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12-Hour Shift Calculator: Hours, Overtime and Pay
Enter your shifts, the unpaid break and your rate to get paid hours, overtime and gross pay for 12-hour shifts. A 12-hour shift with a 30-minute unpaid meal is 11.5 paid hours. Four of them in one week make 46 hours, with 6 of them over 40. The calendar tab lays the same shifts out on a 2-2-3 or 4-on/4-off rotation.
The selected first day establishes the rotation phase. Actual employer schedules may use a different crew phase or rotation setup.
Enter your shift length, unpaid break and weekly overtime line to see your hours and estimated gross pay. For one shift with more than one break, try the break time calculator.
Quick answer: A 12-hour shift is 12 hours on the clock. Paid time is 12 hours minus any unpaid meal break, so a 30-minute unpaid break leaves 11.5 paid hours. Multiply by your shifts in the week for the weekly total. Federal FLSA overtime starts after 40 hours in a workweek, not after 8 or 12 hours in a day.
This page builds one person's rotation and estimates hours and pay. It is not a four-crew roster, a staffing plan or legal overtime advice. Your employer's workweek may start on a day other than Monday. For a full printable 2-2-3 rota by crew, the Panama 2-2-3 shift schedule and the other 12-hour shift schedules show every crew's days for a whole year.
Worked example: a nurse on a 2-2-3 rotation
Picture a nurse on a 2-2-3 rotation that starts on a Monday. Each shift is 12 hours with a 30-minute unpaid meal. She earns $22.00 an hour, with overtime after 40 hours a week.
Every shift gives her 11.5 paid hours. In the long week she works Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Those five shifts add up to 57.5 hours, so 40 are regular and 17.5 are overtime. That week pays $880.00 at the normal rate and $577.50 at $33.00 an hour, for $1,457.50.
The short week has only Wednesday and Thursday. Those two shifts make 23 hours, all regular, and pay $506.00. Across the two weeks she is paid for 80.5 hours, an average of 40.25 a week.
Result: 57.50 hours with 17.50 overtime in week 1, then 23.00 hours in week 2; $1,963.50 estimated gross for the cycle.
12-hour shift reference table
| Shifts / week | Unpaid break per shift | On the clock | Paid | Regular | Overtime | Gross at $22/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 shifts | 0 min | 36.00 | 36.00 | 36.00 | 0.00 | $792.00 |
| 4 shifts | 0 min | 48.00 | 48.00 | 40.00 | 8.00 | $1,144.00 |
| 5 shifts | 0 min | 60.00 | 60.00 | 40.00 | 20.00 | $1,540.00 |
| 6 shifts | 0 min | 72.00 | 72.00 | 40.00 | 32.00 | $1,936.00 |
| 7 shifts | 0 min | 84.00 | 84.00 | 40.00 | 44.00 | $2,332.00 |
| 3 shifts | 30 min | 36.00 | 34.50 | 34.50 | 0.00 | $759.00 |
| 4 shifts | 30 min | 48.00 | 46.00 | 40.00 | 6.00 | $1,078.00 |
| 5 shifts | 30 min | 60.00 | 57.50 | 40.00 | 17.50 | $1,457.50 |
| 6 shifts | 30 min | 72.00 | 69.00 | 40.00 | 29.00 | $1,837.00 |
| 7 shifts | 30 min | 84.00 | 80.50 | 40.00 | 40.50 | $2,216.50 |
| 3 shifts | 60 min | 36.00 | 33.00 | 33.00 | 0.00 | $726.00 |
| 4 shifts | 60 min | 48.00 | 44.00 | 40.00 | 4.00 | $1,012.00 |
| 5 shifts | 60 min | 60.00 | 55.00 | 40.00 | 15.00 | $1,375.00 |
| 6 shifts | 60 min | 72.00 | 66.00 | 40.00 | 26.00 | $1,738.00 |
| 7 shifts | 60 min | 84.00 | 77.00 | 40.00 | 37.00 | $2,101.00 |
Hours per pay period and per month on 12s
A 2-2-3 rotation repeats every 14 days and holds 7 shifts. That lines up with a biweekly pay period. With no unpaid breaks, each period carries 84 hours. With a 30-minute unpaid meal on every shift, it carries 80.5 paid hours.
Even so, the paycheck is not split evenly. Overtime is counted week by week, so the five-shift week earns overtime and the two-shift week does not. Two weeks of 57.5 and 23 hours are not treated as two weeks of 40.25.
Over a month, a 2-2-3 rotation averages a little over 15 shifts. Some months hold 14 shifts and others hold 16, depending on where the cycle falls. Three 12s a week, the common nursing pattern, comes to about 13 shifts a month.
Overtime and breaks on 12-hour shifts in California
Federal law looks only at the week. A state can add a daily rule on top. California pays overtime after 8 hours in a workday and double time after 12. So a 12-hour day there usually carries 4 overtime hours. The main exception is an employer with a valid alternative workweek schedule. Use the daily rule on the overtime calculator to split such a day.
Federal law does not require meal breaks at all. Some states do. California requires a 30-minute meal period on shifts over 5 hours and a second one on shifts over 10 hours, with limited waivers. Check your own state's rules and your contract.
12-hour shift hours in Excel or Google Sheets
Put the shifts worked in B2, the shift length in hours in C2 and the unpaid break minutes in D2. Your hourly rate goes in F1.
| What you want | Formula |
|---|---|
| Paid hours for one shift | =C2-D2/60 |
| Paid hours for the week (in E2) | =B2*(C2-D2/60) |
| Regular hours, up to 40 | =MIN(40,E2) |
| Overtime hours | =MAX(0,E2-40) |
| Gross pay with time and a half | =MIN(40,E2)*F1+MAX(0,E2-40)*F1*1.5 |
| Shift hours from start in G2 and end in H2, overnight safe | =MOD(H2-G2,1)*24 |
Keep one row per workweek. Adding two weeks together before the overtime step would hide the overtime from the long week.
Common mistakes
- Averaging a rotation. A 2-2-3 schedule averages about 40 paid hours a week, but the long week can carry 17.5 overtime hours. Overtime is figured per workweek.
- Assuming 12-hour days earn daily overtime everywhere. Federal law has no daily overtime. Some states do, such as California after 8 hours in a workday, and contracts may add more.
- Forgetting the break on every shift. Three 30-minute unpaid breaks remove 1.5 hours from a 36-hour week.
- Ignoring handover time. If you stay 15 minutes past the shift for report, enter 12.25 hours. Time spent working counts as hours worked.
- Expecting 4-on/4-off to give the same hours every week. It is an 8-day cycle, so a week has 3 or 4 shifts. That is 34.50 or 46.00 paid hours with a 30-minute break.
12-hour shift questions
Three 12-hour shifts: how many hours is that?
On the clock it is 36. Many employers take a 30-minute unpaid meal from each shift, so a nurse working three 12s gets paid for 34.5 hours and no overtime.
What about four 12-hour shifts in a week?
The clock shows 48 hours and the pay slip shows 46, because of the meals. Six of those 46 hours fall past the 40-hour line, so they are paid as overtime.
What does a 12-hour shift with a 30-minute break pay?
It pays 11.5 hours if the break is unpaid, or the full 12 if your employer pays for meals.
How is pay worked out for 12-hour shifts?
Add the paid hours for the workweek. The first 40 earn the normal rate and the rest earn one and a half times as much. On $22.00 an hour, 46 hours earn $880.00 plus $198.00, which is $1,078.00.
Does a 12-hour shift earn overtime on its own?
Not under federal law. The FLSA only counts hours over 40 in the workweek. California and a few other states add a daily rule, and union contracts often go further.
What is a 2-2-3 or Pitman schedule?
It is a 14-day cycle: two days on, two off, three on, two off, two on and three off. A cycle that starts on a Monday gives five 12-hour days in the first week and two in the second. Over the fortnight that averages 42 hours a week before breaks.
Does overtime carry across the 14-day cycle?
It does not. This page splits overtime for each Monday to Sunday week, so the five-shift week shows overtime even when the next week is short. For daily overtime after 8 or 12 hours, switch to the overtime calculator.
How does a 4 on 4 off schedule work?
Four 12-hour shifts are followed by four days off, and the pattern repeats every 8 days. Because 8 does not divide into a 7-day week, some weeks hold three shifts and others four.
Sources
- The weekly 40-hour overtime rule, and the point that weeks are not averaged, come from the U.S. Department of Labor page on overtime pay.
- California's daily overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12 are set out in the California Labor Commissioner's overtime FAQ.
Cite this page
APA: ClockTotals. (2026, October 16). 12-Hour Shift Calculator: Hours, Overtime and Pay. https://clocktotals.com/12-hour-shift-calculator/
MLA: “12-Hour Shift Calculator: Hours, Overtime and Pay.” ClockTotals, 16 Oct. 2026, clocktotals.com/12-hour-shift-calculator/.
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