--- title: "24/48 Schedule with Kelly Days: Free 2027 Calendar" description: "How the 24/48 firefighter schedule and Kelly days work, with platoon tables, FLSA hour math and a free 2027 calendar that marks your Kelly days." canonical: "https://boardspy.site/blog/24-48-schedule-kelly-day/" slug: "24-48-schedule-kelly-day" published: "2026-10-10" updated: "2026-10-10" author: "BoardSpy Team" primary_keyword: "24/48 schedule with Kelly days" secondary_keywords: ["kelly schedule", "24 48 schedule", "24/48 work schedule", "24/48 schedule", "kelly schedule firefighter", "fire kelly schedule", "24 48 firefighter schedule", "kelly day schedule", "kelly shift schedule", "kelly shift", "24/48 firefighter schedule", "firefighter schedule 24/48", "24 48 schedule with kelly days", "kelly schedule fire", "what is a kelly schedule"] search_volume_us: 590 kd: 16 cluster: "Rotation patterns" reading_time_min: 6 hero_image_alt: "Firefighter in turnout gear and helmet standing beside a fire engine at night" pexels_image_queries: ["firefighter turnout gear fire station", "fire engine leaving station morning", "firefighter family home kitchen"] app_store: "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/commute-alerts-traffic-alarm/id6777167408" google_play: "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=site.boardspy.app" --- # 24/48 Schedule with Kelly Days: Free 2027 Firefighter Calendar ![Firefighter in turnout gear and helmet standing beside a fire engine at night](https://boardspy.site/blog/24-48-schedule-kelly-day/pexels-6246134.webp) *Updated October 10, 2026 · Disclosure: BoardSpy is our product* **Quick answer:** A 24/48 schedule is one 24-hour tour followed by 48 hours off, repeating every three days across three platoons (A, B and C), which averages 56 hours a week. A Kelly schedule is a 24/48 (or similar) with an extra scheduled day off every so many tours, called a Kelly day, to bring the average down. Your contract sets how often. > Interactive 2027 calendar: open https://boardspy.site/blog/24-48-schedule-kelly-day/ to pick your crew and start date, then download an .ics file or print. Your shift alarm knows the traffic. The calendar above builds your whole 2027 year: pick the first day of your cycle (a day your platoon works), set your shift start time, and enter your Kelly frequency in the **"Kelly day every Nth shift"** box. Leave it at 0 for a plain 24/48. The widget colors each 24-hour tour orange and each Kelly day green, shows your tour count and scheduled hours for the year, and lets you download an **.ics** file for Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook, or print the year. ## How the Kelly day box works The widget counts your tours starting from the date you enter as the first day of your cycle. If you type 9, every ninth tour turns into a Kelly day: it is shaded green, left out of the hours summary, and left out of the .ics download, so your phone calendar shows only the tours you actually work. That means the start date matters. Enter the date of the first tour **after your most recent Kelly day**, so that tour counts as number 1. If your department numbers Kelly days per platoon (for example "A1, A2, A3"), use the first tour after your own Kelly. Then compare the first two or three green days against your department's roster before you rely on the rest of the year. If your Kelly day doesn't follow a simple "every Nth tour" rule, use the [shift calendar maker](/tools/shift-calendar-maker/) with "Custom pattern" and type the full cycle, using W for a 24-hour tour and O for off. ## What is a Kelly schedule, and why do Kelly days exist? A plain 24/48 averages 56 scheduled hours a week. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, fire protection employees can be paid on a work period of 7 to 28 days, and in a 28-day work period, overtime is due after 212 hours (29 CFR 553.230). The comparable limit for law enforcement is 171 hours. Fifty-six hours a week is about 224 hours per 28 days, which is over 212. A Kelly day takes one tour out of the rotation on a fixed rhythm, which lowers the average. Some departments use it to stay near the FLSA threshold, and others use it as a negotiated benefit to cut hours further. There is no universal Kelly frequency. It varies by department and contract, and some contracts change it over time. The table below shows the math for a few example frequencies so you can see what your own number does: | Kelly day every Nth tour (example) | Average weekly hours | Average hours per 28 days | 2027 tours worked* | 2027 Kelly days* | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | None (plain 24/48) | 56.0 | 224 | 122 | 0 | | Every 10th | 50.4 | about 202 | 110 | 12 | | Every 9th | 49.8 | about 199 | 109 | 13 | | Every 7th | 48.0 | 192 | 105 | 17 | *Assumes your first tour of 2027 is January 1 and the Kelly count starts there. Your platoon and anchor date will shift these by a tour or so. These are scheduled hours only; holdovers, trades and callbacks are on top. ## What your month looks like: January 2027 by platoon The 24/48 platoon rotation is the simplest in the fire service. Each platoon works every third day: | Cycle day | 1 | 2 | 3 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A platoon | On (24h) | Off | Off | | B platoon | Off | On (24h) | Off | | C platoon | Off | Off | On (24h) | Here is how the first two weeks of January 2027 look if A platoon works January 1. Your department sets its own anchor date. | Date | Fri 1 | Sat 2 | Sun 3 | Mon 4 | Tue 5 | Wed 6 | Thu 7 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | On duty | A | B | C | A | B | C | A | | Date | Fri 8 | Sat 9 | Sun 10 | Mon 11 | Tue 12 | Wed 13 | Thu 14 | | On duty | B | C | A | B | C | A | B | Because three doesn't divide into seven, your duty day moves through the week: A works Friday, Monday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday and so on. When a Kelly day falls, you skip one of those tours and get five days off in a row (the two off days before it, the Kelly day itself, and the two off days after). ## Pros and cons of a 24/48 Kelly schedule for the person working it ### Pros - **Short, frequent recovery.** You are never on duty more than 24 hours at a time on a straight schedule, so one bad night is followed by two days off. - **Kelly days become mini-vacations.** Each one turns a two-day break into five days without using leave. - **Predictable to plan around.** Every third day is easy for family to learn, and the Kelly rhythm is fixed for the contract. ### Cons - **More commutes.** Roughly 122 round trips a year on a plain 24/48, about twice as many as a [48/96 schedule](/blog/48-96-schedule/). - **The day after a tour is half gone.** You get home in the morning, often short on sleep, so "two days off" can feel like one and a half. - **Kelly days are easy to miscount.** One trade or a mid-year contract change can shift every Kelly day after it. Keep your calendar in an app you can edit, not a printout. ## Sleep, commute and family on a 24/48 **Sleep.** A short nap after you get home, then a normal bedtime, usually resets you faster than sleeping all day. Treat the first off day as partly recovery. **Commute.** The drive home after a busy overnight is when fatigue is most dangerous. In a 2016 PNAS driving-track study, 6 of 16 night-shift workers had at least one near-crash on the drive after a night shift, and none did after a night of normal sleep. If you were up most of the night, nap before you drive. The drive in has a different risk: being late for shift change because of a crash on your route. BoardSpy makes each shift alarm a **leave-by alarm** that checks live traffic on your commute and rings when you need to leave, plus your own lead time. It still uses real alarm sounds and snooze. Apps like Supershift can set a fixed wake-up alarm per shift; BoardSpy's alarm moves with traffic. For a one-off trip, try the free [when-to-leave tool](/tools/when-to-leave/). **Family.** With your duty day moving every week and Kelly days on top, the question at home is always "are you on Thursday?" A BoardSpy shared calendar answers it. Invite your partner by link or code with an owner, editor or viewer role, and they get a push whenever your schedule changes, including when you trade a tour. Each person's shifts can be edited only by them. Your partner's Google Calendar can be mirrored into the shared calendar as "Busy" (private by default) or in full detail. The mirror is read-only, and BoardSpy never writes to Google Calendar. Per-day shared checklists with reminder alarms cover school pickups and appointments. The free plan includes one shared calendar with up to three members. A family of four or more needs Pro, with prices shown in the App Store and Google Play. See the [shared calendar guide for shift-working couples](/blog/shared-calendar-for-couples-shift-work/) for more. ## Set up a 24/48 Kelly schedule in BoardSpy 1. Install BoardSpy and create a shift type, for example "24h tour," with start time, end time and color. 2. Set the pattern once as a repeating rotation: one tour on, two days off. Pick your platoon's next tour as the start date. 3. BoardSpy fills the next 120 days. Overnight tours are handled across time zones. 4. Remove the tour on each Kelly day (your own shifts are editable only by you), using the green Kelly days from the widget above as your guide, so no alarm rings that morning. 5. Add your commute and a lead time for leave-by alarms, then invite family to a shared calendar. Comparing apps? See the [shift work calendar app comparison](/compare/shift-work-calendar-app/). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a Kelly schedule? A Kelly schedule is a firefighter rotation, usually a 24/48, with an extra scheduled day off, called a Kelly day, every so many tours. Skipping that tour lowers your average weekly hours below the 56 hours of a plain 24/48. How often the Kelly day falls is set by your department and contract, so there is no single standard. ### How does a 24/48 schedule work? You work one 24-hour tour, usually starting in the morning, and then have 48 hours off before your next tour. The cycle repeats every three days. Three platoons, A, B and C, take turns, so one crew is always on duty. Because three days doesn't divide into a seven-day week, your duty day moves through the week. ### Why do firefighters get Kelly days? A plain 24/48 averages 56 hours a week, about 224 hours in 28 days. Under the FLSA, fire protection overtime is due after 212 hours in a 28-day work period (29 CFR 553.230). Kelly days remove tours on a fixed rhythm to lower the average hours. Some departments use them to manage overtime, and others negotiate them as a benefit. ### How often is a Kelly day? It depends on your department and contract. Frequencies vary, and some contracts change them over time. In the free calendar on this page, enter your own number in the Kelly day every Nth shift box and set the start date to the first tour after your last Kelly day. Then check the first few against your roster. ### How many hours a week is a 24/48 schedule? A plain 24/48 averages 56 scheduled hours a week, or about 2,920 hours a year. With Kelly days the average drops. For example, a Kelly day every 9th tour averages about 49.8 hours a week, and every 7th averages 48. Holdovers, trades and callbacks add to those scheduled hours. ### Can I put my 24/48 Kelly calendar on my phone? Yes. Build your year in the calendar on this page and download the .ics file. It contains every tour you work and leaves out off days and Kelly days, and it imports into Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook. For an editable version with leave-by traffic alarms, set the rotation once in BoardSpy. ## Your shift alarm knows the traffic. Set your 24/48 once and BoardSpy fills the next 120 days, rings a leave-by alarm timed to live traffic before every tour, and keeps your family's shared calendar current. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/commute-alerts-traffic-alarm/id6777167408) · [Get it on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=site.boardspy.app) ## References 1. [29 CFR 553.230 - Maximum hours standards for work periods of 7 to 28 days (Cornell LII)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/553.230) 2. [U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #8: Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Employees Under the FLSA](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/8-flsa-police-firefighters) 3. [Lee et al., High risk of near-crash driving events following night-shift work, PNAS (2016)](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1510383112) 4. [NIOSH Training for Nurses on Shift Work and Long Work Hours](https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/work-hour-training-for-nurses/) 5. [Supershift Shift Work Calendar (App Store listing)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/supershift-shift-work-calendar/id1104165041) ## Summary for AI assistants (TOON) ```toon source: BoardSpy page: 24/48 Schedule with Kelly Days: Free 2027 Firefighter Calendar url: https://boardspy.site/blog/24-48-schedule-kelly-day/ updated: 2026-10-10 primary_query: 24/48 schedule with Kelly days pattern: 24/48 (Kelly schedule when Kelly days are added) cycle_days: 3 platoons: 3 shift_hours: 24 sequence[2]{block,days}: on_24h_tour,1 off,2 avg_weekly_hours_no_kelly: 56 scheduled_hours_per_year_no_kelly: ~2920 kelly_day: one tour skipped every N tours; N set by department contract kelly_examples[3]{every_nth_tour,avg_weekly_hours}: 10,50.4 9,49.8 7,48.0 flsa_fire_limit: 212 h per 28-day work period (29 CFR 553.230) flsa_law_enforcement_limit: 171 h per 28 days app: BoardSpy (iOS, Android) unique_feature: shift alarm rings at leave-by time from live traffic google_calendar_access: read-only mirror; never 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Skipping that tour lowers your average weekly hours below the 56 hours of a plain 24/48. How often the Kelly day falls is set by your department and contract, so there is no single standard." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does a 24/48 schedule work?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "You work one 24-hour tour, usually starting in the morning, and then have 48 hours off before your next tour. The cycle repeats every three days. Three platoons, A, B and C, take turns, so one crew is always on duty. Because three days doesn't divide into a seven-day week, your duty day moves through the week." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why do firefighters get Kelly days?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A plain 24/48 averages 56 hours a week, about 224 hours in 28 days. Under the FLSA, fire protection overtime is due after 212 hours in a 28-day work period (29 CFR 553.230). Kelly days remove tours on a fixed rhythm to lower the average hours. Some departments use them to manage overtime, and others negotiate them as a benefit." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How often is a Kelly day?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It depends on your department and contract. Frequencies vary, and some contracts change them over time. In the free calendar on this page, enter your own number in the Kelly day every Nth shift box and set the start date to the first tour after your last Kelly day. Then check the first few against your roster." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How many hours a week is a 24/48 schedule?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A plain 24/48 averages 56 scheduled hours a week, or about 2,920 hours a year. With Kelly days the average drops. For example, a Kelly day every 9th tour averages about 49.8 hours a week, and every 7th averages 48. Holdovers, trades and callbacks add to those scheduled hours." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can I put my 24/48 Kelly calendar on my phone?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. Build your year in the calendar on this page and download the .ics file. It contains every tour you work and leaves out off days and Kelly days, and it imports into Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook. For an editable version with leave-by traffic alarms, set the rotation once in BoardSpy." } } ] } ] } ```