This night shift schedule template covers one overnight position with two fixed-night team units. Team A and Team B alternate a 2-2-3 sequence, so exactly one team works each 22:00–06:00 block. Each team completes seven shifts in 14 days: 56 cycle hours and a 28-hour weekly average.
A team unit can be one employee or a full overnight crew. If the operation needs two people for safety or workload, each row represents two employees and the base requirement becomes 112 person-hours per week before handoff, leave, training, and absence coverage.
Fixed nights versus rotating through nights
| Model | What stays consistent | What needs review |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed-night pool | Employees stay on the night time band | Night recruitment, weekend balance, absence coverage, and expected weekly hours |
| Day/evening/night rotation | Night duty is distributed across a larger group | Time-band transitions, preferences, handoffs, rest, commute, and role continuity |
The sample is fixed-night because it solves a specific job: who owns the overnight block each date. If the same employees must rotate through day, evening, and night work, use the 8-hour 24/7 templateas the comparison. Do not combine the two patterns without recalculating every employee's sequence and total.
Put the handoff inside the schedule
The example shows an eight-hour shift ending at 06:00. It does not silently include a pre-shift briefing or a post-shift handoff. If the night employee must review incidents with a supervisor, exchange keys, count a drawer, check equipment, or brief the opener, write the overlap into the dated schedule and into the actual-hours process.
For example, a required 15-minute overlap changes an eight-hour planned block to 8.25 scheduled hours. Across seven nights, that is another 1.75 hours for the team in the cycle. Whether and how that time affects pay depends on the actual work and applicable rules; the template only makes the time visible.
Choose one cross-midnight recording convention
Teams commonly label an overnight shift by the date it starts. Under that convention, “Monday night” begins Monday at 22:00 and ends Tuesday at 06:00. Whatever convention you choose, write it above the roster and use the same rule in scheduling, timekeeping, manager corrections, and payroll preparation.
The current Maxuod Shift scheduler cannot record 22:00–06:00 as one exact continuous entry. Keep the downloadable night template or another external record as the overnight source, or use a documented midnight split and reconcile both pieces before relying on totals. Do not enter 23:55 as midnight without accounting for the missing five minutes.
Review the cycle at both ends
A 2-2-3 sequence alternates the longer and shorter work blocks and shares the two weekends across the two teams. Still inspect the dated shift immediately before day one and immediately after day 14. A repeating table can hide an awkward join when it is pasted onto a different prior schedule.
Turn the night roster into an operating schedule
- Choose the real Monday for day one and define which date owns a cross-midnight shift.
- Replace each team unit with the employees and roles required overnight.
- Add actual briefing, security, opening, and closing overlap.
- Add relief for approved leave, absence, training, and required second-person coverage.
- Review dated hours, consecutive nights, weekend duty, availability, and applicable rules before publishing.