Six shifts on, then four days off, on a ten-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 ten-day cycle laid out for the next four weeks: six 10-hour shifts on and four 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
10 days
Average week (10h shifts)
42 hours
Annual hours (10h shifts)
2,190
The pattern runs on a ten-day cycle: six shifts, then four days off. Ten days is three more than a week, so each new run starts three weekdays later than the last. It comes back to its starting weekday after seven cycles, or 70 days.
In those 70 days a worker does 42 shifts. On 10-hour shifts that is 420 hours over ten weeks, an average of 42 hours a week and about 2,190 hours a year.
| Shift | Average week | A year | 48-hour limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 33h 36m | 1,752 | Under the limit |
| 10 hours | 42h | 2,190 | Under, with 6 hours to spare |
| 12 hours | 50h 24m | 2,628 | Over 48: needs a written opt-out |
The 48-hour limit. On 10-hour shifts the pattern averages 42 hours, leaving 6 hours a week for overtime before the limit. On 12-hour shifts it averages 50.4 hours and needs a signed opt-out.
Daily rest. A 10-hour shift leaves 14 hours before the next one, comfortably over the 11 hours required. Overruns and long handovers are what eat into it.
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 three to six shifts on this pattern, depending on where it falls, so counting leave in days is unfair.
Count it in hours. Statutory leave is 5.6 weeks, so a 42-hour average week gives 235.2 hours of paid leave a year. 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-four-off gives a four-day break every cycle in exchange for a long run of shifts. It suits teams that value long breaks: some care, healthcare and site-based roles where staff travel a distance to work.
Covering every day on 10-hour day shifts takes two teams, with an overlap on some days you can use for handovers or training.
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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