Six shifts on, then three days off, on a nine-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 nine-day cycle laid out for the next four weeks: six 8-hour shifts on and three 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
9 days
Average week (8h shifts)
37h 20m
Annual hours (8h shifts)
1,947
The pattern runs on a nine-day cycle: six shifts, then three days off. Nine days is two more than a week, so each new run starts two weekdays later than the last. It comes back to its starting weekday after seven cycles, or 63 days.
In those 63 days a worker does 42 shifts. On 8-hour shifts that is 336 hours over nine weeks, an average of 37 hours 20 minutes a week and about 1,947 hours a year: the same average as 4-on-2-off, with longer runs and longer breaks.
| 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 |
Six shifts in a row. Adults need 24 hours off in every 7 days, or 48 in every 14, and a six-shift run still leaves one day off in any seven. Under-18s are different: they need 48 hours off every week, so they cannot work a six-shift run.
The 48-hour limit. On 8-hour shifts the pattern is well under the limit. On 12-hour shifts it averages 56 hours and needs a signed opt-out; six 12-hour shifts in a row is also hard to do safely.
Night workers.If the run is on 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 can cost four, five or six shifts on this pattern, depending on where it falls in the cycle, so counting leave in days is unfair.
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.
Six-on-three-off is used where a team prefers a longer break over more frequent short ones: some manufacturing and processing sites, and security and facilities contracts.
Covering every day takes two teams. The six-shift run is the part to watch: fatigue builds over the last two shifts, especially on longer days.
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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