FIFO Rosters Explained: 2:1, 8/6, 14/14, 20/10 & 21/7 — What Each One Means for Your Pay and Your Life

Every camp and FIFO job ad leads with the roster. Most people read it as a number and move straight to the pay. That's backwards.

The roster decides how much you earn, how tired you get, how much of the year you spend at home, and, according to the biggest study done on FIFO workers, how good your mental health is likely to be. Two jobs with the same hourly rate can be $20,000 a year apart purely because of the rotation.

Here's how to read rosters, what the common ones look like over a year, and how to pick one that fits your life.

How to read a roster

A roster is two numbers: time on site, then time off. It's written either in days or in weeks.

8/6 means 8 days on, then 6 days off.
2:1 (or 2/1) means 2 weeks on, 1 week off. That's the same as 14/7.
14/14, also called even time, means equal time on and off.
20/10, 21/7 and 4/2 (four weeks on, two off) are common in Canadian camps.

A few terms you'll hear on site:

Swing: one block of days on site.
R&R: your days off at home.
Roster compression: how many days on you work relative to days off. Researchers at CQUniversity describe it this way: the more days on compared with days off, the more compressed the roster.
Crib: a meal break, or the room or packed lunches for workers on shift. Camp kitchens make a lot of crib.

FIFO vs DIDO vs BIBO

The letters describe how you get to site, not what you do there.

FIFO (fly-in, fly-out): you fly from a hub airport to site at the start of each swing.
DIDO (drive-in, drive-out): you drive yourself. Road safety groups in Australia's Bowen Basin note that DIDO workers either stay on site for the swing or, in some contractor roles, drive long distances daily, which raises real fatigue risks.
BIBO (bus-in, bus-out): the employer buses you in from a regional hub.

In Canada you'll more often see "rotation" and "camp job" than FIFO, with transport from a pickup point such as Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver.

The common rosters at a glance

The share of the year spent on site is the number that matters most. It drives both your annual pay and your time at home.

Roster	Pattern	Share of year on site	Approx. days on site per year	Where you'll see it
4/1	4 weeks on, 1 off	80%	~292	Very remote or older-style sites; less common now
21/7	21 days on, 7 off	75%	~274	Remote exploration and some Canadian camps
2:1 (14/7)	2 weeks on, 1 off	67%	~243	The classic Australian FIFO roster
20/10	20 days on, 10 off	67%	~243	Common in Canadian mining and oil sands camps
4/2	4 weeks on, 2 off	67%	~243	Northern Canadian camps (e.g. Nunavut)
8/6	8 days on, 6 off	57%	~209	Australia's most popular all-round FIFO roster
14/14 (even time)	2 weeks on, 2 off	50%	~183	Canadian camps and family-friendly Australian sites

Days per year are simple arithmetic (share × 365) and don't account for travel days, leave or swings you don't get offered. RosterElf's guide to FIFO patterns uses the same breakdown for the Australian rosters.

Real 2025–2026 job ads show the spread. Civeo's Faro, Yukon camp runs 14/14. Compass Group Canada's remote camp in Dubreuilville, Ontario and Horizon North's Fort McMurray camp both run 20/10. Horizon North's Nunavut camp runs four weeks on, two off. In Australia, ESS advertises 14/7 and 8/6 head chef roles out of Perth, and our listings include a head chef role on a 14:7 roster in regional Queensland and an even-time 2:2 head chef role out of Cairns.

Same wage, different roster: the pay math

Your hourly or day rate is only half the equation. The roster decides how many of those days you get.

Canada example. A March 2026 Compass Group Canada ad for a remote camp chef in northern BC paid $28/hour, which the employer put at roughly $2,380 a week with overtime, on 10-hour days and a 14/14 rotation.

On 14/14, you work about 26 weeks a year: roughly $61,900 before tax.
The same weekly earnings on 20/10 means about 34.7 weeks a year: roughly $82,500 before tax. Many 20/10 camps also run 12-hour days, which pushes it higher.

Australia example. ESS advertises casual FIFO hospitality all-rounder shifts at $437.74 a day plus super.

On 2:1 (about 243 days): roughly $106,400 a year.
On 8/6 (about 209 days): roughly $91,500.
On even time (about 183 days): roughly $79,900.

These are illustrations, not promises. They're before tax, assume every swing is worked, and ignore leave, travel days and allowances. But they show why the roster matters as much as the rate.

A few pay details to check in any offer:

Overtime rules differ by province and state. A Northern Ontario camp ad paid overtime after 44 hours a week, the Ontario threshold. A Yukon camp ad paid overtime after 8 hours a day. Ask how it works at your site.
Day rate vs hourly. Day rates are simple but can hide long days. Hourly rates with overtime often pay more on 12-hour shifts.
Travel days. Some employers pay them, some don't. It can be worth several days' pay a year.
Casual vs permanent. Casual roles in Australia often pay more per hour (a 25% casual loading is common) but carry no paid leave and no guarantee of swings.

For the bigger savings picture, see how much chefs can actually save working abroad.

What the research says about rosters and your health

In 2018, Curtin University and the University of Western Australia published the most detailed study of FIFO workers to date, surveying and interviewing more than 3,000 workers and partners for the WA Mental Health Commission. A third of FIFO workers had high or very high psychological distress, compared with 17% of non-FIFO workers.

Rosters were one of the clearest factors:

Workers on even-time and shorter rosters (they name 2 weeks on/2 off, 8/6 and 5/2) had the best mental health.
High-compression rosters and long travel ate into recovery time and raised stress and fatigue.
Day shift only was best for mental health.
Having a permanent room on site was linked to better mental health.

That doesn't mean 2:1 or 20/10 will hurt you. Plenty of people do them for years. It means the trade-off is real, and worth choosing with your eyes open. We go deeper in FIFO mental health and relationships: staying sane on rotation.

Which roster should you pick?

You want to save fast and have few ties at home: 2:1, 20/10 or 21/7. More days on site means more pay and almost no spending. Set a goal and an end date.

You have a partner or kids: even time or 8/6. The Curtin research found these rosters had the best mental health outcomes, and longer breaks give you real time at home.

Your home is a long way from the departure point: favour longer off-blocks. A two-day trip home eats a big chunk of a 7-day R&R but much less of a 14-day one.

It's your first camp job: a shorter swing is a lower-risk way to find out whether camp life suits you. Take a longer swing once you know.

You'll be on nights: night cooks and bakers are common in 24-hour camps. Ask whether nights are permanent or rotate with days, since changing shift patterns mid-swing is harder on sleep.

Questions to ask before you accept

Is the roster fixed, or "subject to change based on the needs of the business"? Some ads say exactly that.
How many hours a day: 10, 11 or 12?
Day shift, night shift, or a mix?
Where does travel start, and are travel days paid?
Do I keep the same room each swing?
What happens if weather delays my flight in or out? Arctic camp ads warn this happens.
Am I casual or permanent, and are swings guaranteed?

Our negotiation guide covers how to raise these without sounding difficult.

FAQ

What does a 2:1 roster mean? Two weeks on site, then one week off. It's the same as 14/7, and it means you're on site about two-thirds of the year.

What is an even-time roster? Equal time on and off, such as 14/14 or 7/7. You're on site about half the year.

Is 8/6 better than 2:1? It pays less over a year because you work fewer days, but you're home more often. Research on WA FIFO workers found 8/6 among the rosters with the best mental health.

What's the difference between FIFO and BIBO? Only the transport. FIFO flies you to site; BIBO buses you in from a regional hub.

Are travel days paid? It depends on the employer and agreement. Always ask before you sign.

Compare real rotations side by side: browse live remote camp and FIFO chef jobs, from BIBO and FIFO chef roles in the Top End to the executive chef role at Back River gold mine in Nunavut. For camp trades and labour roles across Canada, visit CanadaCampJobs.ca.

Sources

Centre for Transformative Work Design, Curtin University: FIFO mental health research findings
WA Mental Health Commission: Impact of FIFO work arrangements on the mental health and wellbeing of FIFO workers (full report, 2018)
Mining Technology: One third of FIFO workers experience psychological distress
RosterElf: FIFO roster patterns explained
NRSPP: Drive-in, drive-out education and fatigue
Safety Solutions: FIFO miner mental health examined in new study (CQUniversity)
Compass Group Australia (ESS) careers — all-rounder day rate and 14/7, 8/6 chef ads, 2026
Compass Group Canada careers — remote camp chef (BC) and sous chef (Ontario) ads, 2026
Civeo careers — Faro, Yukon 14/14 roles
Dexterra / Horizon North camp cook ads (Fort McMurray 20/10, Nunavut 4/2), 2026