2-2-3 Work Schedule Explained: Setup, Compliance, and Tips

This article dives into what the 2-2-3 schedule entails, its growing relevance, and how it compares to traditional work schedules, particularly focusing on its applicability across various industries and roles.

What is a 2-2-3 (Panama) work schedule?

The 2-2-3 work schedule is a rotating, 24/7 shift pattern that typically uses four teams working 12-hour shifts. Teams work 2 days on, 2 days off, 3 days on, then rotate; the full cycle repeats every 28 days. It’s designed to keep continuous cover while sharing nights and weekends more evenly across the team.

In the UK, this pattern is often called the Panama shift pattern or simply 2-2-3. You may also see “Pitman” mentioned alongside it; similar idea, but the rotation rules are not identical. UK HR guidance and sector bodies talk about these patterns mainly in the context of safe 24/7 staffing and night-work rules.

Who uses the 2-2-3 work schedule and why?

A quick tour of where 2-2-3 thrives and what to watch out for.

Manufacturing & distribution

Why: 24/7 production lines and warehousing need predictable cover and fewer handovers.
Watch-outs: Fatigue on consecutive nights and safe staffing for safety-critical tasks. Use risk assessment under HSE guidance.

Healthcare (NHS & independent)

Why: Inpatient wards, theatres, and urgent care require round-the-clock staffing; rotating patterns remain the norm for many teams.
Watch-outs: Clinical handover time, protected breaks, and wellbeing support; RCN highlights the health impact of rotating shifts.

Public safety & emergency services

Why: Police, fire, and control rooms value predictable 24/7 cover with fewer handover points.
Watch-outs: Ensure night-work health surveillance and adequate recovery time between rotations. (WTR and ACAS guidance apply.)

Energy, utilities & critical infrastructure

Why: control rooms and maintenance teams need continuous monitoring.
Watch-outs: Adopt a clear Fatigue Risk Management approach for extended shifts; ORR’s model is widely referenced beyond rail.

Free 2-2-3 Work Schedule Template

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How the rotation works (28-day visual)

Here’s a simple way to explain and show the pattern to your team.

The 28-day cycle at a glance

A classic 2-2-3 uses four teams (A/B/C/D) across two 12-hour shifts (Days/Nights). Each team alternates between Days and Nights on the next cycle so weekends and nights are shared fairly. Always check your design against UK night-work limits.

📊 Illustrative mini-calendar (Team A, “D=Day, N=Night, O=Off”)
(Your exact sequence may vary—keep the 2-2-3 rhythm intact.)

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	D	D	O	O	D	D	D
2	O	O	D	D	O	O	O
3	N	N	O	O	N	N	N
4	O	O	N	N	O	O	O

💡Tip: On the next 28-day cycle, swap Day ↔ Night for Team A so nights rotate fairly across teams.

Coverage and headcount basics

Four teams cover two daily 12-hour blocks to deliver continuous 168-hour weekly coverage with predictable rest. Build in handover time (5–15 minutes) and ensure breaks are planned so you still meet legal night-work averages. Use HSE guidance to check fatigue controls.

✅ Quick checklist: setting up 2-2-3 safely (UK)

Confirm night-work definitions and limits; average must meet WTR rules.
Schedule health assessments for night workers and keep records.
Risk-assess consecutive nights and commute time (HSE fatigue guidance)
Add paid handover time where needed and protect breaks.
Communicate rotation changes at least one full cycle ahead.

ℹ️ You can generate a reusable 28-day 2-2-3 template in Shiftbase, copy it across teams, and share it via the mobile app so everyone sees their days, nights and time off instantly.

Compliance at a glance

Here are the legal basics you need to run a 2-2-3 pattern safely and pay people correctly.

🇬🇧UK: Working time, nights, and holiday pay

Under the Working Time Regulations, night workers must not work more than an average of 8 hours in any 24-hour period (usually averaged over 17 weeks). You must also offer free health assessments to night workers and keep records for at least 2 years showing the limits are met. If the role involves “special hazards” or heavy physical/mental strain, the 8-hour cap applies without averaging.

From leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers can accrue statutory holiday using the 12.07% method, and rolled-up holiday pay is permitted for those workers if you follow the new rules (for example, itemising rolled-up pay clearly). Keep paying the “4 weeks” at normal pay and the “1.6 weeks” at basic pay unless your contract is more generous.

🇺🇸United States: Federal baseline and state overrides

Under the FLSA, overtime exemption rules changed in 2024/2025: The U.S. Department of Labor issued a rule lifting the exempt salary threshold to $43,888 (from 1 July 2024) and $58,656 (from 1 January 2025) with future updates. However, legal challenges led to court orders that blocked/vacated the final rule in late 2024–2025, so employers must check the current status in their jurisdiction and be ready to revert to prior thresholds if required. Treat this area as live and watch for further appeals.

Recordkeeping, fatigue, and safety expectations (UK best practice)

Beyond the rota, regulators expect a Fatigue Risk Management approach: Risk assessments, clear limits on consecutive nights, protected rest, and a “plan–do–check–act” loop. HSE’s HSG256 guidance and fatigue hub provide practical measures and tools to help you design and monitor extended shifts. Use these when justifying 2-2-3 in safety-critical teams.

For night workers, build a simple process: Pre-placement checks, periodic health assessments, action on outcomes, and retention of records for at least 2 years. Local public-health bodies and unions now also promote FRMS checklists for night work—helpful when consulting staff on rota changes.

💡You can attach fatigue controls to your Shiftbase rota (for example, limits on consecutive nights and minimum rest between shifts) and flag conflicts automatically before publishing the schedule.

📊Comparison table – UK vs US vs CA: Night-work limits, overtime triggers, required records:

Topic (2025)	United Kingdom	United States (Federal)	California (example state)
Night-work limit	Max 8-hour average/24h (typically over 17 weeks); no averaging for special hazards; free health assessments; keep records 2 years.	No federal “night-work limit”; rely on general OSHA duty of care and fatigue guidance. Rotas must still meet wage/hour rules.	No specific night cap; daily overtime rules and meal/rest periods drive feasibility of 12-hour nights.
Overtime trigger	Usually weekly; check contracts and local rules.	FLSA: litigation over 2024/2025 exempt salary thresholds—verify current threshold before classifying staff.	Daily OT 1.5× after 8h; 2× after 12h; AWS can modify some daily OT if properly adopted.
Holiday pay	Irregular/part-year workers: 12.07% accrual; rolled-up pay allowed if rules met; 4 weeks at normal pay + 1.6 weeks at basic pay.	No federal holiday-pay mandate.	No state holiday-pay mandate; follow policy/contract.
Records to keep	Night-work hours, health assessments, offers/declines (≥ 2 years).	Time worked, wages, classification rationale.	Overtime calculations, AWS ballot & filings if applicable.

✅ Quick compliance checklist (use before you publish a 2-2-3 rota)

Confirm UK night-work averages (or relevant local rules) and set rostered breaks to stay within limits.
Offer and document health assessments for night workers; keep records 2 years.
Map overtime triggers for each site (e.g., federal vs California daily rules) and adjust shift lengths accordingly.
Apply 2024 UK holiday-pay reforms if you use irregular/part-year contracts (12.07% accrual; lawful rolled-up pay).
Build a fatigue plan (HSG256): limits on consecutive nights, forward rotation, and a review cycle.

Case studies and benchmarks

Here are some real-world examples and fresh benchmarks to stress-test a 2-2-3 rota before rollout.

Healthcare (UK): Rotating shifts are still the norm

Rotating patterns remain dominant for inpatient services, which means any 2-2-3 design must plan for safe handovers, protected breaks and night-work health surveillance. The Royal College of Nursing notes that for inpatient NHS settings, around 70% of nursing staff work rotating shifts, underlining the need for fatigue controls and predictable recovery windows. Build your rota and policies to support rest, wellbeing check-ins and consistent clinical handover time.

ℹ️ Use Shiftbase shift templates and schedule publishing to standardise handover times and breaks across wards, and reporting to monitor hours worked versus planned for early fatigue warnings.

Public safety (US): 12-hour 2-2-3 in practice

Police departments have long used 12-hour variants of the 2-2-3/Panama pattern to maintain 24/7 cover with fewer handovers. The Zephyrhills (FL) Police Department case study documents 24/7 policing on a 12-hour 2-2-3 schedule for officers, illustrating the operational upsides (balanced weekends, straightforward coverage) and the need to check overtime triggers and local rules before adoption. For UK readers, treat this as an operational reference, not a legal template.

Workforce benchmarks (UK, 2023–2025): who’s working nights and how that’s changing

UK benchmarks to sanity-check your rota assumptions:

Metric	Latest signal (year)	Why it matters for 2-2-3
Share of UK workers active in the evening/night	The ONS night-time economy analysis shows substantial evening and night participation across sectors (latest series release covers 2022); night work remains a sizable share of the labour market going into 2025.	Confirms a large pool of roles affected by night limits; build health surveillance and rest planning into your rota.
Rotating shifts in inpatient care	~70% of inpatient nursing staff rotate days/nights (RCN wellbeing article, 2025).	Expect rotation to remain standard; plan forward rotation, predictable rest, and structured handovers.
Multi-jobbing among UK shift workers	22% of Baby Boomer shift workers hold two or more jobs (Deputy Big Shift UK, 2024). Related coverage shows ~19% of workers overall with more than one job.	Availability can change late; use clear availability windows, open-shift workflows and notification rules.

✅ What to do with these numbers

Pressure-test coverage against peak evening/night demand, not just daytime averages (ONS).
Design rotation with recovery: avoid too many consecutive nights and ring-fence handover time (RCN guidance context).
Expect last-minute changes from multi-jobbing staff; use open shifts and clear availability rules (Deputy trend).

💡In Shiftbase, planners can send schedules and push notifications, manage open shifts, and run timesheet/period reports to spot overtime and coverage drift across weeks. This turns the benchmarks above into daily guardrails.

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Make the 2-2-3 rota work with Shiftbase

Running a 2-2-3 pattern is much easier when your tools mirror the rota logic. With Shiftbase, you can create reusable templates for 12-hour rotations, assign teams A–D, and publish shifts to staff in seconds via the mobile app. Smart rules in employee scheduling help you prevent coverage gaps, set staffing minimums, and flag conflicts (for example, too many consecutive nights).

Track actual hours against plan with built-in time tracking, including breaks and handover time, so you can spot overtime exposure early. When someone is off sick or on leave, absence management lets you approve requests quickly, backfill with open shifts, and keep your 24/7 coverage intact.

Want to see it in action? Try our software for free for 14 day and spin up your first 2-2-3 template in minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. If you meet Working Time Regulations duties. Night workers must not exceed an average of 8 hours in any 24 hours (usually averaged over 17 weeks), you must offer free health assessments, and you must keep records for at least 2 years. If the work involves “special hazards” or heavy strain, the 8-hour night limit applies without averaging.
Yes. For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, employers may use rolled-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers, if it’s clearly itemised. The government also confirmed the 12.07% accrual method for those workers and retained the split between 4 weeks at normal pay and 1.6 weeks at basic pay.
The common 12-hour version averages 42 hours per week (14 shifts × 12 hours = 168 hours across a 4-week cycle). Always check local overtime rules before fixing shift length. A plain-English explainer of the pattern is here.
Both use rotating 12-hour shifts for 24/7 cover, but Pitman variants often change which weekends are off and how the rotation flips days/nights across the 4 teams. When comparing patterns, look at: weekends off, handovers, and overtime exposure. A concise comparison guide is here.