Rotating rosters don't fit neatly into a standard 9-to-5 payroll model, so ShiftRosterPay builds your schedule from a pattern engine rather than a flat weekly template. Pick a pattern — 2-2-3 Pitman, DuPont, 4-on/4-off, 3x12, 24/48, 8-hour rotating, or 4x10 — and the engine projects your on/off cycle forward from your chosen start date across every day in the period, so a 28-day DuPont rotation or a 3-day 24/48 tour repeats exactly the way it does on your real roster.
Overtime is where most online calculators get it wrong. Federal law calculates overtime by workweek, not by pay period, so ShiftRosterPay splits your pay cycle into Sunday–Saturday workweeks and applies the 40-hour threshold to each one individually before summing the result. If you work under a 7(k) public-safety exemption common to fire and EMS 24/48 rosters, you can switch to the 212-hour/28-day method instead, and the threshold automatically prorates to whatever period length you're viewing.
Differentials stack the way most union and hospital pay policies actually work: night and weekend premiums apply to every hour you work in those windows, whether or not that hour also happens to be overtime. Unpaid meal breaks are subtracted from each scheduled shift before any pay is calculated, so your "paid hours" always reflect what actually lands in your check — not just your scheduled shift length.
Every calendar day is editable. Click any date to cycle it between day, night, 24-hour, holiday, forced-overtime, and off — useful for modeling a mandated shift, a swap, or a holiday closure without rebuilding your whole roster.
How does ShiftRosterPay calculate FLSA overtime for rotating shifts?
By default, the calculator groups every scheduled shift into Sunday–Saturday workweeks and applies the federal 40-hour threshold to each workweek separately, then totals the overtime across your selected pay period. This matches how the Fair Labor Standards Act actually defines overtime — per workweek, never averaged across a full pay cycle.
What's the difference between standard 40-hour and 7(k) overtime rules?
The 7(k) exemption is a provision under the FLSA that lets fire protection and law enforcement employers use a longer "work period" (up to 28 days) with a higher hour threshold — commonly 212 hours for fire/EMS — before overtime kicks in, instead of a strict 40-hour week. It's built specifically for 24-hour tour schedules like 24/48. ShiftRosterPay lets you toggle this per calculation since eligibility depends on your employer and role.
How are night shift differentials calculated?
Your night differential percentage is applied on top of your base wage for every hour worked on a shift coded as "Night." For 24-hour tours, roughly half the shift is treated as night hours, since a full tour typically spans both daytime and overnight coverage. Differentials apply whether or not those hours are also overtime.
How are weekend premiums applied?
Any scheduled shift that falls on a Saturday or Sunday earns your weekend differential percentage on top of base pay for every paid hour of that shift, stacking with night differential and overtime premium where applicable.
How do unpaid breaks affect my paid hours?
The unpaid break minutes you enter are subtracted from every worked shift before hours are totaled. A 12-hour shift with a 30-minute unpaid break is paid as 11.5 hours. This deduction is applied consistently across regular, overtime, night, and weekend hour calculations.
Can I edit individual shifts on the calendar?
Yes. Click any date to cycle it through Day, Night, 24-hour, Holiday, Forced OT, and Off. Edited days show a small white dot so you can tell them apart from the auto-generated pattern at a glance. Use "Reset Calendar Edits" to clear all manual overrides and return to the pure pattern.
Is holiday pay included automatically?
Holidays aren't auto-detected, since observed holidays and holiday pay policies vary widely by employer and union contract. Instead, click any date and cycle it to "Holiday" to mark it manually — those hours are then paid at a time-and-a-half holiday premium on top of base pay, stacking with any applicable night or weekend differential.
