Open the free rota maker with the pattern laid out for the next four weeks: four 8-hour shifts on and three off, the same days each week, with 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
7 days
Week (8h shifts)
32 hours
Annual hours (8h shifts)
1,669
Unlike most rotating patterns, four-on-three-off fits exactly into a week. The working days stay the same every week, for example Monday to Thursday with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off.
On 8-hour shifts that is 32 hours a week and about 1,669 hours a year. On 10-hour shifts it is a 40-hour week compressed into four days, which is what most people mean by a four-day week.
| Shift | Average week | A year | 48-hour limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 32h | 1,669 | Under the limit |
| 10 hours | 40h | 2,086 | Under, with 8 hours to spare |
| 12 hours | 48h | 2,503 | At the limit: no room for overtime |
The 48-hour limit. Four 12-hour shifts is exactly 48 hours, so any overtime takes the worker over the limit unless they have opted out in writing. On 10-hour shifts there are 8 hours to spare.
Breaks. A 10 or 12-hour day still only carries one 20-minute statutory break. Most employers add more by contract; whether breaks are paid is up to the contract.
Flexible working. Employees can ask for compressed hours as a flexible working request from their first day. You must deal with it within two months and can only refuse for a listed business reason.
Because the days are fixed, holiday in days works here, as long as it is worked out from four days. Statutory leave is 5.6 weeks: 22.4 days for someone working four days a week.
On a compressed 4 x 10-hour week, count it in hours instead, so a day off costs 10 hours: 5.6 x 40 = 224 hours a year. Bank holidays that fall on a working day need the same care.
Ourpro rata holiday calculatordoes the same sums for part-timers and mid-year starters.
Four-on-three-off is the shape of the four-day week: either a part-time contract over four days, or a full 40 hours compressed into four 10-hour days. It is common in offices, construction and manufacturing, and as a flexible working arrangement.
A rotating version, four on and three off one week then three on and four off the next, is used on 12-hour shifts to give every other long weekend off and averages 42 hours a week.
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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