Quick answer
- A 4/10 work schedule is four 10-hour workdays and three days off, for 40 hours a week. Federal law (FLSA) has no daily overtime, so those 40 hours earn no overtime.
- California, Alaska and Nevada count overtime by the day. In California a 4/10 needs a two-thirds secret ballot election (an alternative workweek schedule) reported to the state.
- Plan for 10-hour days: second meal breaks, PTO and holidays in hours, and a coverage grid so the three days off do not leave gaps.
A 4/10 work schedule (also written 4x10 or four 10-hour days) compresses a standard 40-hour week into four longer days. Employees keep the same weekly hours and pay, and gain a regular day off. For employers the appeal is longer coverage windows and fewer start-ups; the risk is overtime and break rules that count by the day instead of by the week. This guide covers how the schedule works, the common variants, the trade-offs, the legal rules that matter, and a policy you can copy.
What a 4/10 work schedule is
On a 4/10, an employee works four days of 10 hours and is off the other three. With an unpaid 30-minute meal period, a worker who starts at 6:00 a.m. clocks out at 4:30 p.m. The week still totals 40 hours, so the weekly pay for an hourly employee is the same as on five 8-hour days.
The most common pattern is Monday through Thursday, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. Others take a weekday off instead, such as Tuesday through Friday. The schedule works best where the business can run longer days: offices, kitchens, warehouses, clinics, public works and manufacturing lines. It is harder where demand peaks in short windows, or where the work is physically draining for 10 straight hours.
A 4/10 is a close cousin of the 9/80 schedule, which gives one extra day off every two weeks. A 9/80 splits one day across two workweeks and needs a careful choice of workweek start time, while a 4/10 sits cleanly inside one workweek. That makes the 4/10 simpler to run under federal law.
Variants: fixed, rotating and staggered
Fixed day off
Everyone works the same four days and the business closes (or runs a skeleton crew) on the other three. This is the simplest version to schedule and to explain. It suits offices and operations that can close Fridays through Sundays.
Rotating days off
Employees work four 10-hour days in a row, but which days they are off changes from week to week. Rotation is fair for weekend work, but it can break the 40-hour week: if the schedule moves from Wednesday-to-Saturday one week to Sunday-to-Wednesday the next, a worker can land five working days inside one workweek and pass 40 hours. Set the rotation so every workweek still has four 10-hour days, and check hours before each pay period closes.
Staggered teams for 5 to 7 day coverage
Split staff into teams with different days off. If the business is open five, six or seven days, each day still has people on duty and each person still works four. This is how many clinics, shops and restaurants make a 4/10 work. Here is Northfield Coffee’s kitchen on a seven-day, two-person staggered pattern (illustrative; the workweek is Sunday through Saturday):
| Employee | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Rivera | 6:00–4:30 | 6:00–4:30 | 6:00–4:30 | 6:00–4:30 | Off | Off | Off | 40 |
| Emily Carter | Off | Off | Off | 6:00–4:30 | 6:00–4:30 | 6:00–4:30 | 6:00–4:30 | 40 |
| Kitchen staff on duty | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Each shift includes an unpaid 30-minute meal period, so 6:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. is 10 hours worked. Sam’s pay at $18.00 an hour is 40 × $18.00 = $720.00 and Emily’s at $19.00 is 40 × $19.00 = $760.00, with no overtime. Wednesday is the one day both are on, which is useful for prep, deliveries and training.
A larger shop that needs two people most days can run three staggered teams of one person each (illustrative headcount):
| Team | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Off | On | On | On | On | Off | Off |
| B | Off | Off | Off | On | On | On | On |
| C | On | On | On | Off | Off | Off | On |
| On duty | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Twelve person-days across seven days means no day is empty, and every team works four 10-hour days inside a Sunday-to-Saturday workweek. If Friday and Sunday also need two people, add a fourth team. A weekly grid like this is easy to copy from our weekly schedule templates.
Pros and cons
The case for a 4/10 depends on the business and the people. These are trade-offs, not guarantees, and the best way to know is a pilot.
| For employers | For employees |
|---|---|
| Pro: longer coverage windows, such as 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., without paying overtime | Pro: a regular extra day off for appointments, errands and family |
| Pro: fewer start-ups and shutdowns each week in operations with set-up time | Pro: one fewer commute a week, with the same weekly pay |
| Pro: a flexibility benefit that adds no payroll cost for hourly staff | Pro: longer stretches of uninterrupted work |
| Con: coverage gaps on the days off unless teams are staggered | Con: 10-hour days are tiring, especially in physical or customer-facing roles |
| Con: daily overtime rules in some states, plus break and PTO rules to rewrite | Con: child care, school pickup and second jobs can clash with a long day |
| Con: a missed day costs 10 hours of coverage, not 8 | Con: missing one day means making up or using 10 hours of PTO |
Offer the schedule as an option when you can. Some employees will love it and others will find it unworkable, so forcing it on everyone creates turnover you will not see on a spreadsheet.
Overtime law and the 4/10 schedule
Federal law: 40 hours in a workweek
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires overtime at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov). The Act sets no daily overtime rule, and the DOL says averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted. A 4/10 schedule is exactly 40 hours in the workweek, so under federal law it owes no overtime. Any hours past 40 do. Our guide to how to calculate overtime has the math.
Example outside California: Sam Rivera ($18.00 an hour) picks up an extra 4-hour shift on a day off. He works 44 hours, so 40 × $18.00 = $720.00 regular pay plus 4 × $27.00 = $108.00 overtime, for $828.00 gross.
California: an alternative workweek schedule is required
California counts overtime after 8 hours in a day. The only way to schedule regular 10-hour days without daily overtime is an alternative workweek schedule (AWS). Under the California wage orders on dir.ca.gov (for example Wage Order 4, section 3), the schedule must be adopted in a secret ballot election held before the work begins, by at least two-thirds of the affected employees in the work unit. The employer must report the result to the state. An AWS may schedule up to 10 hours a day within a 40-hour week without overtime. Hours beyond the regular schedule still earn overtime: time and a half after 10 hours in a day, and double time after 12 hours. Health care employers have a separate allowance for longer days, and a union contract can differ.
Skip the election and every 10-hour day contains 2 hours of daily overtime. For a worker at $22.00 an hour, that is 2 × $11.00 = $22.00 of extra pay a day on top of straight time. Our California overtime law guide walks through the election steps.
Other states with daily rules
- Alaska and Nevada: both have daily overtime after 8 hours, with exceptions. Some employers use an exception for a 4/10 by written agreement. Confirm the exception you rely on with the state labor agency.
- Colorado: overtime after 12 hours in a workday or 12 consecutive hours, as well as after 40 in a week. A 10-hour day stays under the daily limit.
- Everywhere else: most states follow the federal weekly rule, but some local rules and union contracts add daily terms. Check your state labor department.
Meal and rest breaks on a 10-hour day
Longer days trigger more break rules in states that regulate them. California is the clearest example. The state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement says a first meal period of at least 30 minutes is required when work exceeds 5 hours, and a second is required when work exceeds 10 hours. The second can be waived by mutual consent only if the total hours worked are no more than 12 and the first meal period was not waived. A shift with exactly 10 hours of work does not exceed 10, but any overrun does, so most California employers schedule the second meal or keep a written waiver on file. California also requires rest breaks, generally a paid 10-minute break for every four hours worked or major fraction. A missed meal period costs one extra hour of pay at the regular rate.
Most states have no meal break law for adults, but those that do vary widely. Use our lunch break laws by state guide to see what applies to your 10-hour day. Whatever the law, build the unpaid meal into the shift length so the day on the clock is 10.5 hours and the paid time is 10. Capturing meal punches in a time clock makes a missed break visible the same day.
PTO, holidays and exempt staff
PTO in hours
A day off on a 4/10 schedule is 10 hours. If PTO is tracked in days, an employee who takes Monday uses one day of balance but is out 10 hours, and a coworker on five 8-hour days is out 8. Track balances in hours so the arithmetic is the same for everyone. A PTO tracker that works in hours handles different schedules automatically. PTO hours are generally not hours worked, so they do not count toward the 40-hour overtime threshold.
Holidays
Federal law does not require paid holidays, so your written policy decides. A holiday on a scheduled day could be paid 10 hours, but a holiday on a day off pays nothing under a strict reading, which looks unfair to 4/10 staff. Three clean options exist: pay the scheduled 10 hours when the holiday falls on a workday; pay a flat 8 hours to everyone and let employees top up with 2 hours of PTO; or move the day off so it still happens. Our holiday pay guide covers the common approaches.
Exempt employees
Exempt salaried employees are paid for the job, not the hour, so a four-day week does not change their pay or exempt status as long as they meet the salary and duties tests. They get no daily overtime. If you move non-exempt staff to 4/10 and keep exempt staff on five days, expect questions about fairness.
How to roll it out
- Check the law first. Confirm your state’s daily overtime and break rules. In California, plan the AWS election, written disclosure and reporting before the first 10-hour day.
- Pilot one team for 8 to 12 weeks. Pick a team where coverage is easy and track missed shifts, overtime, customer wait times and employee feedback.
- Build a coverage grid. List every day and time you must cover, then assign teams so each day has enough people. Plan who covers a sick call, because a lost day is 10 hours.
- Fix the workweek. Keep a consistent workweek start (for example Sunday at 12:00 a.m.) so each week contains four 10-hour days.
- Update PTO and holiday rules in hours, and tell employees how a holiday on a day off is handled.
- Communicate in writing. Give the schedule, start date, break rules, overtime treatment and how to opt out. Let people ask questions before it starts.
- Review and adjust. After the pilot, keep, change or stop it, and say why.
Copyable 4/10 policy
Paste this into your handbook or schedule notice and fill in the brackets. Add the California language only if it applies, and have an employment attorney review it.
Frequently asked questions
Do you get overtime on a 4/10 schedule?
Not for the scheduled hours in most states. Federal law (FLSA) requires overtime only after 40 hours in a workweek, so four 10-hour days earn none. California, Alaska and Nevada have daily overtime rules, so check your state. Any hours beyond the 40 scheduled hours are overtime.
Is a 4/10 schedule legal in California?
Yes, but only as an alternative workweek schedule. At least two-thirds of the affected work unit must approve it in a secret ballot before work begins, and the employer must report the result to the state. Without a valid election, hours over 8 in a day are overtime.
How does PTO work on a 4/10 schedule?
Track PTO in hours, not days. A full scheduled day off uses 10 hours of PTO, so someone taking Monday off spends 10 hours of balance. If you track days, convert balances to hours first so employees on 4/10 schedules are not shortchanged.
What happens when a holiday falls on a day off?
Federal law does not require paid holidays, so your written policy decides. Common choices are paying 10 hours if the holiday falls on a scheduled day, paying a flat 8 hours to everyone, or letting employees use PTO to fill the gap. Pick one rule, apply it to everyone and put it in writing.
Can exempt employees work a 4/10 schedule?
Yes. Exempt salaried employees are not paid by the hour, so a four-day week does not change their salary or exempt status, provided they still meet the salary and duties tests. They also do not earn daily overtime, though state meal and rest rules may still apply to some roles.