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Shift pay calculator: hours and pay a year by pattern

Pick your shift pattern and hourly rate to see the hours you work in a year, the overtime and your gross pay a year, a month and every two weeks. The table compares every pattern at the same rate.

Every pattern at the same rate

Pattern	Hours a year	Overtime premium	Gross a year
Pitman (2-2-3) — Day shift	2,196	$2,500	$58,300
Pitman (2-2-3) — Night shift	2,196	$2,500	$58,300
Panama (rotating 2-2-3)	2,196	$2,500	$58,300
DuPont	2,196	$3,900	$59,700
4 on 4 off — Days only	2,208	$2,600	$59,000
4 on 4 off — Rotating days/nights	2,208	$2,600	$59,000
3 on 3 off — Days only	2,196	$2,500	$58,300
3 on 3 off — Rotating days/nights	2,196	$2,500	$58,300
2 on 2 off — Days only	2,196	$2,500	$58,450
2 on 2 off — Rotating days/nights	2,196	$2,500	$58,450
4 on 3 off (4-3-3-4) — Days only	2,196	$2,600	$58,550
4 on 3 off (4-3-3-4) — Rotating days/nights	2,196	$2,600	$58,550
24/48	2,928	$10,300	$84,400
48/96	2,928	$10,100	$84,500
Kelly	2,952	$10,600	$85,900
24/72	2,208	$3,900	$60,300
Southern swing	2,192	$2,600	$58,200
4/10 (four 10s)	2,090	$0	$53,375
Continental (2-2-4)	2,208	$2,600	$59,000
FIFO roster — 14 on 7 off	2,952	$14,000	$88,850
FIFO roster — 8 on 6 off	2,508	$10,400	$74,300
FIFO roster — 14 on 14 off	2,196	$10,400	$66,050
FIFO roster — 7 on 7 off	2,196	$6,500	$62,600
FIFO roster — 21 on 7 off	3,288	$17,550	$101,100
FIFO roster — 28 on 28 off	2,352	$13,300	$73,150

How many hours a year does each shift pattern work?

Pattern	Hours a week (average)	Hours a year	Shifts a year
Pitman Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
Panama Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
DuPont Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
4 on 4 off Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
3 on 3 off Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
2 on 2 off Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
4-3-3-4 Schedule	42	2,190	182.5
24/48 Schedule	56	2,920	121.7
48/96 Schedule	56	2,920	121.7
Kelly Schedule	56	2,920	121.7
24/72 Schedule	42	2,190	91.3
Southern Swing Schedule	42	2,190	273.8
4/10 Schedule	40	2,085.7	208.6
Continental Shift Pattern	42	2,190	182.5
Hitch Rotation Schedule	56	2,920	243.3

Hours a year = hours in one cycle × 365 ÷ days in the cycle. The exact number in a given year changes by a few shifts depending on where your crew starts.

Annual salary to hourly rate

Hourly rate = annual salary ÷ (hours a week × 52). Departments on a 56-hour week often divide by 2,912 hours (56 × 52). Your contract may use a different divisor, for example to leave out overtime built into the schedule.

Shift differential and overtime: a worked week

Night and evening differentials are part of the regular rate, so they raise your overtime pay (29 CFR 778.207(b) and 778.109). Take a week with three 12-hour nights and one 12-hour day, $25 an hour and a $3 night differential:

Straight-time pay	48 h × $25 + 36 night h × $3	$1,308
Regular rate	$1,308 ÷ 48 h	$27.25 an hour
Overtime premium	8 h over 40 × half of $27.25	$109
Total for the week		$1,417

Working the premium out on the base rate alone ($12.50 × 8 = $100) would pay $9 too little that week. Enter your night differential above and the calculator does this for every week of the year.

How the overtime is worked out

Federal law pays time and a half after 40 hours in the workweek (29 CFR 778.105), on the regular rate, which includes night differentials (29 CFR 778.109). California also pays after 8 hours in a day and double after 12 (Labor Code 510); health care employers can adopt 12-hour alternative workweeks (IWC Wage Order 5). Alaska pays after 8 hours a day (AS 23.10.060) and Colorado after 12 hours in a workday or 12 hours in a row (COMPS Order #40). Fire and police departments often use a 7(k) work period instead: see the 7(k) calculator.

Figures are worked out from each cycle; rules checked against official sources on October 16, 2026. How we calculate

Questions

How much does a 12-hour Pitman schedule pay a year?

A Pitman schedule works about 2,190 hours a year, or 42 hours a week on average. At $25 an hour that is about $54,750 before overtime; with federal overtime on the weeks over 40 hours, a little more.

How many hours a year is a 48/96 schedule?

About 2,920 hours: 48 hours on and 96 off is an average of 56 hours a week.

Is overtime paid on a 24/48 schedule?

Firefighters at public departments are usually paid under the FLSA 7(k) exemption, with overtime after 212 hours in 28 days. Private employers pay overtime after 40 hours a week.