12 Hour Shift Pay Calculator NZ

This 12 hour shift pay calculator works out what your roster actually pays: gross pay per shift, per fortnight, as a weekly average and across a full year, from your hourly rate, your shift length, your unpaid breaks and the number of shifts you work each fortnight. Twelve hour rosters are standard in New Zealand hospitals, factories, mines, ports, security and emergency services, and their pay is surprisingly fiddly to compare with a normal working week because the shift count alternates from week to week. The common 2-2-3 pattern, for example, gives you three shifts one week and four the next, so the fortnight is the honest unit to measure. The calculator first removes unpaid break time from each shift to get your paid hours, multiplies by your hourly rate for the per-shift figure, then scales up to the fortnight, the average week and the year. Everything is gross, before PAYE, KiwiSaver and any student loan deductions, so run the annual figure through a take-home pay calculator to see what lands in your account. If your agreement includes night or weekend allowances, add them to your base rate first, and remember public holidays worked must be paid at time and a half.

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A 2-2-3 or 4-on-4-off roster averages 7 shifts a fortnight.

$2,415.00
gross pay per fortnight
Per shift$345.00
Weekly average$1,207.50
Per year$62,790.00

Each 12 hour shift includes 11.5 paid hours, so one shift pays $345.00 and you average 40.25 paid hours a week across the fortnight.

Gross pay before PAYE, KiwiSaver and student loan deductions. The annual figure assumes 26 fortnights with no unpaid leave. NZ has no statutory penal rates for nights or weekends, so check your employment agreement for allowances.

How it works

Paid hours per shift are the shift length minus unpaid breaks. In New Zealand the Employment Relations Act entitles you to paid rest breaks and unpaid meal breaks based on the hours you work, and on most 12 hour rosters the unpaid portion adds up to about 30 to 60 minutes, so the default removes half an hour. Pay per shift is paid hours multiplied by your hourly rate. The fortnightly figure multiplies that by your shifts per fortnight, the weekly average halves the fortnight, and the annual figure multiplies the fortnight by 26, which represents 52 weeks of work. If you take unpaid leave, scale the annual number down accordingly; four weeks of annual holidays are paid, so they do not reduce the gross figure. The calculator deliberately uses a flat rate for every hour because that is how most NZ individual agreements work: if yours pays a night allowance or weekend rates, work out your blended average rate first and enter that instead.

Worked example

You earn $30.00 an hour on 12 hour shifts with a 30 minute unpaid meal break, working a 2-2-3 roster that averages 7 shifts a fortnight. Paid hours per shift are 12 minus 0.5, which is 11.5 hours, so each shift pays 11.5 x $30.00 = $345.00. The fortnight brings 7 x $345.00 = $2,415.00 gross, the weekly average is half that at $1,207.50, and the year pays 26 x $2,415.00 = $62,790.00 before tax. Across the fortnight you are paid for 80.5 hours, an average of 40.25 hours a week, slightly more than a standard 40 hour week.

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Frequently asked questions

How much is $30 an hour on 12 hour shifts?

With a 30 minute unpaid meal break, each 12 hour shift has 11.5 paid hours, so at $30 an hour one shift pays $345 gross. On a typical 2-2-3 roster averaging 7 shifts a fortnight, that is $2,415 gross a fortnight, about $1,207.50 a week on average, and $62,790 a year before tax if you work the full 52 weeks.

How many 12 hour shifts do you work in a fortnight?

The most common 12 hour patterns average 7 shifts a fortnight. The 2-2-3 (Panama) roster runs 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, then flips, giving 3 shifts one week and 4 the next. A 4-on-4-off pattern also averages 7 per fortnight over its full cycle. Both average around 42 rostered hours a week, which is why 12 hour rosters usually pay more per fortnight than a standard 40 hour week at the same rate.

Do you get paid more for working nights or weekends in NZ?

There is no statutory penal rate in New Zealand: the law only requires at least the minimum wage for every hour worked, and time and a half plus an alternative holiday if you work a public holiday. Night, weekend and shift allowances are set by your employment agreement, and many collective agreements in healthcare, manufacturing and emergency services include them, so check your agreement and add any allowance to your effective hourly rate.