How do I calculate hours worked?

Subtract the start time from the end time, then subtract any unpaid break. A shift from 8:00 AM to 5:15 PM is 9 hours 15 minutes; minus a 30-minute unpaid lunch it is 8 hours 45 minutes, or 8.75 decimal hours. Add the days together for the weekly total.

How do I convert hours and minutes to decimal hours?

Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the hours: 7 hours 45 minutes is 7 + 45 ÷ 60 = 7.75 hours. Do not just write the minutes after the decimal point — 7:45 is not 7.45 hours. For more minute-to-hour conversions see the minutes to hours converter.

How do I calculate hours for an overnight shift?

If the end time is earlier than the start time, the shift ends the next day, so add 24 hours to the end time. From 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM: 6:30 + 24:00 = 30:30, and 30:30 − 22:00 = 8 hours 30 minutes. This calculator does that automatically.

When do I get overtime pay?

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, covered non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Federal overtime is weekly, not daily, but some states add daily overtime — California, for example, generally requires overtime after 8 hours in a workday. Your state’s rules apply if they are more generous.

Are breaks paid or unpaid?

Under the FLSA, short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked and must be paid. Bona fide meal periods — usually 30 minutes or more, with the employee completely relieved from duty — do not have to be paid. Enter only unpaid meal breaks in the break column. Federal law does not require breaks at all, but some states do.

Is it legal for my employer to round my time?

Federal rules (29 CFR 785.48) accept rounding clock times to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour, as long as over time it does not result in employees being underpaid for the time they actually worked. Rounding that always favors the employer is not acceptable. Some states and courts apply stricter rules.

Hours Calculator — Time Card with Breaks & Overtime

Enter start and end times with unpaid breaks to add up the hours worked for each day and the whole week — in hours and minutes and decimal hours — with overtime and gross pay.

How to use the hours calculator

Type the start and end time for each day you worked and the length of any unpaid break in minutes. Five weekdays are filled in as an example — overwrite them, or press Clear week to start from scratch. If you work the same hours every day, fill in Monday and press Copy Monday to Tue–Fri. When an end time is earlier than the start time, the shift is treated as ending the next day, so night shifts need no special handling.

Each day’s total appears at the end of its row, and the week’s total, regular and overtime hours appear below, in both hours:minutes and decimal hours. Add an hourly rate to see gross pay, and choose a rounding option if your employer rounds clock punches. For a single gap between two clock times, switch to Between two times. Your week is saved in the page address, so you can bookmark it or send the link — it contains your times and rate, nothing else. Everything is calculated in your browser.

The formula

day hours = (end − start) − unpaid break    (add 24 h to the end if it is earlier than the start)
decimal hours = hours + minutes ÷ 60
week hours = sum of the day hours
overtime hours = week hours − 40    (0 if the week is 40 hours or less)
gross pay = regular hours × rate + overtime hours × rate × 1.5

The calculator works in whole minutes and only converts to decimal hours at the end, so pay is based on the exact time, not a rounded decimal.

Worked example

These are the example times already in the calculator, each with a 30-minute unpaid lunch:

Day	Start – end	Span	Worked	Decimal
Monday	8:00 AM – 4:30 PM	8:30	8:00	8.00
Tuesday	8:00 AM – 5:15 PM	9:15	8:45	8.75
Wednesday	8:00 AM – 4:30 PM	8:30	8:00	8.00
Thursday	7:30 AM – 6:00 PM	10:30	10:00	10.00
Friday	8:00 AM – 4:00 PM	8:00	7:30	7.50
Week			42:15	42.25

The week is 42 hours 15 minutes, or 42 + 15 ÷ 60 = 42.25 hours. That is 2.25 hours over 40, so 40 hours are regular time and 2.25 hours are overtime. Enter an hourly rate of $20 and the calculator shows: regular pay 40 × $20.00 = $800.00; overtime rate $20.00 × 1.5 = $30.00; overtime pay 2.25 × $30.00 = $67.50; gross pay $867.50 before taxes and deductions.

A night shift works the same way. From 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM, the end is earlier than the start, so it is 6:30 AM the next day: 30:30 − 22:00 = 8 hours 30 minutes, or 8 hours after a 30-minute unpaid break.

Minutes to decimal hours

Payroll systems and invoices usually want decimal hours. The most common time-card mistake is copying the minutes after the decimal point: 8:45 is 8.75 hours, not 8.45. Divide the minutes by 60 instead:

Minutes	Decimal hours	Minutes	Decimal hours
5	0.08	30	0.50
6	0.10	36	0.60
10	0.17	40	0.67
12	0.20	45	0.75
15	0.25	50	0.83
20	0.33	55	0.92

The minutes to hours and hours to minutes converters handle any other values.

Overtime under federal law

40 hours in a workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires covered, non-exempt employees to be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Many salaried employees are exempt.
The workweek is fixed. It is a regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods — that can start on any day and at any hour. Hours cannot be averaged over two or more weeks. If your employer’s week starts on Sunday, enter the same seven days; the total does not depend on the row order.
Federal overtime is weekly, not daily. Three 12-hour shifts are 36 hours, so no federal overtime is due. Some states also have daily overtime: California generally requires 1.5 × pay after 8 hours in a workday and double time after 12, with exceptions. This calculator applies only the weekly 40-hour rule, so check your state labor department.
The regular rate is more than the hourly wage. It includes all pay for employment except certain payments the law excludes, so nondiscretionary bonuses, for example, can raise the overtime rate. The calculator assumes one plain hourly rate.
Overnight shifts are counted on the day they start. If a shift crosses the start of a new workweek, the hours after that point belong to the next week.

Breaks and rounding

Short rest breaks — roughly 5 to 20 minutes — count as hours worked under federal law and must be paid, so do not enter them as unpaid breaks. Bona fide meal periods, ordinarily 30 minutes or more when you are completely relieved from duty, do not have to be paid.

Many time clocks round punches. Federal regulations (29 CFR 785.48) accept rounding start and stop times to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour, provided that over time it does not leave employees unpaid for time they actually worked. With 15-minute rounding, 8:07 becomes 8:00 but 8:08 becomes 8:15. The calculator rounds each start and end time (exactly halfway rounds up) and never rounds break minutes. 6-minute rounding is the same as recording time in tenths of an hour: every 6 minutes is 0.1 hour, which is why it is used for tenth-of-an-hour billing.

Tips

Keep your own record of start and end times; it is the easiest way to check a paycheck.
Gross pay here is before taxes and deductions. To turn an hourly rate into weekly, monthly or annual pay, use the salary calculator; to count days between dates, use the date calculator.
This page explains general federal rules and is not legal advice. If you think you were underpaid, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or your state labor department can help.

Last reviewed 24 September 2026 · Built and checked by the Reeliy team · How we test our tools

Hours Calculator

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