DuPont Shift Schedule: 12-Hour Rotating Calendar

How the DuPont schedule works

The DuPont schedule runs a 28-day cycle: 4 night shifts, 3 off, 3 day shifts, 1 off, 3 nights, 3 off, 4 days, then a full 7 days off. Each crew both works days and nights within the cycle, and four crews offset by a week keep the plant covered 24/7. Over the 28 days each crew works 14 twelve-hour shifts — 42 hours a week on average — and the standout feature is the whole week off at the end of every rotation.

Who uses the DuPont pattern

A classic in chemical and petrochemical plants (it originated at DuPont), oil refineries, power generation, and other continuous-process manufacturing.

Plan the DuPont cycle around its long recovery block

The seven-day break is the visible attraction of a DuPont rotation, but it should not be treated as spare capacity. Review the complete 28 days, including the four-night and four-day runs, before scheduling training, overtime, or maintenance. A task that appears easy to place in one week can collide with the next crew transition when you look at the whole cycle.

DuPont moves each crew from nights to days within one cycle, so the handover standard must be explicit. Record what must be transferred, where it is recorded, when it is reviewed, and who owns an unresolved issue. Build in any overlap required by the operation rather than relying on two 12-hour shifts ending and starting at the same minute.

Use a published crew reference date and label changes separately from the base pattern. If holiday cover, leave, or a shutdown requires an exception, show the exception and who approved it. This preserves a readable repeating structure for employees while giving the manager an auditable source of truth.

• The full 28-day cycle has been checked for roles, leave, and known events.
• Day-to-night and night-to-day handovers have a written operating process.
• Training and maintenance are planned against the full cycle, not only the seven-day break.
• Changes are visible exceptions with a date and approver.

Pattern comparison

If you are deciding between nearby options, compare the weekly hours, longest work run, and biggest off block before you standardise the rota.

A shorter longest work run usually feels safer and easier to recover from. A longer off block is better for commute-heavy or remote teams, but often comes with a tougher on block just before it.