12-hour shift schedules for security guards: Pitman, DuPont, 4 on 4 off and a free rotation calendar

A post that never closes needs a guard on duty for 168 hours every week. Getting that right is mostly arithmetic. Getting it wrong shows up as overtime nobody budgeted for, and as the 2 AM gap when the only guard who could cover is already on a fifth night in a row.

This guide works through the four-crew 12-hour schedules (Pitman, DuPont, 4 on 4 off and a 2-day, 2-night rotation), the three-crew and 8-hour alternatives, what each one costs in overtime and fatigue, and the US and Canadian rules behind those costs. There is a free Excel rotation calendar that lays any of these patterns over a full year.

How many guards a 24/7 post needs

Start with the hours. One post covered around the clock is 24 hours times 7 days, 168 hours a week, or 8,736 hours over 52 weeks. Divide by a 40-hour week and you get 4.2 full-time guards for a single post, before anyone takes a day off.

That 4.2 is why four crews fit a 24/7 post. Split the 168 hours four ways and each crew averages 42 hours a week: a little over full time, with a small, predictable amount of overtime. Every four-crew 12-hour pattern in this guide averages exactly 42 hours a week; they differ in how those hours are bunched.

Then add relief. Guards take vacation, get sick, go to training and sit in court. Somebody has to work those shifts, and the honest way to plan for it is to count it:

• Hours one guard really works in a year = average hours a week × (52 minus the weeks the guard is away).
• Guards needed = hours to cover in a year ÷ hours one guard really works.

For example, if each guard on a 42-hour rotation is away 4 weeks a year, one guard works 42 × 48 = 2,016 hours. A 24/7 post needs 8,736 ÷ 2,016 = 4.33 guards: four on the rotation and a third of a relief guard. Put another way, three 24/7 posts on the same rotation need about one relief guard between them. The 4 weeks is only an example; use your own vacation, sick and training records. Police and corrections agencies call this a shift relief factor and work it out the same way; a police staffing guide published by the US Justice Department's COPS Office gives the formula. A state agency study that counts leave, training and regular days off lands higher: in 2014 the Nevada Department of Corrections found that one 24-hour post needs 5.10 full-time positions, whether it is filled with 8-hour or 12-hour shifts. If your guards get less paid leave and training than state corrections officers, your number will fall somewhere between the 4.2 of pure arithmetic and Nevada's 5.10. Work it out from your own records.

The calendar download has a "Guards needed" sheet that does this sum for any number of posts.

The 24/7 patterns at a glance

Each pattern below covers one post 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with exactly one crew on every shift. A crew can be one guard or, at a bigger site, several guards who always work together.

In the tables below, D is a day shift, N a night shift, E an evening shift and a blank square is a day off. Day 1 is a Monday. The names are used loosely across the industry, so when a client or a guard says "Pitman" or "Panama", check which cycle they mean. No government or standards body defines these names. The same 2-2-3 cycle is called Pitman in some police contracts and Panama in some scheduling guides, and some guides keep the name Panama for the version where crews swap between days and nights. That is why each pattern below is described by its days on and off.

Pitman (2-2-3)

The Pitman schedule is a four-crew 12-hour schedule on a 14-day cycle. Each crew works 2 days, has 2 off, works 3, has 2 off, works 2 and has 3 off, and then the 14 days repeat. Two crews cover the day shifts between them and the other two cover the nights.

Read crew A across: Monday and Tuesday on, Wednesday and Thursday off, Friday to Sunday on, then the mirror image the next week. Every crew gets every other weekend off, Friday to Sunday, and nobody works more than 3 shifts in a row.

The catch is the week. Depending on where your payroll week starts, a crew works 3 shifts one week and 4 the next (36 hours, then 48) or 5 and then 2 (60, then 24), so under the federal rule there is overtime every other week (more on that below). Permanent nights is the other question. Some versions keep the crews on fixed shifts, as shown; others swap the day and night pairs at set times. One New Jersey police contract (2005 to 2008), for example, set out a "Modify Pitman" schedule in which the squads changed shifts every 28 days. If you swap, the UK's Health and Safety Executive advises rotating either every 2 to 3 days or every 3 to 4 weeks, and avoiding weekly or two-weekly swaps.

DuPont

The DuPont schedule runs on a 28-day cycle. Each crew works 4 nights, has 3 days off, works 3 days, has 1 off, works 3 nights, has 3 off, works 4 days and then has 7 days off in a row. Every crew works both days and nights.

The 7 days off are the draw: a full week off every 4 weeks without using vacation. The price is two 4-shift stretches in each cycle and frequent switches between days and nights, which is harder on sleep than fixed day shifts. Each crew still averages 42 hours a week, but the weekly hours swing more than on Pitman, so where the payroll week starts matters even more.

A "modified DuPont" keeps the 28-day cycle and moves the work blocks around; there is no single standard version.

4 on, 4 off

The simplest 12-hour pattern: 4 shifts on, then 4 days off, over an 8-day cycle. As shown, two crews work days and two work nights. Because the cycle is 8 days and the week is 7, each crew's block of shifts starts one weekday later every cycle, so weekends come and go.

It is easy to remember, and 4 days off is a real break. The weak points are the 4 long shifts in a row and the drifting weekends, which some guards like and others hate. There is also a rotating version, 4 days, 4 off, 4 nights, 4 off, which repeats every 16 days.

2 days, 2 nights, 4 off

This is the same 8-day cycle with a rotation built in: 2 day shifts, 2 night shifts, then 4 days off. Some companies call a pattern like this "continental", but the word is also used for an 8-hour pattern and even for 2-2-3, so check what is meant. Every crew sees both shifts every cycle, so nobody is on permanent nights, and the switch always goes forward, from days to nights.

The first of the 4 days off is mostly spent sleeping off the last night, so in practice it is closer to 3. It suits companies that want nights shared fairly.

Covering 24/7 with three guards

Small companies sometimes cover a post with three guards on 12-hour shifts. It works on paper: each guard works a day, then a night the next evening, then has a day off, and the 3-day cycle repeats.

But each guard averages 56 hours a week, every week, with never more than 24 hours off. Under the federal rule that is about 16 hours of overtime per guard per week, and there is no slack for a sick day: when one guard is out, the other two are on 84-hour weeks. Use it as a stopgap while you hire, not as the plan.

8-hour shifts: three shifts a day

Not every post needs 12-hour shifts. With 8-hour shifts a day has three shifts (day, evening and night) and the 168 hours make 21 shifts a week. Four crews on a 28-day rotation each work 7 days, 7 evenings and 7 nights, with 2 or 3 days off between blocks, and average 42 hours a week. Some companies call this a "southern swing".

The rotation goes forward, days to evenings to nights, which is the direction health and safety bodies recommend. But it changes shift once a week, with 7 nights in a row, and NIOSH calls a weekly rotation the hardest speed to adjust to. Canada's CCOHS notes that the most common 8-hour system rotates weekly with five to seven nights in a row, so this is a familiar pattern, not an ideal one. Another way to cover 8-hour shifts is fixed shifts: three guards each work one shift, 5 days a week, and two part-time guards cover the 6 shifts left over, which keeps nights with the guards who want them.

Overtime: where your payroll week starts matters

Every four-crew pattern above averages 42 hours a week, but no guard works 42 hours in an actual week. On 12-hour patterns the hours land in blocks of 12, so a guard works 36 hours in one week and 48 in the next, or worse. In the US, federal overtime is counted week by week: each workweek stands on its own, and a short week does not cancel a long one.

That makes the line-up between the rotation and your payroll week matter. Take a Pitman rotation that starts on a Monday. If your payroll week runs Sunday to Saturday, each day-shift guard works 36 hours, then 48, then 36: 8 hours of overtime every other week. If your payroll week runs Monday to Sunday, the same guard works 60 hours, then 24: 20 hours of overtime every other week, two and a half times as much for exactly the same shifts.

The table counts each shift in the week it starts. That is exact for day shifts, and for night shifts when the payroll week starts at shift change (7 AM on a 7-to-7 schedule). If the payroll week starts at midnight, a night shift that crosses into the new week splits between the two: on Pitman with a payroll week that starts at midnight on Sunday, a night guard works 41 and 43 hours instead of 36 and 48.

Two cautions. First, you cannot move your payroll week back and forth to dodge overtime: under the federal rule the workweek is fixed and can only be changed for good, not to evade overtime. What you can choose is the day a new rotation starts, so that it lines up well with the payroll week you already have. Second, a night shift that runs from Saturday evening into Sunday morning splits across two workweeks if your payroll week starts at midnight, and payroll has to count it that way. The Excel calendar's "Weekly hours" sheet shows each crew's hours and the hours over 40 and 44 for any start date and payroll week, counting each shift in the week it starts, so you can try the options before you publish the schedule.

What the rules in the US and Canada say

The rules that shape a 24/7 guard schedule are mostly general employment standards: when overtime starts, whether hours can be averaged over several weeks, and how much rest a worker must get. Of the rules below, two are written for security work: US guards at nuclear power plants, and security agencies in Quebec.

United States

• Federal overtime. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, nonexempt guards earn at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. The workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours that may begin on any day and at any hour, and the law does not allow averaging hours over two or more weeks. A 12-hour shift on its own triggers nothing federally.
• No federal limit on hours or breaks. The FLSA sets no limit on the hours employees aged 16 and older may work, and federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. One exception is nuclear power plant security, where federal rules cap work at 16 hours in any 24, 26 in any 48 and 72 in any 7 days, with a 10-hour break between work periods.
• California. Private security guard services fall under Wage Order 4. Overtime is time and a half after 8 hours in a workday and after 40 in a workweek, double time after 12 hours in a workday, with special rates on the seventh day in a row in a workweek. An alternative workweek, adopted by a two-thirds vote of the affected employees, can only set days of up to 10 hours under Wage Order 4 (12-hour days are allowed for health care employees, not guards), so every 12-hour guard shift carries some overtime. California also guarantees one day's rest in each workweek (the state Supreme Court read the rule that way in Mendoza v. Nordstrom), so check any pattern with 7 shifts in a row against your workweek.
• Other daily overtime states. Alaska counts overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week (a flexible work hour plan needs the state's approval). Nevada counts overtime after 8 hours in a 24-hour period for employees earning less than $18.00 an hour (2026 rate). Colorado counts overtime after 40 hours a week, 12 hours a day or 12 consecutive hours, so a 12-hour shift on its own adds no daily overtime there, but any holdover past 12 hours does.

Canada

• Ontario. Overtime starts after 44 hours in a work week; there is no daily overtime. An employer and employee can agree, electronically or in writing, to average hours over 2 to 4 weeks (for non-union employees the agreement can last up to 2 years), and overtime is then owed only when the average is over 44. No ministry approval is needed. The daily limit is 8 hours or the employer's established regular work day if that is longer (12 hours on a 12-hour schedule); going past it, or past 48 hours in a week, needs the employee's electronic or written agreement. The rest rules: 11 consecutive hours off each day, which cannot be changed by agreement; 8 hours off between shifts, unless the two shifts total 13 hours or less or the employee agrees in writing to less; 24 hours off each week or 48 every two weeks; and a 30-minute eating period after 5 hours.
• British Columbia. Time and a half after 8 hours in a day, double time after 12, and time and a half after 40 hours in a week. A written averaging agreement, signed before it starts, can average hours over 1 to 4 weeks; overtime is then owed over the 40-hour average and double time still applies after 12 hours in a day. Guards must get 8 hours free between shifts and 32 consecutive hours free each week.
• Alberta. Overtime is hours over 8 a day or 44 a week, whichever is greater. An employer may require an averaging arrangement over 1 to 52 weeks, in writing with a schedule of daily and weekly hours and 2 weeks' written notice; overtime is then counted against the scheduled daily hours and an average of 44 a week. Work must fit within 12 consecutive hours a day, except in an emergency, unforeseeable circumstances or under a variance, so 12-hour shifts leave no room for routine holdovers. There are also rules for breaks, rest when shifts change and days of rest.
• Quebec. Security agencies everywhere in Quebec are covered by the Decree respecting security guards, which sets a 40-hour standard workweek for calculating overtime, paid at time and a half. Hours can be spread over more than a week only under a collective agreement or under nine conditions in the Decree, among them the guards' agreement, a benefit to make up for the lost overtime, a specific contract, periods of at most 4 weeks and 60 days' written notice to the parity committee. A Quebec employee can also refuse overtime of more than 2 hours beyond regular hours, or more than 14 hours in a 24-hour period.

What that means for one guard on Pitman

Take one guard on Pitman whose payroll weeks come out at 36 and 48 hours. Over each 14 days that guard works seven 12-hour shifts. By our arithmetic, the overtime hours per 14 days come out like this (check yours with your payroll provider):

The same pattern can cost nothing extra in one province and 28 overtime hours every two weeks in another. That is why the overtime check belongs before you choose the pattern, not after the first payroll.

Fatigue: making long shifts safe

12-hour shifts mean fewer days at work. The trade is more hours awake at the post, and the research is plain about it. NIOSH, the US federal research agency for workplace safety, sums up studies showing that the risk of accidents and errors is about 28% higher on 12-hour shifts than on 8-hour shifts, and about 28% higher on night shifts than on day shifts that start after 7 AM.

The US, Canadian and UK health and safety bodies agree on most of the practical rules:

• Keep runs of 12-hour shifts short. NIOSH says two or three 12-hour shifts in a row should be the most, that two is probably best for nights, and suggests two rest days after three in a row. The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises limiting long shifts and night shifts to 2 or 3 in a row.
• Rotate forward. Days, then evenings, then nights (CCOHS, NIOSH and HSE). HSE adds that shifts should rotate either every 2 to 3 days or every 3 to 4 weeks, avoiding weekly or two-weekly rotation; NIOSH calls a weekly rotation the hardest to adjust to.
• Rest after nights. At least 24 hours off after a set of night shifts (CCOHS), and at least 11 hours between any two shifts (NIOSH, citing shift work researchers). HSE asks for two nights of full sleep when a guard switches between days and nights.
• Do not start too early. CCOHS and NIOSH advise against shifts that start at 5 or 6 AM, because sleep before an early start gets cut short. That is one reason a 7-to-7 schedule usually beats 6-to-6.
• Shorter shifts at night. NIOSH says shorter shifts (8 hours or less) are better tolerated in the evening and at night. HSE suggests 8 hours for night shifts and for work that is demanding, monotonous, dangerous or safety critical. A quiet overnight post is often the monotonous kind.
• Free weekends. On a seven-day schedule, NIOSH suggests one or two full weekends off each month, and HSE says to build regular free weekends into the schedule.
• Breaks, contact and records. HSE recommends regular breaks, more supervision during the night and early morning, a way for lone workers to call for help, and keeping track of hours worked, rest and shift swaps.

Measured against those rules (our reading, not theirs):

• Pitman never asks for more than 3 shifts in a row. The fixed version keeps two crews on permanent nights, which NIOSH says to use with caution; swapping the pairs every 3 to 4 weeks fits HSE's advice.
• DuPont has 4 nights and 4 days in a row, more than the 2 or 3 recommended, in exchange for the week off.
• 4 on, 4 off has 4 long shifts in a row and, in the fixed version, permanent nights.
• 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off keeps nights to 2 in a row, rotates forward and ends with 4 days off, but it is still 4 long shifts in a row, with only one night's sleep between the day shifts and the night shifts.
• Three crews keeps runs to 2 shifts and rotates forward, but it means 56 hours a week, never more than 24 hours off, one night's sleep at each switch and no full weekends off.
• The 8-hour rotation rotates forward but weekly, with 7 nights in a row.

None of this means a company must drop 12-hour shifts. It means choosing the pattern with the fewest long runs that the post can live with, starting day shifts at 7 rather than 6, building in breaks, and keeping an eye on guards working alone at night.

Choosing a pattern for a post

1. HoursWrite down exactly what the contract asks for: 24/7, or nights and weekends only, and how many guards on each shift. Count the weekly hours before you choose anything.
2. The siteA quiet lobby at night and a busy loading dock are different jobs at hour eleven. Busy, physical, monotonous or lone-worker posts are where shorter shifts or more breaks pay for themselves.
3. Your guardsAsk them. Some want permanent nights, some want every other weekend, some want the long week off.
4. OvertimeWork out what each pattern costs with your payroll week and your state or province's rules before you pick it.
5. ReliefDecide who works the shifts of a guard who is away: a relief guard, part-timers, or open shifts offered to the other crews. On 12-hour patterns, check the rest rules before handing a shift to a guard just coming off one or due on next (in Ontario, 11 hours off each day; in Alberta, work within 12 hours a day). Plan it now, not at 9 PM on a Friday.
6. BillingOvertime you pay should show up in what you bill. Check that the contract's rate and its overtime terms match the pattern.
7. Write it downPut the pattern, the crews, the shift times, the handover and the rules for swaps in writing, and give every guard the year's calendar.

The free rotation calendar

The Excel file lays any of the patterns on this page over a full year. Choose a rotation, type the first day and the first day of a payroll week, and it fills in 53 weeks: which crew works each shift each day, with a check that every shift has exactly one crew.

• Rotation: the year's calendar, crew by crew, colored by shift.
• Weekly hours: each crew's hours per payroll week, with hours over 40 (US federal) and over 44 (Ontario without an averaging agreement).
• Guards needed: how many guards your posts need with relief for vacation, sick days and training.
• Patterns: the patterns themselves, plus a Custom pattern you can edit.

Rotations in GuardChek

In GuardChek's scheduling you build a rotation once, as a 2-week or 4-week cycle such as Pitman or DuPont, schedule each crew as a team, and set it to recur for up to 52 weeks. Guards see their rotation weeks and months ahead in the GuardChek app on their iPhone or Android phone. While you build the schedule, GuardChek shows the overtime it will create, counted by the rule where the guard works, such as daily overtime in California or 44 hours a week in Ontario, so you see the overtime before you publish.

When a guard is out, you post the shift as an open shift and send it by text to eligible guards, and swaps go through the rules you set. Guards clock in with a GPS time clock inside the site's geofence, and those verified hours, with night or weekend pay rates, feed payroll reports. All of this comes with every plan, Starter included. See our published pricing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best 12-hour shift schedule for security guards?

There is no single best one. Pitman (2-2-3) keeps every run to 3 shifts or fewer and gives every crew every other weekend off. The 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off rotation keeps nights short and rotates forward, but it is still 4 long shifts in a row. DuPont trades two 4-shift runs for a full week off every 4 weeks. Choose by the post, your guards' preferences and what each pattern costs in overtime where you operate.

What is a Pitman schedule?

A 12-hour schedule for four crews on a 14-day cycle: 2 days on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. Two crews cover the days and two the nights, either fixed or swapping at set times. Each crew averages 42 hours a week and gets every other weekend off.

Is the Panama schedule the same as the Pitman schedule?

Usually the same 2-2-3 cycle under another name. Some sources use "Panama" only for the version where crews rotate between days and nights. No official body defines either name, so describe the days on and off when you agree on a schedule with a client or your guards.

What is the DuPont schedule?

A 12-hour schedule for four crews on a 28-day cycle: 4 nights, 3 off, 3 days, 1 off, 3 nights, 3 off, 4 days, then 7 days off. Every crew works days and nights, averages 42 hours a week and gets a full week off every 4 weeks.

How many guards does it take to cover one post 24/7?

A post covered around the clock is 168 hours a week, which is 4.2 full-time guards at 40 hours, or four guards on a four-crew rotation averaging 42 hours. Add relief for vacation, sick days and training: with 4 weeks away per guard per year, that is about 4.3 guards per post. Use your own time-off numbers.

How many hours a week is a 12-hour rotation?

On a four-crew rotation, 42 hours a week on average. Actual weeks swing between 36 and 48 hours at best, and as wide as 24 and 60 on Pitman or 0 and 72 on DuPont, depending on where your payroll week starts.

Do 12-hour shifts mean paying overtime?

Often. US federal law counts overtime after 40 hours in each fixed workweek, with no averaging, so a 36-then-48 rotation pays 8 hours of overtime every other week. Some states, such as California, also count daily overtime after 8 hours. In Canada the thresholds and the rules for averaging hours differ by province. Check the rules where your guards work.

Can three guards cover a 24/7 post?

Only with 56-hour weeks for each guard, about 16 hours of overtime a week under the federal rule, and never more than 24 hours off. When one guard is out, the other two are on 84-hour weeks. Treat it as a stopgap while you hire.

Is there a free 12-hour shift schedule template in Excel?

Yes. The rotation calendar on this page is a free Excel file with every pattern in this guide. Pick a pattern and a start date and it fills in a year, adds up each crew's hours per payroll week and works out how many guards your posts need.

Sources

Checked on October 26 and 27, 2026. Rules change, so check the current rules where your guards work. The rotation patterns and the overtime examples are our own arithmetic.

• US Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA (revised October 2019): overtime after 40 hours in a workweek, no averaging, no limit on hours.
• US Department of Labor, Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act: the 168-hour workweek; "each workweek stands alone".
• 29 CFR 778.104, each workweek stands alone
• 29 CFR 778.105, determining the workweek: fixed once set; changed only for good, not to evade overtime.
• US Department of Labor, breaks and meal periods
• 10 CFR 26.205, work hours at nuclear power plants: covers armed security force officers, alarm station operators, response team leaders and watchmen.
• California Labor Commissioner, overtime FAQ
• California IWC Wage Order 4 (Form 1104, revised 11/2025): section 3, alternative workweeks of up to 10 hours a day; 12-hour days for health care employees only.
• California DIR, index of businesses and occupations: "Security guard service 4".
• California Supreme Court, Mendoza v. Nordstrom (May 8, 2017): one day of rest in seven.
• Alaska Department of Labor, summary of the Wage and Hour Act
• Nevada Labor Commissioner, daily overtime bulletin (effective July 1, 2026)
• Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, COMPS Order poster (effective January 1, 2026)
• Ontario, Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: overtime pay (updated February 5, 2026)
• Ontario, Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: hours of work (updated July 8, 2024)
• British Columbia, overtime pay (last updated January 31, 2024)
• British Columbia, averaging agreements (last updated January 31, 2024)
• British Columbia, Employment Standards Act section 36, hours free from work
• Alberta, overtime hours and overtime pay (published September 15, 2026)
• Alberta, averaging arrangements (published September 15, 2026)
• Alberta, hours of work and rest periods (published July 28, 2026)
• Quebec, Decree respecting security guards (chapter D-2, r. 1, up to date as of July 1, 2026): sections 3.01, 3.01.1 and 3.04.
• CNESST, right to refuse overtime
• NIOSH, Plain Language About Shiftwork (Publication No. 97-145, July 1997)
• NIOSH, Work hour training for nurses, module 3: accident and error risk on 12-hour and night shifts.
• NIOSH, Work hour training for nurses, module 5: designing schedules
• NIOSH, Work hour training for nurses, module 5: rest between shifts and rotation
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), Rotational Shiftwork (fact sheet revised April 3, 2023)
• UK Health and Safety Executive, good practice guidelines for shift work
• UK Health and Safety Executive, HSG256 Managing shiftwork (2006): Table 5 (12-hour nights), Table 11 (rotation speed) and Table 12 (supervision, lone workers, recording hours and swaps).
• Wilson and Weiss, A Performance-Based Approach to Police Staffing and Allocation (US Department of Justice, COPS Office, 2012, revised 2014): the shift relief factor.
• Nevada Department of Corrections, shift relief factors (2014): 5.10 full-time positions per 24-hour post.
• Borough of Totowa and PBA Local 80 agreement, 2005 to 2008 (New Jersey PERC): "12 Hour Shift/Modify Pitman", squads change shifts every 28 days.