24-Hour Shift Schedule: Practical 24/7 Rotas, Patterns, Law, and Fatigue

In this article, we'll break down what a 24-hour shift schedule is, explore the industries that commonly use them, and discuss their significance.

What is a 24-hour shift schedule?

A 24-hour schedule is a way to organise people so your operation is covered around the clock without gaps.

What it actually means

A true 24/7 rota has continuous cover across nights, weekends and public holidays. Teams rotate through set patterns so that every hour is staffed while individual employees still get rest days. The rota design (e.g., 12-hour or 8-hour shifts) is a choice, not a legal requirement.

What it is not

It’s not a single “best” template or a legal mandate. There’s no U.S. federal limit on daily hours; overtime is due after 40 hours in a workweek for non-exempt staff, regardless of how those hours are spread. In the UK, the Working Time Regulations add specific rules for night workers; typically an average of 8 hours in any 24-hour period, averaged over 17 weeks, plus health assessments.

Compliance basics at a glance

💡Takeaway: Treat “24-hour” as a coverage outcome, not a fixed template. Pick a pattern that balances fatigue risks, service levels and labour cost—then validate it against your jurisdiction’s rules.

Popular 24/7 patterns

Below are proven patterns managers use to keep 24/7 cover while giving staff predictable time off.

• Panama / 2-2-3 (12-hour): Often called “2-2-3”, this rota uses four teams on two 12-hour shifts to cover all hours. Teams work 2 days on, 2 off, 3 on, then mirror the pattern; over four weeks most staff get a long weekend every other week. Great for simple staffing maths; rotation between days and nights can be tiring.
• DuPont (12-hour rotating): A four-team cycle combining 4 on / 3 off, 3 on / 3 off, 3 on / 4 off, with a built-in 7-day break in many variants. It delivers strong coverage with regular recovery, but transitions between day and night blocks need careful management.
• Pitman (2-3-2, 12-hour): Also known as the Every Other Weekend Off schedule. Employees work 2 on / 2 off / 3 on, then 2 off / 2 on / 3 off the next week. It’s popular in emergency services because it spreads weekends more fairly; like Panama, night rotation requires good fatigue controls.
• 4-on / 4-off (12-hour or 10-hour): Four consecutive shifts followed by four days off. Easy to understand and swap, with predictable blocks of recovery. Watch for fatigue during the fourth shift, especially on nights; plan breaks and handovers well.

📊Quick comparison:

✅ Good practice tips (apply to any pattern):

• Prefer forward rotation (days → evenings → nights).

• Limit consecutive night shifts and ensure 48–72 hours recovery after night blocks.

• Schedule meal and rest breaks clearly and enforce them.

• Add a standard handover checklist at shift change.
  

👉 Takeaway: Choose the pattern that fits demand and wellbeing, then test it for staffing levels, compliance and fatigue before you roll it out.

Staffing & coverage math (headcount calculators for 24/7 with buffers)

Here's a simple, reliable way to work out how many people you actually need for continuous cover.

Step 1: define the coverage you need

List the posts that must be staffed every hour (e.g., 2 control room operators, 1 supervisor). Treat this as coverage, not headcount. For example, “2-person cover, 24/7” means 2 people working at all times, not just two on the rota. (This distinction is standard in staffing models and calculators used for fixed-post, 24/7 operations.) 

Step 2: convert coverage into base FTEs

Turn the coverage into weekly labour hours, then divide by hours per FTE.

• If you need 2 people 24/7 on 12-hour shifts: 2 × 24 × 7 = 336 hours/week of cover.

• If your rota averages 42 hours/week per employee on a 12-hour pattern, base FTEs ≈ 336 ÷ 42 = 8 FTE (before buffers).

Step 3: add a realistic buffer (“headroom/relief factor”)

Continuous operations require headroom for annual leave, sickness, training, meetings and unplanned absence. Many public-sector rostering guides plan with a headroom percentage; example breakouts show ~23% made up of annual leave, study/training, sickness and parenting leave. In safety-critical 24/7 settings, regulators also reference a relief factor/employment ratio to ensure posts are covered round the clock.

Quick formula:
Required FTEs = Base FTEs × (1 + headroom%)
e.g., with 8 base FTEs and 23% headroom → 8 × 1.23 ≈ 9.84 ⇒ round to 10 FTEs.

Worked examples you can adapt

• Two-person cover, 24/7 on 12-hour shifts: 336 hours/week. At 42 hours/FTE and 23% headroom → 10 FTEs. 

• One-person cover, 24/7 on 8-hour shifts: 168 hours/week. At 40 hours/FTE and 20% headroom → 168 ÷ 40 × 1.20 ≈ 5.04 ⇒ 5 FTEs. (Headroom % should reflect your own leave and sickness data.) For benchmarking, monthly NHS sickness absence data shows substantial variability by season and role—use your real rates.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Confusing assigned staff with coverage. Two names on a rota do not equal 2-person cover once leave and sickness hit; use the headroom factor. 

• Ignoring fatigue when chasing efficiency. Under-staffing and long blocks drive fatigue risk; UK HSE and US OSHA advise examining workload, breaks and night work when setting staffing levels.

• Copying another organisation’s headroom. Start with a reference percentage, then tune it using your own leave, sickness and training patterns from the last 12–24 months. 

Simple checklist to size a 24/7 team

1. List fixed posts and minimum safe cover per hour.
2. Calculate weekly cover hours (posts × 168).
3. Choose the rota type and average hours/FTE (e.g., 40 or 42).
4. Compute base FTEs (cover hours ÷ hours/FTE).
5. Add headroom from real absence data.
6. Sanity-check for fatigue (consecutive nights, recovery time, breaks).

Case studies & real-world examples

Here are recent, practical examples showing how different sectors run 24/7 cover while protecting people and compliance.

👉 Takeaway: The best results come from pairing the right rota with process controls (notice windows, swaps, health assessments) and data (demand patterns, absence, overtime). Copy the tactic that matches your risk and run a short, measured pilot before scaling.

How Shiftbase supports 24/7 scheduling

Running true round-the-clock cover is easier when planning, hours and leave live in one place. With employee scheduling, you can build rota templates for Panama/2-2-3, DuPont, Pitman or 4-on/4-off, set minimum staffing per shift, publish to the mobile app, and handle swaps without breaking coverage. Managers can track worked hours in real time using time tracking to control overtime and ensure handovers are logged. And with absence management, holiday requests, sickness and training are captured automatically, so you always see the true headcount against required posts.

Why it helps: You get predictable schedules, fewer last-minute gaps, and a clear audit trail for breaks, notice windows and changes—ideal for UK WTR night-work duties and US Fair Workweek-style rules.

Ready to stabilise your 24/7 rota? Start your free 14-day trial and build your first round-the-clock schedule in minutes.