Build your 9/80 schedule
Choose the Monday of the first week. In this planner, week one has the 8-hour day. Week two has the matching weekday off. Saturday and Sunday are always off.
Holidays, leave, paid breaks and overtime adjustments are not applied. Check your employer’s rules before using this plan.
9/80 Work Schedule
Green rows: alternating weekday off. Pale yellow rows: 8-hour day. Other weekdays: 9 hours.
| Date | Day | Plan | Work hours | Start | End |
|---|
This is a planning schedule, not an approved timesheet. Calendar-week totals do not determine overtime eligibility.
For a formatted document, choose Download styled schedule (HTML). Open the file in a browser to view or print it. CSV is plain spreadsheet data and does not include colors, alignment or page styling. Print schedule opens a separate, ad-free document. You can choose Save as PDF in the print dialog.
What is a 9/80 work schedule?
A 9/80 work schedule spreads 80 work hours across nine workdays in a two-week cycle. The usual pattern has eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day. The remaining weekday is off. You still work 80 hours. You make fewer trips to work.
The calculation is simple: 8 × 9 + 1 × 8 = 80 hours. Lunch is separate when it is unpaid. A 9-hour workday with a 30-minute unpaid lunch lasts 9 hours and 30 minutes from start to finish.
You may also see the terms 9/80 schedule, 9-80, or 9/8/80. In U.S. federal scheduling, a comparable pattern is called 5/4/9. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management describes eight 9-hour days plus one 8-hour day in its alternative work schedules handbook. Federal rules do not automatically apply to every workplace.
| Calendar week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 9 h | 9 h | 9 h | 9 h | 8 h | 44 h |
| Week 2 | 9 h | 9 h | 9 h | 9 h | Off | 36 h |
At an 8:00 AM start, a 9-hour day with a 30-minute unpaid break ends at 5:30 PM. The 8-hour day ends at 4:30 PM. These are planned clock times, not a recommendation about when breaks must occur.
How to use the calculator
- Enter a Monday. Use the week that contains your shorter workday.
- Pick your alternating day off. Friday is common, but this tool supports any weekday.
- Set the length and start time. Add the total unpaid break minutes for each workday.
- Generate and review. Check the dates against your approved work pattern.
- Save your plan. Download the table as CSV or use Print schedule. Your browser may offer Save as PDF.
The tool repeats a fixed 14-day pattern. Each cycle contains 80 planned work hours, nine workdays and one extra weekday off. It does not move days off when a holiday occurs. It does not set pay dates.
Need decimal hours for a timesheet? Use our Minutes to Hundredths Calculator. For example, 30 minutes equals 0.50 hours, not 0.30 hours.
Prefer a 24-hour clock? The display setting changes the output without changing the schedule. Our Military Time Guide explains how to read times such as 17:30.
The important part: a workweek is not always a calendar week
The example shows 44 hours in one Monday-to-Sunday week and 36 in the next. That does not mean an employer can simply average those weeks to avoid overtime.
Under the general federal FLSA rule, covered nonexempt employees earn overtime after 40 hours in a fixed, recurring 168-hour workweek. The workweek can start on a day and time other than Monday at midnight. Hours cannot be averaged across two workweeks. See the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime guidance.
Some approved 9/80 arrangements place the workweek boundary partway through the 8-hour day. This can put four hours on one side of the boundary and four on the other. The boundary stays fixed; it is not moved each week to fit the hours worked. This calculator does not establish that boundary or decide whether your arrangement is lawful.
What about California?
Do not treat a generated calendar as approval for an alternative workweek. Applicable rules depend on your employment setting. CalHR describes a 9/8/80 pattern and a split workweek in its policy for specified California state employees. That policy is not a blanket rule for private employers. Read the CalHR alternate workweek policy if it applies to your role. Ask HR or a qualified adviser about your own situation.
Is a 9/80 schedule a good fit?
Potential benefits
- One extra weekday off in each full cycle.
- Fewer commuting days than a ten-day pattern.
- A predictable day for appointments or personal plans.
Trade-offs to consider
- Longer days can make childcare or transport harder.
- Customer service and team coverage still need a plan.
- Holidays, leave and extra work need clear timekeeping rules.
A 9/80 schedule is not the same as a 4/10 schedule. A typical 4/10 pattern uses four 10-hour days each week. A 9/80 pattern instead has nine workdays over two weeks, including one shorter day.
Frequently asked questions
Does 9/80 mean nine hours every day?
No. Nine 9-hour days would total 81 hours. The standard pattern uses eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day.
Is lunch included in the 80 hours?
This tool treats the entered break as unpaid. It adds those minutes to shift length, not work hours. Paid breaks are not an extra deduction here. Follow your employer’s actual break policy.
Do I get every Friday off?
No. With Friday selected, one Friday is an 8-hour workday. The next is off. That pattern repeats every two weeks.
Will my pay change?
The plan contains 80 work hours per full cycle. It does not calculate wages, deductions, overtime or benefits. Your pay depends on your employment terms and the rules that apply to you.
Can I use it outside the United States?
You can use the date and hour calculations anywhere. The legal sources on this page are U.S. sources. They do not determine rules in Canada or another country.
Sources and calculation limits
Source review: September 16, 2026. The official references above support the schedule definition and workweek explanation. NumberInWord.com is independent and is not affiliated with those agencies.
The calendar uses date-only arithmetic. Planned end time equals start time plus work hours plus the unpaid break. If a shift ends after midnight, the output says “next day.” A daytime template is not a substitute for overnight-shift or daylight-saving payroll calculations.
This tool provides general planning information. It does not check legal compliance, approve schedules or calculate overtime. Confirm your dates, break rules and workweek boundary with your employer before relying on the plan.