20 Types of Work Schedules Every Manager Needs To Know

Key Takeaways

1. Finding the right work schedule for your business can improve productivity, efficiency, and morale.
2. Before you decide on a work schedule, assess your business’s needs, identify core hours of operation, research your industry, and then try a trial run.
3. Determine the best work schedule for your business, such as standard, fixed, full-time, part-time, flex, and more.
4. Choose a type of work schedule that suits your particular business’s needs. This may look like adopting one of these 20 different types or combining some to customize even further.

Table of contents

• Why is the right work schedule so important?
• How do you choose the best work schedule for your business?
• 20 types of work schedules

Why is the right work schedule so important?

What’s the big deal about coming up with the exact right work schedule for your business?

One of the most important reasons is that it can vastly improve productivity. When you focus not only on finding the type of schedule that makes the most sense for the kind of business you run, but also on your employees’ needs, both can operate at their highest potential.

Employees who are well-rested, energized, and have a consistent and sustainable work/life balance are more efficient and produce higher-quality work.

The right work schedule can also create a sense of clarity for your employees. They understand the structure of the work week and know how they fit into it. This allows them to easily reach out to other employees when they need help or need to swap shifts.

How do you choose the best work schedule for your business?

Assess your organization’s needs

Does your business operate within a typical 9-to-5 timeframe? Do you need employees working around the clock? Or does your business have more of a project-by-project kind of structure? Answering these questions can help you determine what work schedule will work best for you.

Identify your core hours

What hours are the most critical in the life of your business? Is there a time of day when you need your employees to collaborate? Or a length of time? Do you have peak hours for your clients or customers?

Once you determine that critical time period, or core hours, you can set up a schedule that caters to that.

Do industry research

If you’re embarking on a new venture with your business, it’s in your best interest to do some research about your industry’s typical work schedule.

You won’t have to invent the wheel if you see what works well for other businesses in your line of work, and you’ll also be aligned with their daily work routines. Don’t discount your intuition, though, or your employees’ needs. Find a schedule that works best for you and your team.

Don’t be afraid to change the schedule

After doing your research and choosing what you think is the best schedule for your business, give it a try, but frame it as a trial run. It doesn’t have to be set in stone. If it works well off the bat, great! But if it doesn’t, get your employees’ feedback, think some more, and try again.

20 types of work schedules

Before we begin, it’s important to understand that many of these work schedule types are similar to one another. Each term may describe a slight difference in days or hours worked.

Because of these similarities and differences, you can combine individual work schedule types to create your own unique plan. For example, you could combine terms to develop a fixed part-time seasonal morning shift or a full-time rotating on-call shift.

It all depends on the needs of your business and the availability of your employees.

1) Standard

A standard business schedule is one where employees work set days (usually Monday through Friday) and set hours (usually 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). This is often referred to as a “9-to-5 work schedule.”

The standard work schedule is common enough that most employees will already be used to working those regular hours. Employees tend to like this standard schedule primarily because it’s easy to plan for: they know they will be working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

From an employer’s perspective, this type of schedule is one of the easiest to fit into a 24-hour day. And since most scheduling apps are built around this workday, you don’t have to force your software to fit another type of work schedule.

2) Fixed

Fixed is similar to the standard work schedule, with both set days and set hours, but diverges in its recognition of alternative work times, such as Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For employers, a fixed schedule allows for long-term planning and makes it easier to calculate labor costs. It also makes creating the schedule much simpler because the work hours are set from day to day, week to week, and month to month.

With a fixed schedule, you don’t have to change your regular template every time you make a new work schedule.

3) Full-time

A full-time work schedule type indicates that an employee will work 37-40 hours per week. They may work five 8-hour days, four 10-hour days, or six 6.5-hour days. The days worked don’t matter, just the total number of hours.

A full-time work schedule provides employers and employees with stability and predictability. Employees feel the sense of security that comes from a consistent routine, a steady income, and an assortment of employee benefits. Working full-time also makes it easier to advance in your career.

On the flip side, working a full-time schedule limits flexibility and can sometimes shift the weight toward the work side of the work/life balance.

For employers, when you run a team where all employees work full-time, it can be difficult and costly to find someone to work overtime.

With all full-time employees, you may encounter a dilemma in which you need a few hours of extra work but can’t find any volunteers, or don’t want to pay overtime, and the workload doesn’t warrant hiring a new employee.

4) Part-time

A part-time work schedule is one in which an employee works fewer than full-time hours. Because of the reduced hours, employees may only work two or three days per week and may not work a typical eight-hour day.

This kind of schedule works well for certain types of businesses (e.g., restaurants and coffee shops) but can create extra headaches for other types of businesses (e.g., offices and call centers).

For managers, a team composed of only part-time employees means that you’ll have to deal with a larger pool of individuals when creating your schedule. That’s not always a bad thing, but it can make sorting through availability a major undertaking.

5) Shift

Another of the more common work schedule types, shift work is usually reserved for businesses that operate more than 10 hours in a single day.

If a business stays open around the clock (24 hours), it will usually set up a first shift (e.g., 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.), a second shift (e.g., 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.), and a night, or third, shift (e.g., 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.).

Depending on your business, shift work means your employees will be required to work what might be considered irregular hours. Early or late shifts are ideal for employees who are going to school or caring for their families or sick relatives, but most people would rather work a more “normal” 9-to-5 schedule.

6) Freelance

A freelance schedule is relatively new amongst work schedule types. Essentially, a freelancer can work whenever they choose as long as the work gets done by a set deadline.

For an employer, incorporating a freelance type of work schedule means that you relinquish a great deal of control over when your “employee” works. However, if you find a person you can trust to get the job done correctly and on time, a freelance schedule can be a smart way to go.

A freelancer can offer you specialized expertise targeted at specific tasks or projects within your business. They’re often flexible, and they can save you money on benefits, taxes, and office space.

But if your freelancer isn’t focused or you don’t want to give up control of when your employees work, this type of schedule may not be right for you.

7) Unpredictable

An unpredictable work schedule changes from week to week in an erratic manner (i.e., not following a regular pattern).

Many states have laws regulating and even prohibiting unpredictable work schedule types, and unpredictable work schedules are difficult for both employees and employers.

For employees, it’s almost impossible to plan activities outside of work (e.g., doctor’s appointments, childcare, etc.) because they have no idea when they will work next.

For employers, an unpredictable type of work schedule requires recreating your template from scratch every time.

8) Seasonal

A seasonal work schedule is in effect for only a few months of the year. Typical seasonal work schedule types include holiday (November through December) and summer (June, July, and August).

For businesses that are only open for a few months of the year or need to hire extra personnel during the holidays, a seasonal schedule is ideal. But hiring seasonal employees means you’ll have to fill your already-busy schedule with interviewing, onboarding, and training.

9) Flex

On a flex schedule, you require your employees to work specific core hours (e.g., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) in a specific place (e.g., the office). The employee can then work their remaining hours when and where they want.

A flex work schedule is a wonderful benefit you can offer your employees. But it can make organizing team meetings and other group functions extremely difficult because your employees are coming and going as they please outside of the core hours.

If you encounter an emergency and need to rally the troops, you may have to send out emails or texts rather than meeting face-to-face.

10) Alternate

An alternate work schedule is a broad term that refers to any work schedule different from the one used by others in your business. Alternate schedules are usually implemented to accommodate employee needs (e.g., pregnancy, medical requirements, family issues).

An alternate work schedule means that you have to hire a new employee to take the place of (or make up for) the hours the original employee vacated. Alternate work schedules are usually temporary but can become regular if the issues that necessitated the new hire persist.

11) Compressed

A compressed work schedule is one in which employees work the same number of hours in fewer days when compared to the standard “9-to-5” model. An example might be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

This kind of work schedule provides fixed work hours, which makes it easier to plan and predict labor costs. Compressed schedules also give employees a better work/life balance because they know they will have an extra day off every week to take care of personal issues.

12) Rotating

A rotating work schedule usually applies to shift work. It is set up so that employees work the first shift one week, the second shift the next, and the third shift the following week. You can also rotate shifts from day to day.

The downside of a rotating work schedule is that employees suffer from decreased engagement because their work hours never stabilize.

For certain professions (e.g., nursing, police officers, fire fighters), a rotating work schedule is a necessary part of the job, but for other professions, it can cause more problems than it attempts to solve.

13) Split

A split work schedule means that an employee may work a few hours at one point during the day, have several hours off, and then work the rest of their hours during another part of the day.

For example, an employee might work from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., be off for five hours, and then finish working from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A split type of work schedule can be unduly difficult for your employees. Local, state, and federal laws often dictate the minimum amount of time between two split shifts, which means your employee will have to leave your business and then return several hours later.

For some employees, this may allow them to pick up children from school or take care of personal issues. But it also means that they have to deal with two separate commutes.
That alone can cause undue stress and make a split shift less than ideal.

14) On-call

An on-call schedule is one where the employee is available to work any time, day or night, as the employer demands. On-call work schedules typically rotate between employees so that one person doesn’t have to work all the time.

Most employers use an on-call work schedule to plan for emergencies or to prepare for no-call, no-show employees.

Physicians often work one on-call day or weekend per month in case an emergency arises. For other businesses, you might set up an on-call schedule in case the regularly scheduled employee gets sick or can’t make it in.

15) Overtime

An overtime schedule means working more than the standard full-time hours each week. Wages for overtime work are usually higher than those for hours fewer than 40 (e.g., time-and-a-half or double time).

You may find that overtime is necessary during big projects or during certain times of the year. But employers avoid overtime whenever possible because it gets very expensive very quickly.

In some cases, employers will ask one or two employees to work a few hours of overtime here and there to keep labor costs low while still covering the hours necessary to get the job done.

16) No set schedule

In this type of work schedule, the employee has a set of responsibilities and tasks they have to complete, but you, the employer, don’t dictate the hours they must work.

For example, if the employee can finish their assignments in less than a full 40-hour work week, they can take the rest of the week off. Similarly, with no set schedule, they could opt to work early in the morning or late at night.

No set schedule is similar to a freelance schedule in that the employee decides when to work, but it differs in that the employee usually reports to your office to perform their work.

For employees, having no set schedule can motivate them to get their work done early in the week in order to have an extra day off. But it takes a focused and driven type of employee to make this schedule work because there is so much freedom involved.

For employers, this type of work schedule can provide the work/life balance many employees are looking for and result in a much happier team.

The downside for employers is that no set schedule is incredibly difficult to track, making it tough to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth for the work done.

17) 2-2-3

The 2-2-3 schedule (a.k.a. the Panama schedule) is a complex system for maintaining 24-hour, seven-day-a-week employee coverage that balances long employee shifts by giving all employees regular two- or three-day periods of time off and equitably distributing night shifts.

Here’s how it works:

• Week One: Team A works two 12-hour day shifts, followed by two days off, followed by three more 12-hour day shifts.
• Week Two: Team A starts the week with two days off, followed by tw- day shifts, and then three more days off.
• Week Three: Team A works two 12-hour night shifts, followed by two nights off, followed by three more 12-hour night shifts.
• Week Four: Team A starts the week with two nights off, followed by two night shifts, and then three more nights off.

To achieve full coverage, your business would rotate three other teams (or individuals) through the same pattern but offset by one week (e.g., Team A is on week one, Team B is on week two, Team C is on week three, and Team D is on week four).

18) Pitman

The Pitman is a common variation of the 2-2-3 schedule that some businesses use to maintain round-the-clock operational status.

It’s about 98% the same as the 2-2-3 type of work schedule, with one big difference: the teams or individuals don’t swap day and night shifts.

The Pitman runs on a two-week cycle that looks like this:

• Week One:
  • Team A works two 12-hour day shifts, has two days off, and works three 12-hour day shifts.
  • Team B works two 12-hour night shifts, has two nights off, and works three 12-hour night shifts.
  • Team C has two days off, works two 12-hour day shifts, and then has three days off.
  • Team D has two nights off, works two 12-hour night shifts, and then has three nights off.
• Week Two:
  • Team A has two days off, works two 12-hour day shifts, and has three days off.
  • Team B has two nights off, works two 12-hour night shifts, and has three nights off.
  • Team C works two 12-hour day shifts, has two days off, and then works three 12-hour day shifts.
  • Team D works two 12-hour night shifts, has two nights off, and then works three 12-hour night shifts.
  • After week two, the cycle starts over so that Teams A and C always work the day shifts and Teams B and D always work the night shifts.

For more information on the pros and cons of the Pitman schedule, check out this article from the Sling blog: Pitman Schedule: How it Works, Pros, Cons & Best Practices.

19) DuPont

The DuPont schedule is another variation of the 2-2-3 schedule, wherein work hours revolve around 12-hour shifts instead of eight-hour shifts.

Within the DuPont schedule itself, teams rotate through a 28-day cycle with the following characteristics:

• Week One: Team A works four (12-hour) day shifts followed by three days off.
• Week Two: Team A works three-day shifts followed by one day off and then three night shifts.
• Week Three: Team A gets three nights off, followed by four-day shifts
• Week Four: Team A gets seven consecutive days and nights off

Like the 2-2-3 schedule, you can achieve full coverage by rotating three other teams through the same four weeks but offset from each other by one week (e.g., Team A is on week one, Team B is on week two, Team C is on week three, and Team D is on week four).

20) 9/80

The 9/80 type of work schedule has employees working a total of eight nine-hour days, one eight-hour day, and one day off spread over a two-workweek period so they amass 80 hours of nine work days (not counting Saturdays and Sundays).

That can be hard to visualize, so here’s a breakdown of how it all works:

Week One

• Monday: 7-12 and 1-5 with an unpaid lunch break in-between (9 hours total)
• Tuesday: Same
• Wednesday: Same
• Thursday: Same (for a total of 36 hours)
• Friday: 8-12 (first week ends) + 1-5 (second week starts)
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: Off

Week Two

• Monday: 7-12 and 1-5 with an unpaid lunch break in between (9 hours total)
• Tuesday: Same
• Wednesday: Same
• Thursday: Same (for a total of 40 hours, including the four hours worked the previous Friday)
• Friday: Off
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: Off

For more information about the benefits and challenges of this type of schedule, take a few minutes to read this article from the Sling blog: 9/80 Work Schedule: What It Is, Its Benefits And Challenges, And How To Get Started.

Handle all types of work schedules with Sling

Choosing the right work schedule for your business takes time and thought. But once you make that hard decision, Sling makes implementing it easy! A specialized suite of software tools, it makes quick work of even the most complicated work schedules thanks to its flexibility and built-in artificial intelligence.

For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com today.

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

Frequently asked questions

Can you have multiple kinds of work schedules within the same business?

Yes, definitely. Different roles within one business might be best served with different work schedule types. For example, in a hospital, you might have nurses who work a rotating shift schedule, while administrators work a standard 9-to-5, five-day work week.

What is job sharing?

Job sharing is when two or more employees share the same position in a business, dividing the work hours for that position between them. It’s typically done for a full-time position, so each employee works part-time.

Two employees can also job share if they have separate part-time assignments in a business, but share the same budget line.

Job sharing is sometimes implemented when an employer wants to bring new employees on board, but doesn’t want to lose old ones. A typical situation might be an employee who becomes a parent and wants to reduce their hours to be with their child.

What are Fair Workweek Laws?

Fair Workweek Laws are legislation that tries to improve the quality of work schedules for employees. They include advance notice of schedules, compensation for last-minute schedule changes, compensation for split shifts, and 10 hours of rest between opening and closing shifts.

Fair Workweek Laws are also called predictive scheduling laws, and you can find them in 11 cities, 1 county, and 1 state in the United States.

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