Quick answer
What is a compressed workweek?
4/10
52 days
Off every week: four 10-hour days
9/80
26 days
Off every other Friday: 80 hours in 9 days
DOLE limit
12 hours
A day, and 48 a week, under a compressed workweek
It's the same weekly hours in fewer, longer days. You work the same 40 or 48 hours, but you get one or more extra days off. The common ones:
| Schedule | Hours a day | Extra days off a year |
|---|---|---|
| 4/10 (US) | 10 | 52 |
| 9/80 (US) | 9, with one 8-hour Friday | 26 |
| 4/9 + half Friday (US) | 9, Friday 4 | 52 half days |
| 4 days × 12 h (PH, 48-hour week) | 12 | 104, compared with a 6-day week |
| 5 days × 9.6 h (PH, 48-hour week) | 9 h 36 min | 52 Saturdays |
| 4 days × 10 h (PH, 40-hour week) | 10 | 52 |
The long days aren't overtime only if your arrangement follows the rules where you work. In the US that's the 40-hour week, plus extra steps in Alaska, California and Nevada. In the Philippines it's DOLE's compressed workweek rules.
Longer days, fewer of them
A four-day week sounds simple until you work out what it means for your day. Ten hours of work plus a 30-minute lunch turns a 7 AM start into a 5:30 PM finish. A 12-hour day with DOLE's one-hour meal break means 13 hours at work. Before you agree to a compressed schedule, it helps to see your real clock-out time and what you get back in days off.
The other question is overtime. Those 9th and 10th hours look like overtime, and in some places they are, unless the arrangement was set up the way the law asks. This calculator shows both: your schedule, and what the rules say about it.
How to use the calculator
Step 1
Pick where you work and your schedule
Choose the Philippines or the US, your state, and your schedule. Use Custom for anything else, like three 12-hour days.
Step 2
Add your start time and meal break
You'll see when you clock out each day, how many hours you work a week, and how many extra days off you get in a year.
Step 3
Check a week, if you want
Enter the hours you actually worked and your hourly rate to see which hours are overtime and what the week pays.
Compressed workweek in the Philippines
DOLE Department Advisory No. 02, series of 2004 allows the normal workweek to be done in fewer than six days. Your workday can go past 8 hours, up to 12, and the extra hours inside your schedule aren't overtime. The usual setups are 4 days of 12 hours or 5 days of 9.6 hours for a 48-hour week, or 4 days of 10 hours for a company on a 40-hour week.
For it to be valid:
- Most of the affected workers must agree to it voluntarily.
- Your pay and benefits can't go down because of it.
- Your employer must notify the DOLE regional office.
- If the work involves hazardous substances, the safety committee or an accredited safety organization must certify that the longer days are safe.
You still get at least a 60-minute meal break, your rest day, holiday pay and leaves. Work beyond 12 hours a day, beyond 48 hours a week, or past your agreed schedule is overtime. Without a valid arrangement, every hour past 8 in a day is overtime under Article 87.
4 days × 12 hours = 48 hours, Monday to Thursday
Start 6:00 AM + 12 hours + 1-hour meal = out at 7:00 PM
Without a valid compressed workweek: 4 hours of overtime a day, 16 a week
4/10 and 9/80 schedules in the US
Federal law counts overtime by the week, not the day. In most states you can work four 10-hour days without overtime, because the week is still 40 hours.
A 9/80 is different. You work 80 hours in 9 days: eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour Friday, then every other Friday off. Count Monday to Sunday and one week has 44 hours, which means 4 hours of overtime every two weeks. Employers avoid this by starting the workweek halfway through the 8-hour Friday, so the first 4 hours fall in one week and the last 4 in the next. Each week is then exactly 40.
Four states have daily overtime rules that change things:
- California: overtime after 8 hours a day, unless your work unit voted in an alternative workweek schedule with a two-thirds secret ballot, filed with the state. Then you can work up to 10 hours a day. Hours past your scheduled day are overtime, and past 12 are double time.
- Alaska: overtime after 8 hours a day, unless you signed a voluntary flexible work hour plan approved by the state Department of Labor. Then overtime starts after 10 hours a day.
- Nevada: if you earn under $18 an hour, overtime after 8 hours a day. The only exception is four 10-hour days by written agreement, so a 9/80 still owes 1 hour of overtime on every 9-hour day.
- Colorado: overtime after 12 hours a day, so 4/10 and 9/80 schedules need no agreement.
Tips
- Ask about holidays. In the US, many employers give 8 hours of holiday pay, so a holiday on a 10-hour day leaves 2 hours to cover with leave. In the Philippines, your holiday pay is your full daily wage.
- Leave is counted in hours. A sick day on a 4/10 uses 10 hours of leave, not 8.
- Get it in writing. In the Philippines, California, Alaska and Nevada, the overtime exception depends on a proper agreement. Keep a copy.
- Track your actual hours. Use the Timesheet Calculator for each day, then check the week here.
Questions about compressed workweeks
Is a compressed workweek legal in the Philippines?
Yes, under DOLE Department Advisory No. 02, s. 2004, if most of the affected workers agree voluntarily, pay and benefits aren’t reduced, and the employer notifies the DOLE regional office. Workdays can run up to 12 hours without overtime pay for the hours inside the schedule.
Do I get overtime on a 4/10 schedule?
Not under federal law, because the week is still 40 hours. In California and Alaska, you do unless there’s a valid alternative workweek or approved flexible plan. In Nevada, if you earn under $18 an hour, you need a written agreement for four 10-hour days.
How does overtime work on a 9/80?
Your employer should start the workweek halfway through the 8-hour Friday, so each week has exactly 40 hours. If the workweek runs Monday to Sunday instead, one week has 44 hours and 4 of them are overtime.
Is a 12-hour shift overtime in the Philippines?
On a regular schedule, hours 9 to 12 are overtime at 125% on an ordinary day. Under a valid compressed workweek of 4 days × 12 hours, they’re part of your normal hours and aren’t overtime. Anything past 12 hours is.
How many days off do I get on a 9/80?
About 26 a year, one every other Friday. Some years have 27, depending on where the cycle starts.
Does a compressed workweek change my pay?
It shouldn’t. You work the same weekly hours, so your weekly pay stays the same. In the Philippines, DOLE requires that the arrangement not reduce your pay or benefits.
Related calculators
- Overtime Pay Calculator
Overtime pay with PH premium rates.
- Shift Rotation Calendar
2-2-3, Panama and other rotations on a calendar.
- Break Time Calculator
Meal and rest breaks for long shifts.
- Timesheet Calculator
Add up the hours you work each day.
Sources
- DOLE Department Advisory No. 02, series of 2004, Implementation of Compressed Workweek Schemes; Labor Code of the Philippines, Articles 83, 85 and 87
- US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act; 29 CFR 778.104–778.105 (each workweek stands alone)
- California Labor Code section 511 and IWC wage orders, section 3
- Alaska Statutes 23.10.060(d)(14) and 8 AAC 15.102, voluntary flexible work hour plans
- Nevada Revised Statutes 608.018; Nevada Labor Commissioner minimum wage bulletin, July 1, 2026 ($12.00)
- Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order