ScheduleFlowLab · Fixed-cycle shift planning
2-2-3 Schedule Generator: Build Your 14-Day Rotation
See the complete repeating 2-on, 2-off, 3-on shift pattern in a real dated calendar. Plan four day/night crews, adjust individual dates without changing the base cycle, and export a rota your team can review.
Four-Crew Rotation Calendar
Click any crew/date card to edit; drag a working assignment onto another date in the same crew to move it as an exception.
Your dated rotation
Four crews · one day and one night assignment per date before exceptions
| Date | Cycle | Day A | Day B | Night C | Night D | Coverage |
|---|
Anchor once; the repeating 14-day sequence continues across months, leap years and year boundaries.
Leave, training and manual swaps are date-specific overrides, not silent edits to every future rotation.
Keep your browser copy, download a full-fidelity JSON backup or create a signed-in cloud snapshot.
WHAT THIS GENERATOR DOES
One 2-2-3 cycle. Four named crews. Dates that make sense.
Build a fixed 2-2-3 day-and-night rotation from the actual cycle anchor. Each crew repeats seven work dates and seven off dates in fourteen. Day crews A and B alternate against one another, while night crews C and D alternate for the overnight window. Customize exceptions only where real staffing changes occur, then audit whether each date retains the planned day and night assignments.
Visible cycle logic
Understand the alternating two-day and three-day blocks instead of accepting an unexplained calendar.
Four-crew map
Separate day and night shifts with paired inverse crews. Rename the crews to match the workplace.
Editable exceptions
Change a single shift to leave, training, off or work; move a planned assignment by dragging.
Cross-midnight exports
Night events end on the following date. Calendar downloads contain real start and end timestamps.
COMPLETE USER GUIDE
How to build and edit a 2-2-3 shift schedule
Use the controls in this order. The reference rotation is a planning model: the correct phase, crew structure and staffing decisions must always come from the workplace's actual approved roster.
Match cycle day 1 to a verified real date
Cycle day 1 is the first work date in the sequence W W O O W W W O O W W O O O. Enter a known date when Crew A started that sequence. The display start is separate: it can be earlier or later than the anchor. A wrong anchor shifts every subsequent work and off day, so check at least two known dates against your existing rota.
Generate a fortnight or a longer rotation
Choose 14, 28, 42, 56, 84 or 365 dates. The tool derives each date's cycle index using calendar-day arithmetic rather than counting a fixed number of milliseconds, avoiding erroneous phase changes at daylight-saving boundaries. The displayed window does not alter the underlying cycle.
Enter the start times and shift length
Use the day-start, night-start and duration fields for the normal roster. A typical example is 07:00–19:00 for days and 19:00–07:00 for nights, each 12 scheduled elapsed hours. Times are interpreted in the browser's local timezone; confirm this matches the work location before exporting. This page does not calculate paid breaks, wages or overtime.
Read all four crews without mixing patterns
Before exceptions, A and C follow the base work/off pattern; B and D follow its inverse. A/B are day crews, C/D are night crews. This fixed version does not automatically swap day and night duties after two or four weeks. If your workplace uses a separate rotating Panama configuration, do not assume the fixed results match it.
Record leave, training or a one-off replacement
Select any crew tile on a date to open the assignment editor. Choose Work, Off, Leave or Training, then adjust the time, label and note. The orange marker identifies an override. Removing an override restores the exact original 2-2-3 pattern for that crew/date, without changing the rest of the calendar.
Reschedule safely with an explicit exception
Drag a working crew card onto a different date for the same crew to move that assignment; the original date becomes Off and the new date becomes Work. The tool refuses to overwrite an already-working destination. To lengthen or shorten a particular duty, open the card and change its duration directly. Undo can reverse the most recent changes.
Look for one scheduled day and one night crew
The coverage check counts Work assignments in the A/B and C/D pairs for each displayed date. A warning appears when either pair has zero or two working crews. Leave and training do not count as operational Work coverage. This is a pattern-consistency check, not an assessment of required headcount, skill mix, relief, patient acuity or legal staffing adequacy.
Read work, time off and changes accurately
Choose a crew in the Statistics selector. Work dates multiply by that assignment's actual duration for scheduled hours. Off and Leave are counted separately from Training. In a complete unmodified 14-day cycle with seven 12-hour duties, the simple scheduled average is 42 hours weekly, but calendar-week totals and overtime treatment can differ.
Choose CSV, iCalendar, JSON or print
CSV includes every displayed crew/date status. ICS creates dated Work and Training appointments using local browser times converted to timestamped events; select one crew or all crews. Print/PDF produces a printable grid. JSON is the most complete backup because it also contains anchor, crew names, exceptions and tool settings.
Use local autosave and optional cloud snapshots
Changes save locally on this device. A signed-in user can choose Save to My Schedules to create a new cloud snapshot under their account. This does not silently delete or overwrite an older cloud roster. The separate My Schedules page can show the exported work events, but it may not render every generator-specific exception; keep the JSON backup for full-fidelity recovery.
14-DAY PATTERN EXAMPLE
The work/off math behind 2-2-3
84hSeven work shifts × 12 hours in a complete 14-day cycle. Divide across two weeks for an average of 42 scheduled hours a week. The individual week can contain five shifts followed by two, depending on cycle alignment. Rest time, overtime obligations, breaks and staffing requirements need separate verification.
In this fixed configuration, the inverse pair covers the dates when the first crew is off. Two such pairs—one day, one night—provide a daily pattern of working crews before absences and exceptions, but do not by themselves verify qualifications or staff headcount.
2-2-3 SCHEDULE FAQS
Questions before you publish a rotation
These answers cover the exact algorithm, editing controls and data limitations of this tool. Scheduling managers remain responsible for applying local policies and verifying coverage.
What does 2-2-3 mean in a shift schedule?
It describes repeating blocks of two working dates, two off, three working, two off, two working and three off. The complete sequence has fourteen dates and seven working dates for an individual crew.
Does a 2-2-3 rotation always use twelve-hour shifts?
Twelve-hour duties are common in continuous operations, but this generator lets you configure a different shift duration. Changing the duration affects scheduled hours and exported appointments; it does not change the work/off sequence.
Why are there four crews?
In this fixed model, two inversely patterned crews alternate the day shift and two alternate the night shift. The four-crew layout is a scheduling example, not proof that four people are sufficient to staff a real operation.
Is 2-2-3 the same as Pitman or Panama?
These names can share the same 14-day work/off cadence, but employers may use different phase anchors and day/night rotation rules. This page explicitly implements a fixed day/night four-crew model. Check the relevant named-pattern page for its specific convention rather than assuming identical results.
What happens when I drag a shift to a different date?
The selected crew receives two local overrides: the source date is set Off and the target date Work with the moved duty's time and duration. Other crews and the base 14-day cycle are unchanged. The coverage audit may flag the resulting dates.
Can I add vacation, training or an unscheduled shift?
Yes. Open a crew/date tile, change its status to Leave, Training, Off or Work, and enter notes as needed. Leave and Training are not counted as regular coverage Work assignments. An override can be removed to restore the calculated original status.
Does the schedule support night shifts across midnight?
Yes. An evening duty uses a dated start and an elapsed duration; a twelve-hour night beginning at 19:00 ends the following morning. Review clocks and time zones when importing ICS events into a calendar.
Will this calculate legal overtime and mandatory breaks?
No. Scheduled hours are not pay hours, and this generator does not apply labor laws, overtime premiums, holiday multipliers, meal/rest requirements or union agreements. Verify these separately with the applicable policies.
Can my browser schedule be restored?
The current plan saves on this device and includes a JSON Backup/Restore option. This is more complete than CSV or ICS for recovering settings and overrides. Clearing browser storage removes the guest copy unless you kept a backup.
Does Save to My Schedules overwrite an earlier rotation?
No. Each click creates a new signed-in snapshot in the existing account schedules and events structure. This protects previously saved cloud versions; you can manage old snapshots on the dedicated My Schedules page.
Why does the coverage indicator show a warning?
One day crew and one night crew should be marked Work for each displayed date in this four-crew demonstration model. An override may create a gap or double-book the shift window. The warning is a pattern audit, not a clinical or legal staffing-safety conclusion.
Does dragging modify the future repeating rotation?
No. Dragging creates date-specific exceptions. To shift the whole future sequence, change the rotation anchor date; use separate exceptions for individual swaps, training or absences.
CREATE A REAL ROTATION
A 2-2-3 calendar your team can actually review and customize
Start with the correct fourteen-day anchor, inspect all four crews, make explicit exceptions, then export the dates for an authorized scheduling review.