DuPont Schedule: 12-Hour Rotation, Calendar & Examples
The DuPont schedule is a 12-hour rotating shift schedule that uses 4 crews to cover a workplace 24/7 on a 28-day cycle. In one cycle, a crew works 4 night shifts, takes 3 days off, works 3 day shifts, takes 1 day off, works 3 night shifts, takes 3 days off, works 4 day shifts, and then gets 7 full days off in a row. That averages about 42 hours per week. The 7-day break is the feature people remember — and the long 12-hour shifts are the trade-off that makes it possible.
This guide gives you the full calendar, the real hours math, and the one thing most explainers skip — what it actually takes to run it without a spreadsheet falling apart.
The 4-Week DuPont Calendar (Example)
Here is one crew's full 28-day cycle laid out as a calendar. This is the clearest DuPont schedule example you can give a new hire: four weeks, color-coded, with the famous week off at the bottom. Read it top to bottom, left to right.
Count the work days: 4 nights + 3 days + 3 nights + 4 days = 14 shifts. At 12 hours each, that is 168 hours across 28 days — an average of 42 hours per week. Notice Week 4: seven O's in a row. That is the whole reason crews put up with the long shifts.
Want this calendar with your own start date, shift times and crew names? The free DuPont schedule generator builds it in your browser, tells you how many people you need, and lets you download it as a template.
How 4 crews give you full 24/7 coverage
The grid above is just one crew. Run four crews on the same pattern, each starting 7 days apart, and the site is covered every hour of every day. On any given day, one crew is on days, one is on nights, and two are resting. Here is what a single day looks like across all four crews:
| Crew | Day shift (7am–7pm) | Night shift (7pm–7am) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crew A | — | Working days | |
| Crew B | — | Working nights | |
| Crew C | — | — | Off |
| Crew D | — | — | Off |
The two working crews rotate as the cycle advances, so no single crew is stuck on nights forever. This stagger is what makes the DuPont 24/7 schedule continuous with only four teams.
How the Rotation Works
The DuPont work schedule packs a lot into 28 days. Spelled out as a sequence, one crew's cycle reads like this:
4 nights → 3 off → 3 days → 1 off → 3 nights → 3 off → 4 days → 7 off
Two things make this dupont rotating schedule tick. First, the rotation between days and nights is fast — a crew can flip from nights to days within the same cycle, with only a few days off to adjust. Second, the whole thing only works because there are four crews. Three crews cannot cover 24 hours with 12-hour shifts and still hand everyone a full week off. Four can.
Each crew runs the identical pattern, just offset by a week. When Crew A is in its “4 nights” block, Crew B is somewhere else in the cycle, and so on. Line up all four offsets and every hour of every day has exactly one day crew and one night crew on the clock. For a deeper look at how rotating patterns are designed, see our rotating shift schedules guide.
Hours Per Week & Pay
The headline number for the dupont schedule hours per week is 42. Here is the math, step by step:
14
shifts per 28-day cycle
168
hours total (14 × 12)
42
hours per week average (168 ÷ 4)
But “average” hides the real story. The hours are not spread evenly. Some weeks are light. Others are heavy. The middle of the cycle, 3 day shifts, 1 day off, then 3 night shifts, piles up 72 worked hours inside a single 7-day span. The 7 days just before the week off hold 48. That heavy middle stretch is the price you pay to earn seven days off.
Overtime is built in
Because the DuPont schedule regularly crosses 40 hours in a single workweek, non-exempt employees usually earn overtime pay on those heavy weeks. For many employers and workers, that predictable overtime is part of the appeal of the dupont schedule pay structure. How a “workweek” is defined for overtime depends on your payroll setup, so confirm it with your own rules.
The takeaway: budget for overtime on the heavy weeks, and make sure your scheduling tool actually tracks accumulated hours so a surprise pickup shift does not push someone into unplanned overtime.
DuPont Schedule Pros and Cons
Lead with the draw, but be honest about the cost. Here is the balanced view.
The Upside
7 days off in a row
A full week off every cycle — long enough for a real trip, real recovery, or a second pursuit. This is the headline benefit.
More days off overall
Fewer, longer shifts mean more total days away from work across the month.
Simple, repeating pattern
Once the 28-day cycle is set, it repeats forever. Everyone can see their schedule months out.
Built-in overtime
The heavy weeks often mean predictable overtime pay, which many workers value.
The Trade-offs
Long 12-hour shifts
Twelve hours is a long day. Fatigue builds, especially during the heavy stretch before the week off.
Fast day-to-night rotation
Flipping between days and nights inside one cycle is hard on sleep and harder on some people than others.
Night shifts are unavoidable
Every crew works nights. There is no day-only crew in the standard pattern.
Heavy weeks are intense
72 hours of shifts in seven days, in the middle of the cycle, is a lot of work compressed into one week, even with the week off coming later.
Modified DuPont Variations
The standard pattern is not the only option. Many teams run a modified dupont schedule that keeps the four-crew, 12-hour, 24/7 backbone but tweaks the rotation to fit their people.
Slower rotation
Instead of flipping between days and nights inside one cycle, crews spend longer blocks on a single shift type before switching. This is gentler on sleep but spreads out the day/night transition.
Fixed crews (no rotation)
Some operations split crews into a permanent day team and a permanent night team. Workers know exactly when they work, but you lose the shared fairness of everyone rotating through nights.
Adjusted shift lengths or start times
The general idea — four crews, continuous coverage, a big block of time off — can be re-pointed to different shift windows or hand-off times to suit a specific site.
Whatever variation you pick, the constraints stay the same: keep 24/7 coverage, keep it fair, and keep the hours legal. If you are designing a pattern from the ground up, our walkthrough on how to create a rotating schedule covers the steps in detail.
DuPont vs 2-2-3 (Pitman) vs 4-on-4-off
These are the three most common 12-hour, 24/7 patterns. They all use four crews, but they feel very different to work. Here is how they line up.
| DuPont | 2-2-3 (Pitman) | 4-on-4-off | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cycle length | 28 days (4 weeks) | 14 days (2 weeks) | 8 days |
| Shift length | 12 hours | 12 hours | 12 hours |
| Crews | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Days on / off pattern | 4-3-3-1-3-3-4, then 7 off | 2 on, 2 off, 3 on (rotating) | 4 on, 4 off |
| Longest break | 7 consecutive days off | 3 days off | 4 days off |
| Avg hours/week | ~42 | ~42 | ~42 |
| Best for | Teams who want one long stretch off | Teams who want every other weekend off | Teams who want a simple, even rhythm |
The big difference is the shape of the time off. DuPont concentrates it into one long break; Pitman spreads it across regular weekends; 4-on-4-off keeps a steady, predictable beat.
Who Uses the DuPont Schedule
The DuPont shift schedule shows up wherever the work never stops. If a site has to run around the clock, this pattern is a natural fit.
Manufacturing
Continuous production lines that cannot afford to go cold overnight.
Chemical, oil & gas
Processing plants and refineries that run 24/7 by necessity.
Power & utilities
Generation and grid operations that need eyes on the system at all hours.
Healthcare
Hospital units and clinical teams covering nights and weekends. See our nurse scheduling guide below.
Police, fire & EMS
Emergency services that must be staffed every hour of every day.
Security
Around-the-clock monitoring and on-site coverage.
Healthcare in particular leans on 12-hour rotations. If you manage clinical staff, our hospital staff scheduling guide works a 12-hour nursing cycle through from the ratio to the call-off.
Is the DuPont Schedule Bad for Your Health? Is It Legal?
The health question
Let's be straight: any schedule with 12-hour shifts and rotating nights carries real fatigue risk. Working overnight runs against the body's natural clock, and switching between days and nights makes it harder to settle into a sleep routine. People who ask whether the dupont schedule is bad for health are asking a fair question.
The honest answer: it depends. The DuPont schedule does build in genuine recovery time. The 7 consecutive days off give workers a real chance to reset, which not every rotating pattern offers. How well it works for any one person comes down to the individual, how nights are managed, and whether rest periods between shifts are actually protected.
Practical steps help: protect minimum rest between shifts, avoid stacking extra pickups onto the heavy week, and watch accumulated hours so no one quietly slides into overload.
The legal question
In general, the DuPont schedule is legal. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), there is no maximum number of hours an adult employee may work in a day or a week. What the FLSA does require is overtime pay for non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek.
Because the DuPont schedule routinely crosses 40 hours on its heavy weeks, overtime usually applies. Beyond the federal floor, state laws, union contracts, and industry-specific rules can add their own limits on hours, rest, or pay — so always check the requirements that apply to your location and workforce.
How to Actually Run a DuPont Schedule
DuPont is one of five ready-made patterns in XShift AI. On the Schedule page, press 24/7 Rotation and pick the DuPont card. The whole 28-day loop from the calendar above is already drawn: four crews, days from 7 AM to 7 PM, nights from 7 PM to 7 AM, each crew starting a week after the one before. You do not draw anything. You put your people on the crews and pick a start date.
Building it in XShift, step by step
- 1
Pick the DuPont card. Press 24/7 Rotation on the Schedule page and choose DuPont. The 28-day loop and both 12-hour shifts are filled in.
- 2
Put people on your four crews. XShift AI calls a crew a team. Team A starts on day 1, Team B on day 8, Team C on day 15 and Team D on day 22. Add one person to a team or twenty. A team can stay empty for now.
- 3
Choose the location, the start date and how far ahead to build. Anywhere from 2 to 14 weeks.
- 4
Read the confirmation before anything exists. It shows who is on approved time off, who is already booked somewhere else, and which of your custom policies the pattern would break. If it breaks a policy you set to refuse, it asks what you want to do: leave those seats open, change the pattern, or change the policy. Any policy it cannot check is listed by name.
- 5
Press Build. The shifts land on your schedule named by shift and crew, like “Nights · Team B”. When you get near the end, one button adds 8 more weeks.
Running a modified DuPont? Start from the card and change the grid. Or paste your own pattern into the box at the top of the builder. It reads the pattern into the grid for you to check.
Once the rotation is running, the supporting features are what keep it running well. Each of the four below is worked through in full, with the arithmetic, in our guide to preventing overtime in manufacturing:
Overtime prevention + OT Agent
The OT Agent recommends swaps to keep hours in check. A manager approves them — it never auto-swaps on its own.
Rest-period & clopen rules
Enforce minimum rest between the heavy 12-hour shifts so back-to-backs do not slip through.
Max-hours rules & staffing minimums
Cap hours and set per-shift staffing minimums so every crew slot is covered.
Call-out auto-coverage
When someone on a working crew calls out, the open slot can be offered to qualified staff to keep coverage intact.
One important caveat: XShift enforces the hour, rest, and labor rules you configure — it does not certify regulatory compliance. The rules are only as good as what you set, so configure them to match the laws and contracts that apply to you.
Want Those 7 Days Off Without the Spreadsheet Headache?
Hand-building a four-crew, 28-day rotation in a spreadsheet is exactly the kind of work that breaks the first time someone calls out or picks up an extra shift. One missed cell and a crew slot goes uncovered — or someone quietly tips into unplanned overtime.
The whole reason people love the DuPont schedule is the payoff: a full week off, every cycle. You should not have to fight your tools to deliver it.
In XShift AI you pick the DuPont pattern and put your crews on it. Before a single shift exists, it shows you a confirmation: who is on approved time off, who is already booked somewhere else, and which of your custom policies the pattern would break. You decide what to do about each one, then press Build. After that, your rest rules, hour limits and call-out coverage keep it running. You can stand it up in minutes and run it next to your current tool while you compare.
14-day free trial.
DuPont Schedule FAQ
What is the DuPont schedule?
The DuPont schedule is a 12-hour rotating shift schedule that uses 4 crews to cover a workplace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on a 28-day cycle. In one cycle, a crew works 4 night shifts, 3 days off, 3 day shifts, 1 day off, 3 night shifts, 3 days off, 4 day shifts, and then gets 7 full days off in a row. That averages about 42 hours per week.
How does the DuPont 12-hour rotation work?
Each crew follows the same 28-day pattern, offset by one week. One crew works 4 nights, then 3 off, then 3 days, then 1 off, then 3 nights, then 3 off, then 4 days, then 7 off. Because the 4 crews are staggered 7 days apart, two crews are always working each day (one on days, one on nights) while the other two are resting, which keeps the site covered around the clock with no gaps.
How many hours per week is the DuPont schedule?
It averages 42 hours per week. A crew works 14 twelve-hour shifts in each 28-day cycle, which is 168 hours over 4 weeks, or 42 hours per week. The hours are not even, though. Some weeks are light, and the middle of the cycle (3 day shifts, 1 day off, then 3 night shifts) puts 72 worked hours inside 7 days, which usually triggers overtime pay. The 7 days just before the week off hold 48 hours.
How many crews does the DuPont schedule need?
Exactly 4 crews. Each crew runs the same 28-day pattern offset by 7 days, so at any moment one crew is on days, one is on nights, and two are off. Four crews is the minimum needed to keep 24/7 coverage with 12-hour shifts and still give everyone a full week off each cycle.
Is the DuPont schedule bad for your health?
Any schedule with 12-hour shifts and rotating nights carries known fatigue risks, because overnight work and switching between day and night shifts disrupt sleep. The DuPont schedule does build in real recovery time, including the 7 consecutive days off that many workers use to reset. Whether it suits a given person depends on the individual, how nights are managed, and how well rest periods are protected. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Is the DuPont schedule legal?
In general, yes. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) there is no maximum number of hours an adult employee can work in a day or week, but non-exempt employees must be paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. The DuPont schedule frequently crosses 40 hours in a single week, so overtime usually applies. State laws, union contracts, and industry rules can add their own limits, so always check local requirements.
What's the difference between the DuPont and 2-2-3 (Pitman) schedules?
Both use 12-hour shifts and 4 crews for 24/7 coverage, but the cycle differs. The DuPont schedule runs on a 28-day cycle and rotates between days and nights, with a signature 7 consecutive days off. The 2-2-3 (Pitman) schedule runs on a shorter 14-day cycle of 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, and gives every other weekend off — but its longest break is 3 days. DuPont offers a bigger block of time off; Pitman offers more frequent, shorter breaks.
What industries use the DuPont schedule?
It is most common in operations that never shut down: manufacturing plants, chemical processing, oil and gas, power generation and utilities, and continuous production lines. It is also used in healthcare, emergency services such as police, fire, and EMS, and security teams that need 24/7 coverage.
How do I build a DuPont schedule for my team?
XShift AI is scheduling software with a ready-made DuPont schedule. On the Schedule page, press 24/7 Rotation and pick the DuPont card. The 28-day loop, the 12-hour day and night shifts and the four crews are already filled in. You add your people to each crew, choose a location and a start date, and build up to 14 weeks at a time. Before anything is created, it shows you who is on approved time off, who is already booked, and which of your custom policies the pattern would break, and asks you what you want to do.
The Bottom Line
The DuPont schedule is a 4-crew, 12-hour, 28-day rotation that covers a site 24/7 and hands every worker a full week off each cycle. It averages 42 hours a week, with heavy stretches that earn overtime and that signature 7-day break as the reward.
It is not for everyone — the long shifts and fast day-to-night rotation are real trade-offs. But for operations that never stop, it is one of the cleanest ways to keep the lights on while still giving people meaningful time to recover. Build the pattern once, protect the rest rules, and let it run.