What is an anchor date?
An anchor is a date you know is the first day of a particular ON or OFF block. The planner calculates both backward and forward from that point. It is not the date you happen to open the website, and it should not be a day somewhere in the middle of a swing.
If your employer counts your crew-change day as ON, use the first day ON. If your supplied schedule identifies the first day of your break instead, select first day OFF. A travel day may be classified differently by different employers: follow the roster’s convention and account for travel separately.
Worked example: 28/28, first day OFF on 1 October 2026
Enter 1 October 2026, choose 28/28 and select first day OFF. Each block contains exactly 28 calendar dates, including its first date.
| Block | Dates, inclusive | Check |
|---|---|---|
| OFF | 1–28 October 2026 | 1 October is OFF day 1; 28 October is day 28. |
| ON | 29 October–25 November 2026 | 29 October starts the next block. |
| OFF | 26 November–23 December 2026 | The cycle repeats without restarting at a new month. |
If you choose first day ON for the same date, the phases reverse: 1–28 October becomes ON. The number of days in the rotation stays the same, but every planned break changes.
Count dates without an extra day
The last date of a block is its start plus its duration minus one day. The next block begins the following day. A seven-day block beginning 1 January ends 7 January; its next block starts 8 January.
Choose the calendar view
The rolling view starts on your anchor date and covers the next 12 months. A midmonth start can touch 13 calendar months, with partial months at the beginning and end. Full calendar year shows January through December while keeping the same repeating cycle. Changing the view does not reset your swing.
If the dates do not match
- Compare the anchor date with the confirmed employer roster.
- Check first day ON versus first day OFF.
- For a multi-block pattern, check the exact block, not just its ON/OFF label.
- Check whether the employer includes travel days in its rostered blocks.
After a permanent rotation change, build a new plan from a confirmed date in the new sequence. A one-off change is not automatically represented by the repeating forecast.
Try this example in the roster builder · Read about repeated blocks