How to use this time card calculator
- Enter clock-in and clock-out times for each day you worked. Use the time picker or type times such as
08:30. Leave days you did not work blank. - Add unpaid breaks in minutes. A 30-minute unpaid lunch is entered as
30. Short paid breaks (like a 10-minute rest break) should not be entered, because under federal rules they count as time worked. - Optionally add your hourly rate to see gross pay, including overtime at time and a half.
- Choose the overtime rule that applies to you: the federal 40-hour weekly rule is on by default. Turn on the daily rule if you work in a state such as California that pays overtime after 8 hours in a day.
Totals update as you type. Hours are shown both as hours:minutes (for example 7:45) and as decimal hours (7.75), because most payroll systems need the decimal figure.
How total hours are calculated
For each day the calculator does three simple steps:
- Convert start and end time to minutes after midnight (9:15 AM = 555 minutes; 5:45 PM = 1,065 minutes).
- Subtract start from end: 1,065 − 555 = 510 minutes. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the shift crossed midnight, so 1,440 minutes (24 hours) is added.
- Subtract the unpaid break: 510 − 30 = 480 minutes = 8 hours 0 minutes = 8.00 decimal hours.
The daily totals are added together for the week. If weekly overtime is switched on, anything over 40 hours (2,400 minutes) moves into the overtime column.
Worked example
| Day | In | Out | Break | Worked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 8:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 8.50 h |
| Tue | 8:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 8.50 h |
| Wed | 8:00 AM | 6:30 PM | 30 min | 10.00 h |
| Thu | 8:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 8.50 h |
| Fri | 8:00 AM | 4:00 PM | 30 min | 7.50 h |
| Total | 43.00 h | |||
At $20 an hour, that week is 40 regular hours ($800) plus 3 overtime hours at $30 ($90), for $890 gross pay. Without the overtime premium it would have been $860 — the extra $30 is the “half” in time and a half.
Regular hours vs. overtime hours
Under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most hourly (non-exempt) employees must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is any fixed, recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour days. It does not have to start on Monday, and hours cannot be averaged across two weeks.
A few states add a daily overtime rule. California is the best-known: over 8 hours in a workday is paid at 1.5×, and over 12 hours is paid at 2×. Tick the daily option above to apply that 8/12 rule. The calculator does not apply California’s separate seventh-day rule, so if you worked all seven days of a workweek, check that day by hand. See our overtime laws by state guide for details.
Do breaks count as hours worked?
The Department of Labor says rest breaks of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are customarily paid and must be counted as hours worked. A bona fide meal period, typically 30 minutes or more where you are completely relieved of duty, generally does not have to be paid. That is why the break column is labelled unpaid: only enter breaks your employer does not pay for. Our guide Are breaks paid? explains the rules and the state exceptions.
Converting minutes to decimal hours
Payroll almost always uses decimal hours. To convert, divide minutes by 60: 45 minutes = 0.75 hours, 20 minutes = 0.33 hours, 50 minutes = 0.83 hours. So 38 hours and 20 minutes is 38.33 hours, not 38.20. Mixing the two formats is the most common timesheet mistake. Use our minutes to decimal converter for a full chart.
Tips for accurate timesheets
- Record times when they happen, not at the end of the week from memory.
- Write overnight shifts on the day the shift started, so hours land in the correct workweek.
- If your employer rounds punches (for example to the nearest quarter hour), the result can differ slightly from this calculator. Read about the 7-minute rounding rule.
- Keep your own copy of every timesheet you submit.
Paid every two weeks? Use the biweekly timesheet calculator, which applies overtime to each week separately. For a single shift, the hours calculator gives the hours and minutes between two times.
Sources and limits
The rules on this page come from these official sources, which we read on September 26, 2026. Pay rules change and differ by state, and some employers and union contracts pay more than the law requires. This page is general information, not legal or payroll advice. If you think you have been underpaid, contact the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or your state labor department.
- U.S. DOL WHD – Overtime Pay
- DOL Fact Sheet #22 – Hours Worked Under the FLSA
- California Labor Code § 510
- 29 CFR 785.48 – Use of time clocks (rounding)
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