2-2-3 Schedule Generator

A 2-2-3 schedule is a 14-day work pattern of 12-hour shifts: work 2 days, off 2, work 3, off 2, work 2, off 3. You work 7 shifts every two weeks, never more than 3 in a row, and every other weekend is a 3-day weekend off.

That’s the whole rhythm from your side of the schedule. Because it repeats every 14 days, your working days fall on the same weekdays every other week. Once you know which week you’re in, you know your schedule for the rest of the year.

In most workplaces it runs with four crews. Two share the day shift and two share the night shift, so the job is covered 24 hours a day. Each crew follows the same 2-2-3 sequence, just a week apart from its partner crew. The generator above starts with crews that stay on days or stay on nights; switch to Rotating crews to see a version where they swap every two weeks.

You’ll also see this rhythm called 2-3-2, “every other weekend off” and, depending on who you ask, the Pitman or Panama schedule. It’s used outside work too: separated parents use the same 2-2-3 rhythm to share time with their children, which we cover below.

Here are the 14 days of one person’s cycle, starting on a Monday. The first week holds 5 shifts and the second only 2.

You work 84 hours every two weeks on a 2-2-3 schedule, which averages out to 42 hours a week. How that splits between the two weeks depends on where your employer’s workweek starts.

With the table above (Monday to Sunday), the split is 60 hours and 24 hours. If your employer’s workweek starts on Sunday instead, as the generator assumes unless you change it, your Sunday shift moves into the lighter week and the split becomes 48 and 36:

A 2-2-3 custody schedule uses the same rhythm to share parenting time between two homes. The child spends 2 days with one parent, 2 with the other, then 3 with the first. The next week it flips, so each parent has the child for 7 days out of every 14: an equal 50/50 split.

What workers like

• Short stretches. At most 3 shifts in a row, so fatigue doesn’t build up for a week at a time.
• Half the year off. You’re off 7 of every 14 days, with every other weekend free.
• Steady biweekly hours. Each two-week pay period holds the same 84 hours.
• Easy to swap. Because your partner crew works exactly the days you’re off, trading a shift is simple to arrange.

What workers find hard

• Long days. A 12-hour shift plus a commute can leave little time for anything else on a workday.
• A lopsided week. Depending on the week start, one week can be 5 shifts. That’s 60 hours, 20 of them overtime.
• Changing weekdays. Standing commitments, like a class every Tuesday, clash every other week.
• Nights on a fixed night crew. If you’re on a night crew, you stay on nights for as long as that crew does, unless your workplace rotates crews.

The 2-2-3 is often a good fit for people who want predictable long weekends and don’t mind 12-hour days. If you’d rather have one long break a month, compare the DuPont schedule, which trades a heavier week for 7 days off in a row.

All three names describe the same 14-day sequence: 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, with 12-hour shifts and four crews. The difference is mostly in how people use the name.

• 2-2-3 describes the rhythm itself, and it’s the name workers and parents use when they talk about their own days. It’s the only one of the three also used for custody.
• Pitman is a common name in police departments and other 24/7 teams, usually with crews that stay on days or nights. Our Pitman page starts with fixed crews and looks at the schedule from a squad’s point of view.
• Panama is often used for the version where crews rotate between days and nights. Our Panama page starts with rotating crews and shows the whole 4-crew calendar.

Some scheduling guides treat the three names as exact synonyms. If a job posting lists any of them, ask whether the crews are fixed or rotating, because that decides whether you’ll ever work nights.