# Rotations

A rotation puts crews on a repeating cycle, such as four on four off, across a site's shift patterns, and writes the shifts. Pick a preset, name the crews, check the next eight weeks and roll out. A daily job keeps it filled ahead. Changes you make by hand are kept, and Working Time problems are named before anything is written.

## Who can do this?

| To | Needs | Default roles |
|---|---|---|
| See a site's rotations | `sites.view.details` | Admin, Manager, Control |
| Set up, change or roll out a rotation | `shifts.edit.pattern_days` | Admin, Manager |

Rotations are for an organisation's own sites. You also need an active subscription to save or roll out.

## What is a rotation?

A [shift pattern](/docs/organisation/recurring-shift-patterns) says what cover a site needs. It does not create shifts. A rotation says who works it: crews repeating one cycle of work and rest, each starting at a different point, and it writes those shifts on the roster.

Each crew holds as many officers as the busiest pattern needs, so a day pattern of 2 staff makes crews of two.

## How do I set one up?

Patterns come first. A rotation has nothing to work without them.

1. Open the site's **Shift Pattern Builder**. **Rotations** is under the patterns.
2. Press **Set up rotation** and pick a preset, or **Custom** for a blank cycle.
3. Check which of the site's patterns each shift means, then press **Continue**. If a shift shows *Early has no pattern*, press **Change** to choose one, or **Add a pattern**, which closes the designer.
4. Check the grid, then press **Continue**. Press a day to change it. Crews share one cycle, so a change on one row moves along the others.
5. Put officers on the crews. See [How do I name the crews?](#how-do-i-name-the-crews)
6. Check the next eight weeks, then press **Roll out**.

**Save** keeps the rotation without rolling it out. Nothing reaches the roster until you roll out.

You can also do this while creating a site: after you pick a coverage tier, **Staff it now** offers the presets that tier can run. See [Create your first site](/docs/organisation/create-your-first-site).

## Which presets are there?

| Preset | Cycle | Crews | Average | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **4 on 4 off, days** | 8 days | 2 | 42h | One day post, seven days a week |
| **4 on 4 off, days and nights** | 16 days | 4 | 42h | One post around the clock |
| **3 days, 3 nights, 3 off** | 9 days | 3 | 56h | Around the clock. Each officer needs an opt-out |
| **5 on 2 off** | 7 days | 1 | 60h | Monday to Friday. Start on a Monday |
| **Nights, Monday to Friday** | 7 days | 1 | 60h | Start on a Monday |
| **Nights, Sunday to Thursday** | 7 days | 1 | 60h | Start on a Monday |
| **Continental, 8 hours** | 28 days | 4 | 42h | Needs early, late and night patterns |
| **DuPont** | 28 days | 4 | 42h | Seven days off each cycle. One week reaches 72 hours |

The average assumes the preset's usual shift length. The designer works out the real figure from your patterns.

## How do I read the grid?

Each row is a crew, and each column is a day of the cycle from the start date. Chips show **D** day, **E** early, **L** late, **N** night and **O** off.

| Under the grid | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| **Cover** row | ✓ every seat is covered that day. **−1** one seat short. **+1** one seat doubled. Each figure is the worst date that cycle day lands on |
| **Officers needed** | Weekly post hours divided by the average |
| **Average a week** | Hours per officer, across the crews that work |
| **Longest run** | Most shifts in a row |
| **Shortest rest** | Least rest between two shifts |

## What do the findings mean?

The rotation is checked against the Working Time Regulations before any shift is written.

| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Must fix** | Roll-out is refused until this is cleared. Under 11 hours of rest is the usual cause, because the cycle would repeat it |
| **Warning** | More than four long shifts in a row, short weekly rest, an average over 48 hours with no opt-out, or a night average over 8 hours |
| **Note** | Lawful, but worth knowing: one heavy week under a compliant average, or rest that reg 21 disapplies, where reg 24 compensatory rest is owed |

You can save a rotation with a **Must fix**, because the officers you add can change the answer.

## How do I name the crews?

The list on the right fills the next open seat, so four names fill four crews. To change a seat, select it and pick again. Each name shows that person's hours for the week.

**Start date** puts crew A on day 1 of the cycle on that date. It defaults to next Monday. Each crew shows where it sits, such as *On day 5 of 16 on 9 Nov*. **Starts on day** moves a crew along the cycle, and **Add crew** adds one.

An officer's own date beside their name holds them back until then. The seat stays open until it arrives.

## What does Roll out do?

It saves the rotation and writes its shifts up to 12 weeks ahead, through the same checks as adding a shift by hand. If your organisation [publishes rosters as drafts](/docs/organisation/publish-the-roster), they are drafts until someone publishes them. Otherwise officers see them at once, and each gets one message.

You can run it again safely. It adds what is missing and never doubles a shift.

These are left out and named on the result, with the reason:

- a seat someone else already holds
- a date the officer has approved leave
- an officer who has left, or whose SIA licence has run out by then
- a shift that has already started
- a date you removed by hand
- a shift with a clash or a Working Time warning

A left-out seat stays open, so **Fill gaps** on the roster lists it. Fill gaps offers the rotation's own crew for cover, as well as anyone linked to the site. To add a row with a Working Time warning anyway, give a reason on the result and press **Add them anyway**. The reason is kept on the record.

## How does it stay filled?

Each night a job extends every rolled-out rotation to its 12 weeks. It follows your drafts setting and sends no messages, because a new date 12 weeks away is not worth telling anyone about. Officers see those shifts on their schedule.

It leaves alone a rotation nobody has rolled out. Dates it cannot fill stay open and are not tried again. If the card's **Rolled out to** date stops moving, open **Roll out** to see why.

## What if I change a shift by hand?

Your change wins.

| You | What happens |
|---|---|
| Change the officer or the times | The shift leaves the rotation and stays as you left it |
| Edit only the notes | It stays in the rotation |
| Delete or cancel it | The date stays removed, and the rotation does not put it back |
| Book leave on it | The seat opens for cover, as on any shift |

The roster marks a rotation's own shifts with the crew and day, such as **B · 6/16**. A shift that has left the rotation loses the mark.

To bring removed dates back, open **Roll out** and press **Re-roll**. It tells you how many dates it restores before it does anything.

## How do I replace an officer?

On a rotation with shifts, press **Replace** beside their name, pick the new officer and a date, then press **Review**.

It shows the count first: *Move 18 shifts from Jane Doe to Sam Lee from 1 Dec?* Shifts someone has edited stay with the old officer and are listed, as are any the new officer cannot work. Press **Move shifts** to confirm. Both people are told about published shifts, and nobody is told about drafts.

## Can I change a rotation after rolling it out?

Only its name and its officers. The cycle, the patterns behind it, the start date and the crew positions are locked, because shifts already follow them. For a different cycle, set up a new rotation.

If you edit a pattern, the rotation moves to the new version on its own.

## If it goes wrong

| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Continue** is greyed out on the patterns step | A shift the cycle uses has no pattern. Choose one or add one |
| **Roll out** is greyed out | The message above it says why: no officers yet, or a **Must fix** |
| *A pattern on this rotation was removed from the site.* | Open **Edit** and choose another. Days on that pattern plan nothing until you do |
| **Roll out** is missing from a card | Your role cannot change rotations |
| Fewer shifts than you expected | The result names each one left out, and why. A weekday pattern plans nothing on a weekend day of the cycle |

## Related

- [Recurring shift patterns](/docs/organisation/recurring-shift-patterns)
- [Publish the roster](/docs/organisation/publish-the-roster)
- [Use the roster](/docs/organisation/use-the-roster)
- [Create your first site](/docs/organisation/create-your-first-site)