9/80 Work Schedule
Last updated June 11, 2026
A 9/80 work schedule fits 80 hours of work into 9 days over a two-week period instead of 10, giving employees every other Friday off. Employees work eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day across the fortnight. To stay overtime-free, the employer sets the workweek to split the 8-hour Friday in half, so each 7-day workweek totals exactly 40 hours.
- 9/80 = 80 hours over 9 working days in two weeks (eight 9-hour days + one 8-hour day).
- You get every other Friday off — 26 extra days off a year versus a standard 5-day week.
- Week 1 is 44 hours and week 2 is 36, so the FLSA workweek must split the 8-hour Friday.
- Done correctly, no overtime is owed because each workweek totals exactly 40 hours.
- Get the workweek boundary wrong and the 44-hour week triggers 4 hours of overtime.
What is a 9/80 work schedule?
A 9/80 schedule is a compressed workweek. Rather than five 8-hour days every week, you work nine days over two weeks — four 9-hour days plus one 8-hour day in the first week, four 9-hour days in the second, and the second Friday off. The hours still add up to 80 across the fortnight, the same as a standard schedule, but they are squeezed into one fewer day so every other Friday becomes a three-day weekend.
The 9/80 schedule, day by day
Here is a typical two-week 9/80 rotation with the off-Friday in week two:
| Day | Week 1 hours | Week 2 hours |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9 | 9 |
| Tuesday | 9 | 9 |
| Wednesday | 9 | 9 |
| Thursday | 9 | 9 |
| Friday | 8 | Off |
| Two-week total | 44 | 36 |
Some employers put the off-Friday in week one instead, or shift the long day to a Monday — the pattern is flexible, as long as the fortnight totals 80 hours across nine days.
How 9/80 avoids overtime: the Friday workweek split
The catch is that week one above runs 44 hours and week two runs 36. Under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime is owed for hours over 40 in a single workweek, and you cannot average two weeks together — so a naive 44-hour week would owe 4 hours of overtime (federal overtime basics).
The fix is in how the employer defines the workweek. The FLSA lets an employer set its workweek to start at any fixed hour on any day. For 9/80, the workweek boundary is placed in the middle of the 8-hour Friday — for example, Friday at 12:00 noon. That splits the 8-hour Friday into two 4-hour halves: 4 hours fall into the workweek with the four 9-hour days that preceded it (36 + 4 = 40), and the other 4 hours start the next workweek, which then picks up the following four 9-hour days (4 + 36 = 40). Each 7-day FLSA workweek lands on exactly 40 hours, so no overtime is triggered.
9/80 vs the standard 5-day week and the 4/10
| Schedule | Days worked / 2 weeks | Typical day length | Extra days off / year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard 5-day | 10 | 8 hours | 0 |
| 9/80 | 9 | 9 hours (one 8) | ~26 (every other Friday) |
| 4/10 | 8 | 10 hours | ~52 (every Friday) |
A 9/80 is the gentler compressed schedule: a 9-hour day is far easier than the 4/10's 10-hour day, and you still gain a three-day weekend every other week. The trade-off is that the overtime-avoidance only works if the workweek split is set up correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Do you get overtime on a 9/80 schedule?
Not if it is set up correctly. The employer defines the workweek to split the 8-hour Friday, so each FLSA workweek totals exactly 40 hours and no overtime is owed. If the workweek is not split — leaving a 44-hour week — then 4 hours of overtime are due for that week.
What happens if you take PTO on a 9-hour day?
You normally use 9 hours of paid time off to cover a full 9-hour workday, since PTO is meant to replace the hours you were scheduled to work. Policies vary, so check your employer's rules — some cap PTO accrual or usage at 8 hours a day, which can leave a 1-hour gap on a compressed day.
Is the off day always a Friday?
Usually, but not always. The classic 9/80 gives every other Friday off for a three-day weekend, but some employers schedule the off day on a Monday or mid-week. The defining feature is nine working days across two weeks, not which specific day is off.
How many hours is a 9/80 schedule each week?
By the clock, one calendar week is 44 hours (four 9-hour days plus an 8-hour Friday) and the other is 36 (four 9-hour days, Friday off). By the FLSA workweek — which splits the 8-hour Friday — each workweek is exactly 40 hours.
Related tools and guides
- Shift Schedule Generator — build a rotating "N on, M off" pattern into a printable calendar (for true rotations rather than compressed weeks).
- Rotating Shift Schedules Compared — how 4-on-4-off, DuPont, Pitman, Panama, and Southern Swing stack up.
- Time Card Calculator — total the hours and pay for any specific week, with breaks and overtime.
- Federal Overtime Basics — why each workweek stands alone and how the 40-hour line works.