Shift schedule generator

Questions

• How do I make a rotating shift schedule?

  Pick the rotation your employer runs, then set day 1: the first day of your crew’s cycle, which is on the posted schedule or your supervisor knows. From those two answers every shift follows, for any year. The generator above does it here, and TurnoRest asks the same two questions on your iPhone.

• Which rotating schedule gives the most weekends off?

  Of the rotations that cover the clock, DuPont and Pitman 2-2-3 give 50% of weekends fully off when day 1 is a Monday. Metropolitan 2-2-2 and Kelly 24/48 never leave a whole weekend free.

• How many crews does a 24/7 schedule need?

  4 crews for DuPont, Pitman 2-2-3, 4 on 4 off, Metropolitan 2-2-2 and Continental 2-2-3; 3 crews for Kelly 24/48. The generator checks it: those crews, the same number of days apart, cover every shift of every day exactly once. Panama 2-2-3 is a day-shift rotation: its 2 crews cover the days, and around the clock it takes 4, two more on fixed nights.

• What is a 2-2-3 schedule?

  Two days on, two off, three on, then the reverse: the shape behind Pitman, Panama and Continental. Panama works it on day shifts over 14 days; Pitman adds a fortnight of nights; Continental runs it on 8-hour mornings, afternoons and nights.

  Pitman, the one with nights, has its own page, with both years drawn.

• Can I print the calendar?

  Yes. Print the page and you get the year on its own, twelve months to a sheet, in the colors of each shift.

• Can I put the rotation in my iPhone Calendar?

  Yes, as repeating events: one for each shift of the cycle, each set to come back after as many days as the cycle lasts. DuPont is 14 of them, every 28 days. TurnoRest Pro writes the rotation into a calendar of its own and changes the events when your shifts change.

  The count for every rotation is on adding your shift schedule to iPhone Calendar.