How Firefighter Shift Schedules Work 2026: FLSA 212

A firefighter schedule is a named rotation plus a named FLSA work period, not a nine-to-five week. A pure 24/48 is one 24-hour shift in every three days. That arithmetic is 56 hours a week if the department never adds an extra day off: 24 times 7 divided by 3. Overtime is not a 40-hour clock. Under FLSA section 7(k), fire protection overtime starts after 212 hours in a 28-day work period, or 106 hours in 14 days (DOL Fact Sheet #8; 29 CFR 553.230).

Ask recruiting for three facts: the rotation, the shift-change hour, and the FLSA work period. Do not assume 24/48. Houston's classified overview is 46.7 scheduled hours on a 72-day cycle. San Antonio Fire Fighting prints a 56-hour 24/48. College Station prints 48/96 on three shifts.

Last verified: 2026-08-23.

What Is a 24/48 Schedule?

24 hours on duty, 48 hours off. Three platoons cover the calendar. You report one morning, live at the station through the next morning, and then you are off two full days. Shift-change hour is local. San Antonio Fire Fighting and Aviation start at 9:00 a.m. (executed Local 624 CBA, Article 15 Section 4, term October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027).

A repeating 24/48 never uses four platoons. One crew in three is on. 24 times 7 divided by 3 is 56 hours a week. That is rotation math. It is not a wage survey, and it is not every Texas department.

San Antonio Fire Fighting and Aviation: average 56-hour week, 24-hour shifts, 21-day work period, printed 24 on / 48 off grid. EMS and Communications at the same department: average 42-hour week, 24-hour shifts starting 7:00 a.m., 28-day work period. SAFD EMS does not use that 24/48 grid.

What Is a 48/96 Schedule?

Two consecutive 24-hour shifts, then four days off. 48 on, 96 off. Time on duty is still one day in three (48 / 144). The weekly arithmetic is the same 56 hours if no extra days off are built in. The packaging is different: fewer commutes, a longer stretch at home, and two nights in a row on the floor.

College Station assigns personnel to three shifts on a 48/96, shift change 07:00 (CSFD careers). Three shifts, not four. Round Rock is 48/96 with a 14-day FLSA period starting 07:00 Sunday (2025 Meet and Confer Agreement, Article 8, PDF).

48/96 is not a rest guarantee. Call volume on night two is a station fact, not a schedule-type fact.

What Is a Kelly Day?

A Kelly day is a scheduled extra 24-hour day off inside the rotation. Departments use it to pull average hours down. It is not a nickname for 48/96.

Austin's executed AFA agreement is the clean example. After the first full biweekly pay period after March 1, 2026, operations revert to an average 53-hour week by eliminating two floating 24-hour Kelly days (AFA-COA Final Mastercopy, Article 14). No later than the first full biweekly pay period after October 1, 2027, the department implements the Austin Schedule: 1/3/2/3 (one day on, three off, two on, three off), a 27-day work period, one 24-hour Kelly day inside every 27-day period, and 24/48 only upon a firefighter's request and the Fire Chief's approval. Average hours on that schedule: 49.8 a week. 24/48 is not Austin's current operations plan.

Beaumont suppression is 24 on / 48 off with a Kelly day, a paid day off every third week of the rotation (Employment, retrieved 2026-08-21).

How Many Hours Do Firefighters Work?

Print the city's number. There is no statewide hour count.

Federal floor, not a city average: 212 hours in 28 days, 159 hours in 21 days, 106 hours in 14 days (29 CFR 553.230 table). A 56-hour 24/48 that uses a 14-day period lands about 112 hours in 14 days (14 divided by 3, times 24). That is over 106, so scheduled FLSA overtime is built into that rotation before anyone is held over. SAFD Fire Fighting's 21-day, 56-hour week is the city's number; 21 times 56 divided by 7 is 168 hours in that period, over the 159-hour 7(k) mark. Houston's printed number is 46.7, not 56.

This page does not print a dollar. Pay is the adopted plan for that city. FLSA math on this site: firefighter salary guide. Police vs fire hours: police officer vs firefighter.

Denton: Two Descriptions of the Schedule

The city's Fire and Emergency Careers FAQ, read for this page, still says operations work a 3-platoon A, B, C system on a 24 hour on, 48 hour off basis (FAQ). Recruiting updates describe a 48 hours on, 96 hours off calendar. Confirm with recruiting before you plan around either one. Hiring door: how to become a firefighter in Denton.

What to Ask Before You Apply

1. Open the city's recruiting page or CBA and read the rotation, the start hour, and the FLSA work period. Houston: how to become a firefighter in Houston. San Antonio: how to become a firefighter in San Antonio. Austin: how to become a firefighter in Austin. College Station: how to become a firefighter in College Station.
2. Do not copy a neighbor's schedule. 24/48, 48/96, and a 46.7-hour 72-day cycle are all live in Texas.
3. If the page says Kelly, ask how often the extra day falls. Austin's current cut of two floating Kelly days is not Beaumont's every-third-week Kelly.
4. Map the rest of the Texas path on the fire pathway and the Texas firefighter pillar. Browse the department directory.

This page does not print a first-year shift-trade ban as a statewide rule. If trades are restricted on probation, that sentence is in that city's agreement. Read it.