Free shift calendar
2-2-3 shift calendar 2028
The 2-2-3 is a 14 day rotation of 12 hour shifts: 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, then 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. You never work more than three in a row, and every other weekend arrives as a three day block. Four crews cover the clock with it, in police departments, 911 dispatch, hospitals, and plants that never close.
Pitman and Panama are two names for the same 14 day 2-2-3 rotation. Panama is the usual name where crews stay fixed on days or nights, Pitman is more common in US public safety, and plenty of rosters just say 2-2-3. Some write the second week first and call it 3-2-2-3, or spell out the whole fortnight as 2-2-3-2-2-3. Whichever name your employer uses, the calendar below is identical.
Suits people who want every other weekend off for certain and never more than three shifts in a row. The catch is that the crew you land on decides your weekends for the whole year.
Quick facts
- Cycle length
- 14 days
- Shifts per cycle
- 7 on, 7 off
- Shift length
- 12 hours
- Hours a week
- 42.3 on average
- Crews for 24/7 cover
- 4
- Full weekends off in 2028
- 26
Pitman / Panama 2-2-3, days, 2028
The grid shows a crew whose cycle starts January 1, 2028; other crews run the same rotation offset by a few days. The 14 day cycle divides evenly into weeks, so the rotation never drifts: whatever weekdays a crew works in January, it works in December. Crews on other phases can see very different weekends. To line the pattern up with your real start date, use the interactive shift pattern visualizer.
The 2028 numbers
Days
Full weekends off
26
Jan 1 crew; all crews: 15.1 on average (0 to 27)
Night shifts
0
184 day shifts
Recovery days
0
no night shifts to sleep off
Longest stretch
3
consecutive shifts
Nights
Full weekends off
0
Jan 1 crew; all crews: 3.8 on average (0 to 27)
Night shifts
184
0 day shifts
Recovery days
78
first day off after nights
Longest stretch
3
consecutive shifts
How many hours is 2-2-3 in 2028?
Worked in full, 2-2-3 in 2028 comes to 184 shifts of 12 hours: 2,208 hours, an average of 42.3 hours a week across the whole year. The nights variant works the same dates and the same 2,208 hours; the difference is that every one of them runs overnight. These figures assume every scheduled shift is worked: no overtime, no swaps, no sick days, no leave.
Put 2-2-3 2028 in your calendar
One file, every shift of the year, ready for Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, or Outlook. Shifts import with default times: day shifts 7am to 7pm, night shifts 7pm into the next morning (7am). Edit the times after import if your site runs different hours.
That file is the textbook rotation. Your real roster has swaps, overtime and cover shifts that no pattern predicts, so photograph it with Lumical and every shift lands in Apple Calendar. We make Lumical, so read this with that in mind.
Get Lumical on the App StorePaste this into your page. The credit line sits outside the frame on purpose, so it stays a real link.
A perfect rotation fits in a calendar file. A real roster does not.
Swaps, overtime, and holiday cover break the pattern. Reading a real roster is what the Lumical app does: photograph it and every shift lands in your calendar, overnights included. We make it, so weigh the recommendation accordingly.
Common questions
Are Pitman and Panama the same schedule?
Yes. Both names describe the same 14 day 2-2-3 cycle: 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. The names travel with industries, not with different calendars. If your roster says Pitman, Panama, or 2-2-3, this page applies.
How many weekends off does 2-2-3 give you?
It depends entirely on your crew, and the spread is extreme. The 14 day cycle divides evenly into weeks, so whatever weekdays you work in week one, you work all year. One crew gets every other weekend off (27 a year) while the opposite crew can get 0. Averaged over every start point it is 15.1 on days and 3.8 on nights. In 2028 the crew anchored to January 1 gets 26 on days.
What is the three day weekend on Pitman?
Every second week the 3 off block can land on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, depending on your crew phase. The crews holding that phase trade it for working the other weekend. That every-other-weekend rhythm is the main reason people pick 2-2-3 over 4 on 4 off.
How many hours a year is 2-2-3?
2,208 hours in 2028: 184 shifts of 12 hours, about 42.3 a week averaged out. Each 14 day cycle holds exactly 7 shifts, 84 hours.
Does 2-2-3 ever rotate to different weekdays?
No. Fourteen days is exactly two weeks, so the pattern is welded to the weekday grid. Your weekends only change if your employer re-phases the crews.
How many days will you work on 2-2-3 in 2028?
184 shifts, which comes to 2,208 hours at 12 hours each. That leaves 182 days off. The count moves by a shift or two depending on where your crew sits in the cycle on January 1.
How many crews does 2-2-3 need to cover 24 hours a day?
4. The cycle runs 14 days with 7 of them worked, so keeping one position filled every day takes 2 crews, and a 12 hours shift needs 2 positions to fill the day.
How do I get this calendar into Apple Calendar?
Download the .ics file on this page and open it on your iPhone or Mac. Apple Calendar offers to add the whole year in one go. That covers the textbook rotation. A real roster has swaps, overtime and cover shifts, and for that we make Lumical: photograph the roster and every shift lands in Apple Calendar. We make it, so read that with the obvious bias in mind.