ROTATING SCHEDULE
24/48 schedule
Also called: 24-48, 24 on 48 off, 1 on 2 off, three-platoon
Common in: Fire departments, EMS, Ambulance services, Industrial fire brigades
One 24-hour shift, then two days off, repeating every three days. The traditional three-platoon firefighter schedule, averaging 56 hours a week with a shift every third day.
24/48
One 24-hour shift, then two days off, repeating every three days. The traditional three-platoon firefighter schedule, averaging 56 hours a week with a shift every third day.
August 2026
August 202624-hour shifts · 3-day cycle
11 shifts · 264 hrs
Ranges are best–worst case: they depend on which day your employer's workweek starts.
Set the date cycle day 1 falls on (any date you know was the first day of your rotation) and pick your crew; the calendar then predicts every month that follows. The .ics holds a year of shifts from the first of the month shown, clocking in at 07:00 for days; adjust times in your calendar app. Open in ShiftCheck stamps the same rotation into the app and prices every week, overtime included.
24/48 by the numbers
- Cycle length
- 3 days · 1 shifts
- Shift length
- 24 hours
- Average hours / week
- 56
- Longest week
- 72 h
- Weeks over 40 h (per year)
- 52
- Overtime hours / year at 40 h
- 824–848
- Longest stretch on
- 1 day
- Longest break
- 2 days
Computed from the cycle with 24-hour shifts and a 40-hour weekly overtime threshold. Ranges show the best and worst case depending on which day your employer's workweek starts — that single setting can change your overtime substantially on this rotation. Fire departments normally pay under the FLSA section 7(k) work period (212 hours per 28 days) rather than a 40-hour week; the 40-hour figures are for comparison with other patterns.
How the 24/48 rotation works
The 24/48 is the shortest cycle on this site: three days. You work a 24-hour shift, typically starting between 7 and 8 in the morning, hand over to the next crew the following morning, and have the next two days off. Three platoons, usually called A, B and C shifts, take turns, so the same platoon is on every third day.
Three does not divide seven either, so your shift day walks through the week: Monday, then Thursday, then Sunday, then Wednesday. Every three weeks you have worked seven shifts on seven different weekdays. A weekend off on a 24/48 is something that comes around every few cycles rather than a promise.
In practice the 24/48 is usually softened with a Kelly day, a scheduled day off inserted every few cycles to bring the average hours down; the Kelly schedule page shows the most common version. The generator here models the pure 24/48.
Hours, overtime, and what it pays
One 24-hour shift in three days is 56 hours a week on average, 224 hours in a 28-day period. The table above prices that against a 40-hour week so you can compare it with 12-hour patterns, but fire departments and most EMS employers do not pay it that way.
Fire protection and law enforcement employees fall under the FLSA section 7(k) exemption, which lets a public employer set a work period of 7 to 28 days and pay overtime only above a threshold: 212 hours in 28 days for fire, 171 for police. A 24/48 firefighter on a 28-day period works 224 hours, 12 above the fire threshold, so a standing FLSA overtime line on the check is common. Private ambulance companies are generally not eligible for 7(k) and must pay time and a half over 40 hours in a week, which on a 24/48 is every week.
Because a 24-hour shift can cross a holiday, a pay period boundary or a differential window at midnight, how those hours are split matters more than on any other pattern. The holiday pay calculator and the shift differential calculator both take hours-in-window rather than whole shifts for that reason.
Who uses it and why
The 24/48 is the historical fire service schedule in the United States and still the most common one in the east and midwest. It is used by career fire departments, fire-based EMS, hospital-based and private ambulance services, and industrial fire brigades at refineries and airports. Combination departments often use it for their career staff.
Its strength is continuity: the same crew comes back every third day, so station work, training and equipment checks fall into a rhythm. Its weakness is recovery. Two days off after a busy 24 is often one day of sleep and one real day, and there is never a longer break unless you use leave or a Kelly day.
Pros and cons
The oldest fire schedule, judged by today's standards.
- —Pro: never two 24-hour shifts back to back.
- —Pro: the same simple three-day rhythm all year; the cycle is easy to project.
- —Pro: high straight-time hours suit people who want the earnings.
- —Con: 56 hours a week on average, with no built-in long break.
- —Con: shift days walk through the week, so no weekend is reliably off.
- —Con: three commutes and three handovers per six days instead of the 48/96's one.
FAQ
How many hours a week is 24/48?
56 on average. One 24-hour shift every three days is 224 hours in a 28-day period.
How is overtime calculated on a 24/48?
Public fire departments use the FLSA 7(k) exemption and owe overtime above 212 hours per 28-day work period, or the proportional figure for a shorter period. At 224 hours per 28 days the 24/48 carries 12 hours of built-in overtime. Private-sector EMS and ambulance staff are usually under the ordinary 40-hour rule, where a 24/48 exceeds 40 every week.
What is a Kelly day?
An extra scheduled day off inserted into a 24/48 rotation to reduce average hours, often every 9 to 15 days. Departments use it to bring the 56-hour average down toward their contract's target. The Kelly schedule page models the common three-shifts-then-four-off version.
Related: 48/96 · Kelly · 4 on, 4 off · All schedules · Overtime pay calculator
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