The offshore oil and gas industry runs on rotational schedules that look nothing like any onshore job. The most common for deepwater and platform workers in the Gulf of Mexico is the 28/28 rotation — 28 consecutive days working on the rig, followed by 28 days off at home. You're essentially living two distinct lives: four weeks on, four weeks off, every cycle of the year.
The pay math for this schedule is genuinely complex. Between daily 12-hour shifts, FLSA overtime, the way per diem is treated under federal law, and state-specific rules in Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, most offshore workers significantly underestimate or overestimate what they're actually earning. This guide breaks it down precisely.
How the 28/28 rotation works
You fly or boat out to the platform on Day 1 of your hitch and work every day for 28 consecutive days — typically 12-hour shifts, day or night. On Day 29 you return home and are completely off duty for 28 days. Then the cycle repeats.
| Rotation | Days On/Year | Hours Worked/Year | Common Industries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28/28 | ~182 | ~2,184 | Deepwater oil, gas, floating platforms |
| 14/14 | ~182 | ~2,184 | Closer platforms, some LNG |
| 21/21 | ~182 | ~2,184 | North Sea, some Gulf platforms |
| 7/7 | ~182 | ~2,184 | Onshore operations, drilling support |
All equal-split rotations produce the same annual hours: approximately 182 working days at 12 hours each equals 2,184 hours per year. What changes is the rhythm — how long you're away, and therefore how overtime law applies across your FLSA workweeks.
FLSA overtime on a 28/28 schedule: the seven-day problem
Here's where most offshore workers get confused. The FLSA counts hours in fixed 7-day workweeks — not 28-day hitches. During your 28 days on the rig, you work every day, which means every 7-day FLSA workweek within that hitch looks like this:
FLSA math during a 28-day hitch: 7 days × 12 hours = 84 hours per workweek. The first 40 hours are straight time. The remaining 44 hours are overtime at 1.5× your regular rate. This means for every single week you work on the rig, you're earning 44 hours of overtime pay — not just the hours over 40 in the whole 28-day period.
That's an enormous amount of mandatory overtime. A 28-day hitch contains four complete FLSA workweeks (assuming your employer's workweek aligns cleanly with your hitch start). Each week has 44 hours of overtime. That's 176 total overtime hours per hitch.
The "day rate" trap
Many offshore employers pay workers a day rate rather than an hourly rate — for example, $540/day. This doesn't exempt the employer from FLSA overtime. When an employee is paid a day rate, their regular hourly rate is calculated as the day rate divided by hours worked per day (typically 12). Overtime must then be paid at 0.5× that regular rate for all hours over 40 in a workweek (since the day rate is presumed to already include straight-time pay for all hours worked that day).
Note: The overtime premium here is only 0.5× (not 1.5×) because the day rate is presumed to already cover all 12 hours at straight time. This is called the "fluctuating workweek" or half-time method. If your employer instead pays an hourly rate with full 1.5× overtime, the calculation is higher still.
Full hourly rate example: $45/hr with standard 1.5× overtime
How per diem is treated — and why it matters
Most offshore companies pay a daily per diem allowance to cover personal expenses while on the rig — typically $75–150/day in the Gulf of Mexico. The key question for your paycheck: is per diem included in your regular rate for overtime purposes?
- Per diem as reimbursement: If the per diem is structured as a reimbursement for actual expenses incurred (even if not receipted), it is generally excluded from the regular rate and has no effect on your overtime calculation.
- Per diem as wage supplement: If the per diem is effectively additional compensation — especially if it's paid during days off or exceeds the IRS per diem rate for that location — the DOL may require it to be included in the regular rate, increasing your overtime base.
IRS per diem reference: The IRS sets maximum per diem rates by location each year. For offshore Gulf of Mexico locations, the 2026 standard rate is generally in the $150–175/day range for meals and incidentals. Per diem payments at or below that rate, structured as expense reimbursement, are typically FLSA-safe to exclude from the regular rate.
Gulf of Mexico vs. Alaska: what changes
The location of your platform matters for several pay-related reasons beyond just the base rate:
- Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana, Texas OCS): No state income tax for Louisiana-based workers on offshore platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf — federal jurisdiction applies. Texas has no state income tax at all. This is a meaningful take-home pay advantage for workers based in these states.
- Alaska: Some Alaska offshore and onshore energy operations use 2/1 rotations (2 weeks on, 1 week off) rather than 28/28. Alaska also has unique overtime rules for certain industries and requires overtime after 8 hours in a day for some non-exempt categories, similar to California. Always verify which state's labor law applies to your specific rig classification.
- Outer Continental Shelf (OCS): Platforms more than 3 nautical miles offshore generally fall under federal FLSA jurisdiction regardless of the nearest state. The platform's flag state and the employee's home state both matter for tax purposes, but FLSA governs wages.
Calculate your exact offshore hitch earnings — day rate or hourly, with FLSA overtime and per diem factored in.
Try the Offshore Pay Calculator →