Measuring fairness in a schedule
Updated October 12, 2026 · with an example to try
Count each person's nights and weekend shifts over at least 3 months, and holidays over a year, then compare. The share worked by the top 20%, the fifth of the group with the most, shows whether a few carry most of them; the median shows the typical person, and the spread the lightest and heaviest loads. Then post each person's count against an even share.
Edit a group's nights
Example · runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent
Night shifts each person worked in a quarter. Change any number, or add people, to see the measures move. Count rotating staff separately from permanent night staff.
- Person 16.4 over
- Person 23.4 over
- Person 31.4 over
- Person 41.4 over
- Person 50.4 over
- Person 60.6 under
- Person 71.6 under
- Person 81.6 under
- Person 93.6 under
- Person 105.6 under
The top 20%: the 2 people with the most nightsAn even share (7.6 nights)
- Top 20%'s share
- 32.9%
- Even would be 20%
- Median
- 7.5
- nights a person
- Spread
- 2 to 14
- 12 nights apart
- In all
- 76
- nights
The 2 people with the most nights worked 32.9% of the group's nights. Shared evenly, it would be 20%.
Ten people's night shifts in a quarter. Change the numbers, or add people, to see each measure move.
The measures
- The top 20%'s share: the share of the group's nights worked by the fifth of the group with the most, rounded to whole people. If nights were even, 2 people out of 10 would work 20% of them; out of 12, the top 2 would work 16.7%.
- The median: half the group works more, half less.
- The spread: the fewest and the most, and the gap between them.
- Each person against an even share: 14 nights where even is 7.6 is 6.4 over. That's the number to post.
- These are simple counts, not a published standard: compare the same measure over time and against an even share.
What to count
- Night shifts: on a 12-hour unit, every 19:00 shift. For other patterns, a shift covering at least half of the hours from 22:30 to 06:30, the 8 hours when the most people are asleep (how nights are counted).
- Weekend shifts: decide what counts and write it down. One clear rule is a shift with most of its hours between Friday 19:00 and Monday 07:00, which counts Friday and Sunday nights.
- Holidays over a year, since a quarter may have none.
- Rotating staff separately from permanent night staff, and for part-time people, nights as a share of their own shifts.
Common questions
- What is a fair share of night shifts?
- With everyone on the same hours, the group's nights divided by the number of people. Post each person's count against that share.
- Do swaps count?
- Yes. Count the nights and weekends people actually worked, after swaps, not the schedule as first published.
Schedule your whole team with rest checked.
Capillary Health makes scheduling software for hospitals and clinics. Nurses, physicians and advanced practice providers share one schedule, and every change is checked for overlaps and rest, counting shifts people work at other sites, before it's published or swapped.