3 on 3 off pay UK explained: how the pattern works, the average weekly hours, how night and weekend premiums stack up, and a worked take-home example.
If you have been offered a 3-on-3-off rota, the pattern sounds simple but the pay is easy to misread. Three days on, three days off, repeating, usually on 12-hour shifts. What that actually means for your hours and your 3 on 3 off pay UK take-home is less obvious, because the shifts rotate across nights and weekends and the premiums move with them. Here is how it works and what you really keep.
A 3-on-3-off pattern means you work three days, then have three days off, on a repeating six-day cycle, almost always on 12-hour shifts. On that basis you average about 42 hours a week. Your 3 on 3 off pay in the UK is your hourly rate across those hours, plus any night or weekend premiums your employer pays, minus the usual income tax and National Insurance.
The thing that makes this pattern different from a fixed Monday-to-Friday job is that your working days drift across the calendar. One week you might work a weekend, the next mostly weekdays, and your shifts rotate between days and nights on many rotas. That movement is what makes the pay vary week to week.
The cycle is six days long: three 12-hour shifts followed by three days off. That is 36 hours of work every six days. Spread across a seven-day week, it averages roughly 42 hours a week, a little above a standard full-time week.
Because the pattern repeats every six days rather than every seven, your shifts land on different days each week, so over a full cycle you end up working a share of weekends and, on rotating rotas, a share of nights. If your shifts are shorter than 12 hours, the weekly average drops accordingly, so always check the shift length, not just the pattern name.
Whatever your hours, the same tax machine applies. For the 2026/27 tax year your tax-free personal allowance is £12,570 (tax code 1257L), income above that is taxed at 20% up to £50,270, and National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above. Night and weekend premiums are taxed exactly like normal pay, with no special rate, so every extra pound is taxed at your marginal rate.
Take a worker on £13 an hour, on 12-hour shifts averaging 42 hours a week. That is about £546 a week, or roughly £28,400 a year of base pay before any premiums.
That is the base. If your employer pays a night premium or a weekend uplift, those add on top and are taxed at the same 20% plus 8%, so you keep about 72p of each extra pound. A workplace pension at the standard 5% would trim around £90 a month, into your own pot.
On a rotating 3-on-3-off rota, the number of weekend and night shifts you work is not the same every week, so a payslip that includes several premium shifts looks bigger than one that happens to fall mostly on weekday days. This is normal and not an error. Over a full rota cycle it evens out, which is why it helps to look at a month or a full cycle rather than a single week when you are judging the pay.
It also matters for the minimum wage. Your pay has to meet the National Living Wage, which is £12.71 an hour from April 2026, averaged across your pay reference period, so a rate set just above the minimum can dip below it in a heavy week if premiums are not handled correctly. If you are ever unsure, our night shift pay guide covers what you should and should not be getting for unsocial hours.
The two patterns are close cousins. Both tend to use 12-hour shifts and both average a little over 40 hours a week, so on the same hourly rate the take-home is similar. The difference is rhythm: 3 on 3 off gives you shorter blocks and more frequent rest, while 4 on 4 off gives longer stretches both on and off, which some people prefer for longer recovery or second commitments. Neither pattern pays more by default; your rate and your premiums decide that. Our breakdown of 4-on-4-off take-home pay runs the same maths for that rota if you are comparing offers.
You see this pattern most in workplaces that run around the clock and need continuous cover. Manufacturing and production lines, warehousing and distribution, security and control rooms, care homes, and parts of the emergency services all commonly use 3 on 3 off, usually on 12-hour day and night shifts. The appeal for employers is simple: two crews on alternating blocks keep a site staffed 24 hours a day every day of the year.
For workers, the draw is the long run of days off. Three days off after every three on means more frequent breaks than a standard week, which suits people balancing the rota with caring, study, or a second income stream. The trade-off is that the shifts are long, often 12 hours, and they rotate through nights and weekends, so the pay and the toll on your sleep both move around. Knowing your average hours and your premium rate up front is the difference between a rota that works for you and one that quietly costs you.
Two things are easy to overlook on this pattern. The first is holiday pay. Because your weekly pay varies with the rota, your holiday pay should be based on your average pay over a reference period, not just your basic rate, so weeks with premiums count towards what you are paid on leave. If your holiday pay only ever reflects bare basic pay, that is worth questioning. Our guidance on shift premiums in the night shift pay guide explains how those uplifts feed in.
The second is rest. Working time rules give you minimum daily and weekly rest, and 12-hour shifts eat into the gap between shifts, so a compliant 3-on-3-off rota is built around those limits. The three days off are part of how the pattern stays within the rules, which is one reason employers favour it. None of this changes your tax, but it does shape how much you actually work and recover across a cycle, so factor it in when you compare the take-home against a standard week.
The core figures are steady for 2026/27. The personal allowance stays at £12,570 and the higher-rate threshold at £50,270, both frozen until at least April 2028, and National Insurance remains 8% between those thresholds. The National Living Wage rose to £12.71 in April 2026, which lifts the floor your average pay must clear. None of the rules specific to shift patterns changed, but the frozen thresholds mean that if premiums push your annual earnings towards £50,270, more of the top slice is taxed at the higher rate.
Want your own figure for your rate and shifts? Put them into the NetPay calculators and see your real monthly take-home, premiums included.
See your real take-home pay in seconds
NetPay does this maths for every shift, invoice and payslip, automatically.
Download the app now
On 12-hour shifts, 3 on 3 off averages about 42 hours a week. The cycle is six days long, three 12-hour shifts then three days off, which is 36 hours every six days, or roughly 42 hours across a seven-day week. Some employers run shorter shifts, which lowers the average.
It depends on your hourly rate and your premiums. On £13 an hour at an average 42 hours a week, the base is about £28,400 a year, or roughly £1,997 a month take-home after tax and National Insurance, before any night or weekend enhancements. Those uplifts, where your employer pays them, can add a fair bit on top.
Not automatically. The pattern itself does not legally require extra pay, but because the shifts rotate across nights and weekends, many employers pay unsocial hours premiums for those. Whether you get them, and how much, is set by your contract, so check what counts and at what rate.
It is mostly about lifestyle and hours. 3 on 3 off averages around 42 hours a week and gives a faster rest cycle, while 4 on 4 off averages around 42 hours too but with longer blocks on and off. Take-home depends on your rate and premiums rather than the pattern name.
Want to see your actual take-home pay?
NetPay UK works out your real net pay after tax, NI, pension and salary sacrifice, for hourly, shift and variable-income workers. Free to download.
Download the app now
A note on financial advice: NetPay UK calculates take-home pay based on official HMRC tax rules. This article reflects rules in force at the time of publication (22 June 2026). Tax rules change. For complex situations, consult a qualified UK accountant or visit gov.uk/income-tax.
