Pitman Schedule (2-3-2): How It Works, Pros, Cons, and Overtime

The Pitman schedule is a 12-hour shift pattern that gives a 24/7 operation round-the-clock coverage with four teams. Each team works a repeating 14-day cycle of 2 days on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, and 3 off, so nobody works more than three shifts in a row and every team gets every other weekend off. Because of that rhythm it is also called the 2-3-2 schedule.

It is one of the most widely used schedules in police departments, emergency dispatch, hospitals, manufacturing, security, and 24/7 contact centers. This guide shows the full pattern for all four teams, how it relates to the Panama and 2-2-3 schedules, how many people you need, and the overtime detail most guides skip: the day your workweek starts decides whether each employee earns 8 or 20 overtime hours every two weeks.

How the Pitman Schedule Works

Two teams cover the 12-hour day shift (for example 6 AM to 6 PM) and two teams cover the 12-hour night shift (6 PM to 6 AM). On any given day, one day team and one night team are working, while the other two are off. The partner teams follow opposite halves of the same pattern, so one is always on when the other is off.

Here is the fixed version, where teams A and B always work days and teams C and D always work nights, starting the cycle on a Monday:

Read any column and you will find exactly one day team and one night team working, which is what gives continuous 24-hour coverage. Read any row and you will see the 2-2-3 rhythm: team A works Monday and Tuesday, has two days off, works Friday through Sunday, has two days off, works Wednesday and Thursday, and then has a three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday.

Each team works 7 shifts in 14 days: 84 hours, or 42 hours a week on average. That is 2 more hours a week than a standard 40-hour schedule, which is where the overtime comes from.

Fixed and rotating versions

In the fixed Pitman schedule shown above, each team stays on days or on nights permanently. It is simpler for sleep, since people never switch body clocks, but the night teams stay on nights indefinitely.

In the rotating Pitman schedule, teams switch between days and nights, usually after each 14-day cycle, which makes the full rotation 28 days. Everyone shares the night work, at the cost of a day-to-night switch every two weeks. Some operations switch more often, even mid-cycle, which is the version most criticized for disrupting sleep. The free shift schedule generator builds a 28-day Pitman roster for four teams that you can adjust and print.

Pitman, Panama, 2-2-3, and 2-3-2: What the Names Mean

These four names cause more confusion than the schedule itself, because different organizations use them for the same thing:

• 2-2-3 and 2-3-2 describe the same 14-day on/off sequence. Read from its first day it is 2 on, 2 off, 3 on; read from a different starting point, the runs of work and rest look like 2-3-2. Neither team works more than three days in a row under either name.
• Panama schedule is the most common alternative name for the 2-2-3 pattern, and it is often used for the version where teams rotate between day and night shifts.
• Pitman schedule is the name most associated with police departments and with the version where teams stay on fixed day or night shifts, although many sources use it for the rotating version too.

In practice, if a job listing or union contract says Pitman, Panama, 2-2-3, or 2-3-2, it almost always means 12-hour shifts, four teams, a 14-day cycle, and every other weekend off. The detail worth confirming is whether shifts rotate between days and nights. Our 2-2-3 (Panama) schedule guide covers the rotating version and its implementation in call centers in more depth.

How Many Employees the Pitman Schedule Needs

Each position that has to be covered around the clock needs four people: two on days (one working, one off) and two on nights. If you need five agents on the floor at all times, you need four teams of five, or 20 employees.

That number assumes nobody is ever absent. In practice you also need relief capacity for vacation, sick days, training, and turnover. A common way to plan it is to add a relief percentage to the base headcount; if your employees are out about 10% of their scheduled time, 20 positions becomes 22 people. Contact centers usually calculate this as shrinkage, and our Erlang C calculator helps size the number of agents needed per interval before you apply it.

Overtime on a Pitman Schedule

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime is calculated per workweek, and each workweek stands on its own. The Pitman cycle does not divide evenly into two 40-hour weeks, so the question is not whether there is overtime but how much, and the answer depends on the day your seven-day workweek starts relative to the cycle.

Both alignments pay for the same 84 hours of work. The difference is how many of those hours land above 40 in a single workweek. For the schedule in the table above, which starts on a Monday, a Monday-to-Sunday workweek is the expensive choice: team A works 5 shifts in the first week and 2 in the second. Starting the workweek on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday instead, or on Saturday or Sunday, splits every team's hours 4 and 3.

At $25 an hour, the overtime premium (the extra half-time on each overtime hour) is $100 every two weeks per employee with the better alignment and $250 with the worse one: about $2,600 versus $6,500 a year for each person on the schedule. For a 20-person operation that is a difference of roughly $78,000 a year for exactly the same hours worked.

Two cautions. First, the workweek must be fixed and cannot be moved around to avoid overtime; set it when you adopt the schedule and keep it. Second, some states add daily overtime. In California, hours past 8 in a workday are overtime unless the employer has adopted a qualifying alternative workweek schedule, so a 12-hour shift carries 4 hours of daily overtime in most California workplaces. Colorado's daily overtime starts after 12 hours, so a standard Pitman shift does not trigger it. The overtime calculator handles weekly and state daily rules, and the payroll hours calculator checks overtime week by week across a biweekly pay period.

Pros of the Pitman Schedule

Every other weekend off, as a three-day weekend. This is the feature employees value most. Half the weekends in a year are fully free, and they come with a Friday attached.

No more than three shifts in a row. Stretches of work are short, which limits the cumulative fatigue that longer patterns such as the DuPont schedule's four-shift runs can build up.

Fewer commutes and handovers. Working 7 days in 14 is about 183 workdays a year instead of 260 on a five-day week, so roughly 78 fewer commutes, and 12-hour shifts mean only two handovers a day instead of three.

Predictable for years ahead. The 14-day cycle repeats exactly, so employees can plan childcare, school, and vacations months in advance.

Simple coverage. Four teams and two shifts are easy to understand and easy to audit: every day has one day team and one night team.

Cons of the Pitman Schedule

12-hour shifts are long. Error rates and fatigue rise in the last hours of long shifts, especially at night. Roles that need sustained concentration or heavy physical work may be better on 8-hour patterns.

Built-in overtime. At 42 hours a week on average, every Pitman schedule produces some overtime for non-exempt staff. The workweek alignment above keeps it to the minimum, but it never reaches zero on a standard 40-hour workweek.

Sleep disruption on the rotating version. Switching between days and nights every two weeks, or more often, is hard on sleep. The fixed version avoids this but concentrates night work on half the staff.

Long days are hard for caregivers. A 12-hour shift plus commute can mean 13 or 14 hours away from home, which does not fit every employee's childcare or family commitments.

Short-notice gaps are harder to fill. When someone calls out of a 12-hour shift, covering it means either a 12-hour replacement or splitting it, and splitting creates more overtime.

Pitman Compared with Other 24/7 Schedules

Pitman and DuPont use the same four teams and 12-hour shifts but distribute rest differently. DuPont gives a full seven days off once every four weeks in exchange for stretches of up to four shifts; Pitman gives a three-day weekend every two weeks and never asks for more than three in a row. The 4-10 schedule is not a 24/7 pattern at all but a compressed week for daytime operations.

How to Implement a Pitman Schedule

1. Confirm 12-hour shifts suit the work. Look at fatigue risk, break requirements, and whether handovers at 6 AM and 6 PM fit your demand pattern. For contact centers, check that call volume does not peak in the last hours of a shift.
2. Decide fixed or rotating. Survey employees. Many prefer fixed shifts; others want to share nights. Mixed approaches, such as rotating every quarter, are common.
3. Size the teams. Multiply the positions you need at all times by four, then add relief capacity for absences.
4. Set the workweek to minimize overtime. Choose a workweek start that splits each team's shifts 4 and 3, as shown above, and document it before the first cycle.
5. Check state rules. Confirm meal and rest break requirements for 12-hour shifts and any daily overtime rules in your state.
6. Publish the roster early. Give everyone the full 28-day calendar at least two cycles ahead, and set a clear process for shift swaps.
7. Track actual hours, not scheduled ones. Late relief, held-over shifts, and pre-shift logins all change real hours and overtime.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Pitman schedule?

A Pitman schedule is a 24/7 shift pattern with four teams working 12-hour shifts on a 14-day cycle: 2 days on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, and 3 off. Two teams cover days and two cover nights, each team works 84 hours every two weeks, and every team gets every other weekend off.

Is the Pitman schedule the same as the 2-2-3 or Panama schedule?

They use the same 14-day on/off sequence, and many employers use the names interchangeably. When a distinction is made, Pitman usually refers to teams on fixed day or night shifts and Panama to teams that rotate between days and nights.

How many hours a week is a Pitman schedule?

84 hours every two weeks, an average of 42 hours a week. Depending on how the workweek lines up with the cycle, an employee works either 48 and 36 hours or 60 and 24 hours in alternating weeks.

Do you get paid overtime on a Pitman schedule?

Yes, if you are a non-exempt employee. With the workweek aligned well, each employee has 8 overtime hours every two weeks; with a poor alignment, 20. In California, the hours past 8 in each 12-hour shift are also daily overtime unless the employer has an approved alternative workweek schedule.

How many employees do you need for a Pitman schedule?

Four for every position that must be covered around the clock, plus relief staff for vacations and absences. Five positions on the floor at all times needs 20 employees before relief.

What are the disadvantages of the Pitman schedule?

Long 12-hour shifts, built-in overtime at 42 hours a week, sleep disruption if shifts rotate between days and nights, and long days that can be difficult for employees with caregiving responsibilities.

Build and Run Your Pitman Roster

Use the free shift schedule generator to create a 28-day Pitman roster for your teams, and the hours calculator to check weekly totals. For the other common 12-hour patterns, see the DuPont schedule, the 2-2-3 (Panama) schedule, and our guide to shift rotation patterns.