ROTATING SCHEDULE
Pitman (rotating 2-3-2) schedule
Also called: Pitman, 2-3-2, rotating 2-2-3, EOWO (every other weekend off)
Common in: Police and sheriff's departments, Corrections, Manufacturing, Utilities and control rooms, EMS
The 2-2-3 template worked on days for two weeks, then on nights for two weeks. A 28-day cycle of 12-hour shifts for four crews, averaging 42 hours a week, with every other weekend off on days and on nights alike.
Pitman (rotating 2-3-2)
The 2-2-3 template worked on days for two weeks, then on nights for two weeks. A 28-day cycle of 12-hour shifts for four crews, averaging 42 hours a week, with every other weekend off on days and on nights alike.
August 2026
August 202612-hour shifts · 28-day cycle
16 shifts · 192 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 and 19:00 for nights; adjust times in your calendar app. Open in ShiftCheck stamps the same rotation into the app and prices every week, overtime included.
Pitman (rotating 2-3-2) by the numbers
- Cycle length
- 28 days · 14 shifts
- Shift length
- 12 hours
- Average hours / week
- 42
- Longest week
- 48–60 h
- Weeks over 40 h (per year)
- 26
- Overtime hours / year at 40 h
- 208–520
- Longest stretch on
- 3 days
- Longest break
- 3 days
Computed from the cycle with 12-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.
How the Pitman rotation works
The Pitman uses the same fourteen-day building block as the 2-2-3: two on, two off, three on, two off, two on, three off. What makes it the Pitman on this site is the rotation. You work that block on day shift, then the same block on night shift, and the 28-day cycle starts again. Two weeks of days, two weeks of nights, with the three-day break at the end of each block softening the flip.
Four crews keep the operation staffed around the clock. At any moment two crews are in their day fortnight and two are in their night fortnight, offset by a week so that one crew from each pair is always working. Because all four crews share the same cycle and simply start it seven days apart, the generator's crew buttons move you through the cycle in one-week steps.
The shift-swap point is the part to plan around. Your last night shift of the cycle ends on the morning of a day off, and you have two more days off before the day block restarts; most people use the first of those to sleep and the rest to reset. Going the other way, from the day block into nights, you get three days off first.
Hours, overtime, and what it pays
Fourteen shifts of 12 hours in 28 days is 168 hours per cycle, an average of 42 a week, the same as the fixed 2-2-3. The weekly split is the same too: pairs of weeks that add to 84 hours, divided 48 and 36 or 60 and 24 depending on where your employer's workweek starts. The table above shows the overtime range that produces at a 40-hour threshold.
The night fortnight is where the pay changes. Half of your shifts are nights, so a night differential applies to half your hours across the cycle instead of all of them on fixed nights or none on fixed days. When you calculate overtime for a night week, the differential must be included in the regular rate the premium is based on; the shift differential calculator and the overtime pay calculator both do this.
Some public-safety employers on the Pitman pay a 28-day work period under FLSA section 7(k) rather than a 40-hour week. For law enforcement the threshold is 171 hours in 28 days, which is above the 168 in a cycle, so an officer on the Pitman may earn no FLSA overtime at all unless a contract sets a lower threshold. Check which rule your pay stub follows before assuming anything.
Who uses it and why
The Pitman is popular anywhere a 24-hour operation wants everyone to take a turn on nights without the daily flip of a fast rotation. Police patrol divisions and sheriff's offices, county jails, municipal utilities and control rooms, and plants that run four crews on twelves all use it. It is also common in EMS systems that run 12-hour units rather than 24s.
Its reputation rests on the acronym EOWO, every other weekend off. Because the block is exactly two weeks, one weekend in each block is a three-day weekend off and the other is worked, and that alternation holds through the night fortnight as well.
Pros and cons
What crews tend to say after a year on the rotating Pitman.
- —Pro: every other weekend off, on days and on nights alike.
- —Pro: everyone shares nights, so no crew is stuck on them permanently.
- —Pro: never more than three shifts in a row, and a three-day break before each night block.
- —Con: your body clock flips every two weeks, which many people find harder than fixed nights.
- —Con: 42 hours a week on average, with the overtime split decided by the workweek start.
- —Con: a 28-day cycle takes longer to memorise than a 14-day one.
FAQ
What is the difference between Pitman and DuPont?
Both are 28-day, four-crew, 12-hour rotations averaging 42 hours a week. The Pitman is even: the 2-2-3 template on days, then on nights, never more than three in a row, with every other weekend off. The DuPont is lumpy: blocks of three and four shifts, a 72-hour week, and a full seven days off each cycle. Choose Pitman for steadiness and DuPont for the week off.
Is Pitman the same as 2-2-3 or Panama?
It uses the same 2-2-3 template. The fixed version, where crews stay on days or nights, is what most people call Panama or a fixed Pitman; the rotating version described here alternates two weeks of days with two weeks of nights. If your crew never rotates, the 2-2-3 (Panama) page matches your calendar exactly.
How many hours a week is the Pitman?
42 on average: 14 twelve-hour shifts in a 28-day cycle. Individual weeks alternate 36 and 48 hours or 24 and 60, depending on which day your employer's workweek starts.
Does the Pitman pay a night differential?
If your employer pays one, it applies to the night fortnight, which is half your shifts. Under the FLSA the differential must also be rolled into the regular rate before overtime is calculated, so overtime in a night week pays more than in a day week.
Related: 2-2-3 (Panama) · DuPont · 4 on, 4 off · All schedules · Overtime pay calculator
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