Security guard schedule templates
for a 24/7 post
A 24/7 security post has 168 hours a week to cover. On a 12-hour rotation — 2-2-3 (Pitman), 4-on 4-off or DuPont — that takes four officers averaging 42 hours each. On 8-hour shifts, 5 days on and 2 off, it takes 4.2 full-time equivalents: four officers plus one relief shift a week. Below are all four rotations as ready-to-copy tables, with the headcount and the overtime each one builds in. CGuardPro, the guard scheduling software used by 600+ security companies, generates the schedule from a post’s rotation.
How many officers does each rotation need?
One officer on duty, around the clock. Overtime is per officer, under the federal 40-hour workweek with no daily overtime, and it depends on the day your workweek starts.
| Rotation | Shift | Headcount per 24/7 post | Average week | Actual weeks | Built-in weekly OT (avg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-2-3 (Pitman) | 12 h | 4 officers | 42 h | 36 / 48 (or 24 / 60) | 4 h (up to 10 h) |
| 4-on 4-off | 12 h | 4 officers | 42 h | 36 or 48 | 4 h |
| DuPont | 12 h | 4 officers | 42 h | 0 to 72 | 4 h to 12 h |
| 5-2, 8-hour shifts | 8 h | 4 full-time + 1 relief (4.2 FTE) | 40 h (relief 8 h) | 40 | 0 h |
Headcount is the floor with nobody absent. Add relief for vacation, sickness and turnover — the coverage calculator does it for any post. Not payroll or legal advice: overtime rules depend on the state and on how your workweek is defined.
The 2-2-3 (Pitman) schedule
Two days on, two off, three on; then two off, two on, three off. The cycle is 14 days. Crews A and B split the day shift, C and D the night shift, and each officer gets every other weekend off. With a Monday–Sunday workweek aligned to the table, weeks run 60 and 24 hours (10 hours of overtime a week on average); with a Sunday–Saturday workweek they run 48 and 36 (4 hours on average). The same pattern is often sold as the Panama schedule.
| Crew | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | D | D | – | – | D | D | D | – | – | D | D | – | – | – |
| B | – | – | D | D | – | – | – | D | D | – | – | D | D | D |
| C | N | N | – | – | N | N | N | – | – | N | N | – | – | – |
| D | – | – | N | N | – | – | – | N | N | – | – | N | N | N |
The 4-on 4-off schedule
Four 12-hour shifts, four days off, on an 8-day cycle, so the days of the week drift. In any 7-day workweek an officer works three or four shifts: 36 or 48 hours, half and half over eight weeks, which averages 4 hours of overtime a week whatever day the workweek starts. Weekends rotate rather than alternate.
| Crew | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | D | D | D | D | – | – | – | – |
| B | – | – | – | – | D | D | D | D |
| C | N | N | N | N | – | – | – | – |
| D | – | – | – | – | N | N | N | N |
The DuPont schedule
A 28-day rotation that moves every officer between days and nights: 4 nights, 3 off, 3 days, 1 off, 3 nights, 3 off, 4 days, then 7 days off. Four crews, each starting a week apart. The week off is the selling point; the price is a heavy stretch before it. Depending on the workweek start, an officer’s weeks range from 0 to 72 hours, and built-in overtime averages between 4 and 12 hours a week.
| Crew | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | N | N | N | N | – | – | – | D | D | D | – | N | N | N | – | – | – | D | D | D | D | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | N | N | N | N | – | – | – | D | D | D | – | N | N | N | – | – | – | D | D | D | D |
| C | – | – | – | D | D | D | D | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | N | N | N | N | – | – | – | D | D | D | – | N | N | N |
| D | D | D | D | – | N | N | N | – | – | – | D | D | D | D | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | N | N | N | N | – | – | – |
D = day shift, N = night shift, – = off. Every column has exactly one D and one N.
The 5-2 schedule with 8-hour shifts
Three 8-hour shifts a day, seven days: 21 shifts a week. Four full-time officers working five shifts each cover 20; the 21st goes to a relief officer, or becomes 8 hours of overtime every week. In the table, officers 1–3 hold fixed shifts, officer 4 is a swing officer covering their days off, and officer 5 is the relief. Every officer has two consecutive days off.
| Shift | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 07:00–15:00 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Evening 15:00–23:00 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Night 23:00–07:00 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Numbers are officers. Officer 1: 40 h · 2: 40 h · 3: 40 h · 4: 40 h (Sat–Sun days, Mon–Tue evenings, Wed night) · 5: 8 h.
Why does the 12-hour headcount stop at four?
Because 168 divided by 12 is 14 shifts a week, and four crews split them evenly at 3.5 shifts each — 42 hours. Four is the minimum that covers the post; it is not enough to cover a vacation. The moment one officer is out for a week, someone else’s week grows by three or four shifts, almost all of it at overtime. That is why companies running 12-hour rotations keep a relief pool across several posts rather than a fifth officer per post.
Questions about guard schedules
How many guards does a 24/7 post need?+
With one officer on duty, a week has 168 hours to cover. On 12-hour rotations that is four officers averaging 42 hours each; on 8-hour shifts it is 4.2 full-time equivalents, usually four full-time officers plus a relief officer for one shift a week. Both figures are the floor before anyone takes time off, calls in sick or quits.
Which 12-hour schedule is best for security guards?+
There is no single best. The 2-2-3 gives every other weekend off; 4-on 4-off gives the longest regular breaks but a rotating weekend; DuPont gives a full week off every four weeks at the cost of one very heavy week. All three need four officers per 24/7 post and average 42 hours.
Do 12-hour shifts create overtime?+
Under the federal 40-hour weekly rule, yes: an average of 42 hours means some weeks run past 40, typically by 8 hours. How much depends on the rotation and on the day your workweek starts. States with daily overtime rules, such as California, add overtime on every hour past 8 in a day, which changes the math for any 12-hour shift.
Is the template free?+
Yes, with no sign-up. Copy the tables into your spreadsheet, replace the crew letters with names, and adjust the start day. The coverage calculator linked on this page does the headcount math for posts that are not 24/7.
Does the day the workweek starts really change overtime?+
It does for 12-hour rotations. A 2-2-3 pattern can split as 36 and 48 hours, or as 24 and 60, depending only on where the 7-day workweek begins. The total hours are the same; the overtime is not. Check the workweek your payroll uses before you fix the rotation.
The rotation, without the spreadsheet
In CGuardPro you set each post’s rotation once — 12-hour lines, four-on four-off, days and nights — and the schedule is generated for you, with relief officers worked out for every scheduled day off. Officers see their shifts in the guard app, clock in with GPS and a selfie, and approved hours can go to Gusto as time sheets split into regular, overtime and double overtime by the federal weekly rule and California daily rules.