Four shifts on, then two days off, on a six-day cycle. Enter your hourly rate to see average weekly hours, annual hours and gross pay, and how the pattern sits against the 48-hour limit.
Open the free rota maker with the six-day cycle laid out for the next four weeks: four 8-hour shifts on and two off, with two teams so someone is on every day, and the hours per person and per day totalled as you go. No account needed to build it. Sign up to print or download it and the rota comes with you.
Cycle length
6 days
Average week (8h shifts)
37h 20m
Annual hours (8h shifts)
1,947
The pattern runs on a six-day cycle: four shifts, then two days off. Six days is one less than a week, so each new run starts one weekday earlier than the last: Monday, then Sunday, then Saturday. It comes back to its starting weekday after seven cycles, or 42 days.
In those 42 days a worker does 28 shifts. On 8-hour shifts that is 224 hours over six weeks, an average of 37 hours 20 minutes a week and about 1,947 hours a year, close to a standard full-time week.
| Shift | Average week | A year | 48-hour limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 37h 20m | 1,947 | Under the limit |
| 10 hours | 46h 40m | 2,433 | Under, with 1h 20m to spare |
| 12 hours | 56h | 2,920 | Over 48: needs a written opt-out |
The 48-hour limit. Two-thirds of all days are working days, so long shifts add up fast. The 12-hour version averages 56 hours a week and needs a signed opt-out. The 10-hour version leaves 1 hour 20 minutes a week for overtime before the limit.
Weekly rest. Adults need 24 hours off in every 7 days, or 48 hours in every 14. Two days off in every six meets that comfortably.
Night workers.If the four shifts are nights, a night worker's normal hours should average no more than 8 in 24, and they must be offered a free health assessment.
A week off on this pattern can cost four shifts or five, depending on where it falls. Counting leave in days treats people differently for the same week away.
Count it in hours. Statutory leave is 5.6 weeks, so a 37 hour 20 minute average week gives about 209 hours of paid leave a year on 8-hour shifts. Take off the length of each shift as it is booked.
Ourpro rata holiday calculatordoes the same sums for part-timers and mid-year starters.
Four-on-two-off suits sites that are open every day but only need cover for part of it: retail, hospitality, care and customer service teams that want something close to a full-time week without fixed weekends off.
Covering every day takes two teams. Staff get two days off together every six days, but rarely the same two days twice in a row.
Publish the rota to your team's phones, let staff clock in against their shifts, and send approved hours to Xero, QuickBooks or a CSV. Leave can be booked in hours, so the cycle never distorts anyone's holiday. £3 per employee per month, free for 14 days.
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