Three rotating schedules dominate the 24/7 industrial and healthcare workforce in the US: the Pitman 2-2-3, the DuPont 12-hour rotation, and the 4-on-4-off. All three run 12-hour shifts. All three average around 42 hours per week over their full cycle. And all three generate FLSA overtime — but in very different amounts, at very different times.
If you're choosing between two job offers on different schedules at the same hourly rate, or if your facility is switching patterns and you want to know what happens to your paycheck, this guide runs the full numbers side by side. Same $30.00/hr base rate. Same FLSA rules. Same year. Three different answers.
The quick summary: annual earnings at $30/hr
All three schedules average the same hours — approximately 42 per week or 2,184 per year. The earnings difference comes entirely from when those hours fall relative to the 40-hour FLSA workweek threshold. DuPont's compressed week-2 structure (six consecutive 12-hour shifts) can stack more overtime hours into fewer weeks. Whether it does depends on how your employer's Sunday-to-Saturday workweek lines up with your crew's cycle: DuPont ranges from 208 to 624 overtime hours a year, Pitman from 208 to 520, and 4-on-4-off is always 208.
Schedule 1: Pitman 2-2-3 — how overtime works
The Pitman schedule repeats every 14 days. Each crew works a 2-2-3 pattern of 12-hour shifts with corresponding off days. The critical feature for pay: one week in the cycle is heavy (60 hours) and the next is light (24 hours).
| Pitman Week | Shifts | Total Hours | OT Hours | OT Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long week (5 shifts) | 5 × 12 hrs | 60 hrs | 20 hrs @ 1.5× | $900.00 |
| Short week (2 shifts) | 2 × 12 hrs | 24 hrs | 0 | $0 |
| Per 14-day cycle total | 7 shifts | 84 hrs | 20 hrs | $900.00 |
Schedule 2: DuPont 12-hour — how overtime works
DuPont runs a 28-day cycle with four distinct weeks. The important difference from Pitman is Week 2: six consecutive 12-hour shifts in a single FLSA workweek. This one week alone generates 32 hours of overtime. Combined with 8 OT hours in each of Week 1 and Week 3, the total is 48 overtime hours per cycle — more than double Pitman's 20.
| DuPont Week | Shifts | Total Hours | OT Hours | OT Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 4 × 12 hrs | 48 hrs | 8 hrs @ 1.5× | $360.00 |
| Week 2 | 6 × 12 hrs | 72 hrs | 32 hrs @ 1.5× | $1,440.00 |
| Week 3 | 4 × 12 hrs | 48 hrs | 8 hrs @ 1.5× | $360.00 |
| Week 4 (rest week) | 0 | 0 hrs | 0 | $0 |
| Per 28-day cycle total | 14 shifts | 168 hrs | 48 hrs | $2,160.00 |
Schedule 3: 4-on-4-off — how overtime works
The 4-on-4-off schedule is exactly what it sounds like — four 12-hour shifts on, four days off, repeating indefinitely. Unlike Pitman and DuPont, this schedule doesn't have a fixed number-of-weeks cycle that aligns neatly with FLSA 7-day workweeks. The pattern drifts relative to the fixed workweek start day, creating a mix of 48-hour and 36-hour FLSA workweeks depending on how the 8-day pattern aligns at any given moment.
The 4-on-4-off overtime reality: the 8-day pattern drifts against the 7-day workweek and repeats every 56 days. In half of all workweeks you work 4 shifts (48 hours, 8 overtime hours); in the other half 3 shifts (36 hours, no overtime). The weeks do not strictly alternate, but the average is 4 overtime hours per week, 208 a year, whatever day your workweek starts.
The verdict: side-by-side comparison
| Schedule | Annual Hours | OT Hours/Year | Annual Gross ($30/hr) | OT Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitman 2-2-3 | 2,184 hrs | 208-520 hrs | $68,640-$73,320 | +$3,120-$7,800 |
| DuPont 12-hr | 2,184 hrs | 208-624 hrs | $68,640-$74,880 | +$3,120-$9,360 |
| 4-on-4-off | 2,184 hrs | 208 hrs | $68,640 | +$3,120 |
DuPont can pay the most, but only in its best workweek alignment. At $30/hr with no differentials and 52 workweeks, DuPont's best case ($74,880) beats Pitman's best case ($73,320) by $1,560 and 4-on-4-off ($68,640) by $6,240. In DuPont's worst alignment all three pay the same $68,640. Ask payroll which day your workweek starts: it matters more than the schedule name. The DuPont alignment table shows every case.
But pay isn't the only variable. Here's how the three schedules compare on lifestyle factors:
| Factor | Pitman | DuPont | 4-on-4-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max consecutive days off | 3 days | 7 days (once/cycle) | 4 days |
| Max consecutive days worked | 5 days | 6 days (Week 2) | 4 days |
| Shift type rotation | Stays on one shift | Rotates days/nights | Can stay one shift |
| Schedule predictability | High (14-day repeat) | High (28-day repeat) | High (8-day repeat) |
| Cycle length | 14 days | 28 days | 8 days |
If maximizing gross pay is the priority, find out which workweek alignment your employer uses before you pick a schedule. If minimizing consecutive days worked matters more, or day/night rotation is hard for you, 4-on-4-off offers the gentlest schedule at the same base pay.
Plug in your actual hourly rate and see the full pay breakdown for any of these three schedules — with night differentials and real overtime calculated week by week.
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