and how tailoring them can help you control costs, improve productivity, secure compliance and support the wellbeing of your shift workers.