4 on 4 off and other 24/7 shift patterns for hotels and care homes

Hotels and care homes never close. Someone has to be on reception at 3am, and someone has to answer the call bell. That means a rota that covers 168 hours a week, every week, without burning people out or breaking the working time rules. This guide compares the common 24/7 patterns, shows the team maths for 4 on 4 off, and gives you the working time checks for each one. The rules were checked against GOV.UK, Acas and the Working Time Regulations 1998 on 3 November 2026.

Common 24/7 shift patterns compared

The "42 hours" figure is simple arithmetic: one post covered all week is 168 hours, and 168 ÷ 4 teams = 42 hours each. Any pattern that splits round-the-clock cover across four teams lands on 42 hours on average. The patterns differ in how those hours are bunched.

4 on 4 off: how it works and how many teams you need

Each person works four 12-hour shifts, then has four days off, then repeats. Because the cycle is eight days, it drifts across the week: someone who starts on a Monday will next start on a Tuesday, then a Wednesday. Everyone gets their share of weekends without a separate weekend rule.

To cover one post 24/7 with 12-hour days (for example 07:00 to 19:00) and nights (19:00 to 07:00), you need four teams. Two are on while two are off:

• Days 1 to 4: Team A on days, Team C on nights
• Days 5 to 8: Team B on days, Team D on nights

A "team" can be one person (one night porter) or several (three carers on the unit). Multiply by the number of people the post needs, then add holiday and sickness cover.

Fixed or rotating?

You can keep teams on fixed days or fixed nights, or rotate them so each team does a block of days, four off, a block of nights, four off. Here's a 16-day rotating template you can copy into a spreadsheet:

D = day (07:00 to 19:00), N = night (19:00 to 07:00), - = off. Each column has exactly one D and one N, so the post is always covered. After day 16, go back to day 1.

The changeover is the bit to watch. After a block of nights, Team A finishes at 07:00 on day 13 and next works on day 17 at 07:00, so they get four full days to reset. Never shorten that gap by pulling someone back for a day shift straight after nights.

What real weeks look like

The average is 42 hours, but individual weeks vary. In any seven days someone on 4 on 4 off works either three shifts (36 hours) or four (48 hours). If you pay a fixed weekly wage, agree how hours are banked across the cycle. If you pay by the hour, make sure staff know their pay will rise and fall with the pattern.

Continental and 2-2-3

2-2-3 uses 12-hour shifts over a 14-day cycle: work 2, off 2, work 3, off 2, work 2, off 3. That's seven shifts a fortnight (42 hours a week on average), and the three-day blocks fall so that each team gets every other weekend off as a long weekend. It needs four teams for 24/7 cover, like 4 on 4 off, but stretches of work never run past three days.

Continental is used for several patterns, but usually means four teams rotating through 8-hour earlies, lates and nights in short blocks (two or three of each) with days off between. Nobody is on permanent nights, shifts are shorter, and the average is again 42 hours. The catch is the changeover. A late finishing at 22:00 followed by an early starting at 06:00 leaves only 8 hours: always rotate forwards (earlies, then lates, then nights) and put days off before a move back to earlies.

Long days and nights in care homes

Many residential and nursing homes run 12-hour long days (around 08:00 to 20:00) and waking nights (20:00 to 08:00), with staff on three or four shifts a week rather than a strict rolling cycle. Some add a twilight shift for teas, medicines and bedtimes. Our care staff rota template lays these out with a staffing levels planner, and the nursing home staffing rota guide covers putting a nurse on every period.

Two care-specific points:

• Handover time. Twelve-hour shifts mean only two handovers a day, which is the main reason homes choose them. Build a 15 to 30-minute overlap into the shift times so handover is paid and happens properly.
• Breaks on 12-hour shifts. The legal minimum is still one 20-minute break for adults working more than six hours. Acas says a 12-hour shift doesn't automatically mean more, but employers should consider it. Most homes give more, often in two parts. See breaks for 6, 8, 10 and 12-hour shifts.

Working time checks for each pattern

These are the rules in England, Scotland and Wales under the Working Time Regulations 1998. Northern Ireland has its own regulations; nidirect sets out the same core figures for breaks and daily and weekly rest, so check nidirect for anything NI-specific.

The 48-hour average week

Workers can't average more than 48 hours a week, normally over 17 weeks, unless they've opted out in writing. All four-team patterns average 42 hours, so the pattern is fine. The risk is overtime: a 4 on 4 off worker who picks up one extra 12-hour shift every cycle averages about 52.5 hours. Track picked-up shifts as closely as the pattern itself.

11 hours' rest between working days

Adults are entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days (12 for under-18s). Consecutive 12-hour shifts at the same times leave 12 hours, which passes, but only just. Things that break it:

GOV.UK says shift workers who can't take daily or weekly rest between the end of one shift and the start of another may get compensatory rest instead, meaning rest of the same length taken later. That's for changeovers that genuinely can't be avoided, not a rota strategy.

Weekly rest

Adults are entitled to 24 hours off each week or 48 hours each fortnight. Four days off every eight comfortably covers it on 4 on 4 off; on 2-2-3 the shortest gap is two days. Check that swaps and picked-up shifts don't eat into the off block.

Night workers: an average of 8 hours in 24

GOV.UK defines the night period as 11pm to 6am unless you agree a different seven-hour period that includes midnight to 5am, in writing. Anyone who regularly works at least three hours in it is a night worker. Night workers must not average more than 8 hours in any 24-hour period, normally over 17 weeks. Regular overtime counts, and they can't opt out.

That sounds like it rules out 12-hour nights, but it doesn't, because the average is spread across the whole reference period. Regulation 6 works it out as A ÷ (B − C): normal working hours in the period, divided by the days in the period minus the weekly rest days the worker is entitled to. For someone on fixed 4 on 4 off 12-hour nights over 17 weeks:

• A: about 59.5 shifts × 12 hours = about 714 hours
• B: 119 days
• C: 17 days (one 24-hour weekly rest day for each of the 17 weeks)
• Average: 714 ÷ (119 − 17) = about 7 hours in 24, inside the limit

Two things change that answer:

1. Special hazards or heavy strain. If the work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain, identified in a collective or workforce agreement or in your risk assessment, the limit is a hard 8 hours in any 24 with no averaging. A 12-hour night won't fit. Check your risk assessment before moving night staff onto 12s.
2. Extra night shifts. Regular overtime counts towards the average, so a worker who routinely picks up a fifth night pushes the figure up.

You must also offer night workers a free health assessment before they start nights and regularly after that, and keep records for two years. Acas says employers must keep records showing night workers are within their limits and that health assessments were offered.

The special cases: care homes and busy seasons

Regulation 21 of the Working Time Regulations lists "special cases" where the night work limit, daily rest, weekly rest and rest break rules don't apply in the usual way. They include work needing continuity of service, which names care provided by "residential institutions", and work with a foreseeable surge of activity, which names tourism. Where a special case applies, regulation 24 says the employer must wherever possible give an equivalent period of compensatory rest, and otherwise protect the worker's health and safety.

Treat this as a safety net for nights that go wrong, not a basis for the pattern. A rota that only works by relying on the exceptions every week is a sign the pattern or the headcount is wrong. Take advice before building around them.

Under-18s

Under-18s can work at most 8 hours a day and 40 a week, so 12-hour patterns are out. They usually can't work between 10pm and 6am (or 11pm and 7am), and never between midnight and 4am. Hotels and catering are among the sectors where they may work until midnight or from 4am in limited circumstances.

Pattern checklist before you publish

• Every post has four teams (or enough contracted hours) to cover 168 hours a week
• Holiday and sickness cover planned on top of the four teams
• At least 11 hours between working days, and days off before switching from nights to days
• Rotations move forwards (earlies, lates, nights) on 8-hour patterns
• Picked-up shifts tracked against the 48-hour average
• Night workers identified, offered a health assessment, and within the 8-hour average
• Risk assessment checked for special hazards or heavy strain before using 12-hour nights
• Breaks planned into 12-hour shifts, ideally more than the legal 20 minutes
• No under-18s on shifts over 8 hours or in restricted night hours
• Rotas and night work records kept for two years

Running a 24/7 rota in ShiftComplete

ShiftComplete builds a draft rota from your team's availability and the events you add, and you drag shifts into place before you publish. A 4 on 4 off cycle moves through the week, so rather than a fixed weekly schedule you lay each week's shifts out on the rota, and the draft and drag-and-drop make that quick. Each person can have up to four time blocks a day tagged with an area (for example Reception, Night porter, Ground floor), and a day note can carry handover or break details. Published rotas appear on every staff member's phone and can be emailed. Labour cost shows while you build, and holidays are recorded so you don't put someone on nights during their leave.

If you switch on clocking in and out, you can compare hours worked with the rota and download hours as a spreadsheet with a total per person, which helps you keep an eye on picked-up shifts. Shift swaps (also a setting) go from one named colleague to another and then to a manager or deputy for approval, so nobody quietly swaps into a short changeover.

Hotels and other hospitality businesses pay £1.49 per staff member per month, free for 60 days with no card needed. See hotel staff rota software for how it handles departments. Care homes and nursing homes have their own version at £2.49 per staff member, with safe staffing minimums per period shown on the rota: see ShiftComplete for care homes.

This guide is a summary, not legal advice: for a specific situation, talk to Acas or an employment adviser.