2-2-3 work schedule (Panama)

How a 2-2-3 schedule works

Over 14 days each crew works 2 days, has 2 off, works 3, has 2 off, works 2 and has 3 off: 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. With 12-hour shifts and four crews, two crews cover the day shift and two the night shift, and every day has one of each. If the 3-day blocks fall on Friday to Sunday, every crew works every other weekend and has the other one off, as a 3-day weekend.

The same 14-day rhythm is also written 2-3-2 or 3-2-2: it is the same cycle started on a different day.

Fixed or rotating days and nights

There are two ways to run it, and the calculator offers both:

• Fixed shifts (14-day cycle): crews A and C always work days, B and D always nights. A and B work the same dates; C and D work the other half. This is the form Wikipedia’s shift plan article calls the Panama schedule.
• Rotating shifts (28-day cycle): each crew works the 2-2-3 on days for two weeks, then on nights for two weeks, so everyone shares the nights.

Panama, Pitman and 2-2-3: one rhythm, many names

Sources don’t agree on the names. Some call the fixed 14-day version “Panama” and others call it “Pitman”; some use “Panama” for the rotating 28-day version and others “Pitman” for it. They are all the same 2 on, 2 off, 3 on rhythm. If your workplace calls its schedule Panama or Pitman, compare your first two weeks with the strip in the calculator and pick the form that matches. More on the name in the Pitman schedule guide.

Hours and overtime

Each crew works 7 twelve-hour shifts in 14 days: 84 hours, 42 hours a week on average. With a Sunday-to-Saturday workweek and the 3-day blocks on Friday to Sunday, weeks alternate between 36 and 48 hours, so under the US federal rule there are 8 overtime hours every other week: about 208 a year. With a Monday-to-Sunday workweek the same days make weeks of 60 and 24 hours, which means 20 overtime hours every other week instead. The calculator shows your crew’s total for each possible workweek start day.

Pros and cons

• For: never more than 3 shifts in a row; every other weekend off as a 3-day weekend; about 15 shifts a month (14 to 16).
• Against: 12-hour shifts; work days change from week to week, which makes regular plans (a class on Tuesdays) hard; on the rotating form, a switch between days and nights every two weeks.

Add your shifts to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook

Press Add to calendar (.ics). It saves one file with every shift of the year for your crew, made on this device. Then:

• Google Calendar: on a computer, open Google Calendar, go to Settings, then Import & export, choose the file and the calendar to add it to. (The phone app can’t import files, but shows the shifts once they are imported.)
• iPhone or iPad: open the file from the Files app or an email and tap Add All. On a Mac, open it in Calendar or use File, Import.
• Outlook: in Outlook on the web choose Add calendar, Upload from file; in Outlook for Windows, File, Open & Export, Import/Export.

Tip: make a new, empty calendar called “Shifts” and import into that. If the rotation changes, delete that calendar and import a new file. Shift times are saved without a time zone, so a 7 AM shift shows at 7 AM on your phone wherever it is set, including across daylight-saving changes.