Timecard GuruHow to Add Up Time Clock Hours
A time clock gives you pairs of punches, not a list of durations. First work out each shift from clock in and out, and take off any unpaid break. Then add those daily lengths here. A sample week of 8:15, 7:50, 8:05, 7:45, and 8:00 is 39:55, which is 2395 minutes and 39.92 decimal hours. When the rows are still clock times with breaks, total a full week with breaks on the timesheet calculator instead of converting each day by hand.
How to Combine Hours and Minutes
Write hours, minutes, and seconds in columns and add each column. The sample 5:30:15 + 4:45:50 + 6:10:05 has hour digits 15, minute digits 85, and second digits 70. Carry every 60 seconds into a minute and every 60 minutes into an hour. The columns total 16:26:10. Minutes of 90 on a single row are carried the same way: 90 minutes is 1 hour 30 minutes, and the calculator normalizes that instead of rejecting it.
After the total is in hours and minutes, convert the total to decimal hours for payroll. Divide the leftover minutes by 60. 45 minutes is 0.75, so 23 hours 45 minutes is 23.75, not 23.45.
Adding Accumulated Hours Over 24
10:20 + 8:40 + 6:00 is 25:00. That is a duration of 1 day 1 h, not a time of day. A clock would wrap 25:00 back to 1:00, which drops a day of work. Accumulated time keeps the days. In Excel, =SUM of the cells formatted as [h]:mm shows the same kind of total: the brackets tell Excel not to hide whole days.
Subtracting Time
Switch a row from + to − to take that length off the total. 5:00 minus 1:45 is 3:15 (3.25 hours, 195 minutes). Use the minus row for an unpaid break you already know as a length. If the minuses are larger than the pluses, the total is negative, written with a minus, and it is not turned into a clock time on the previous day.
Add Time Examples
| Entries | h:mm | Decimal | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:45 + 1:30 | 4:15 | 4.25 | 255 |
| 7:30 + 8:15 | 15:45 | 15.75 | 945 |
| 0:45 × 6 | 4:30 | 4.50 | 270 |
| 1:20 + 0:45 + 2:35 | 4:40 | 4.67 | 280 |
| 8:00 × 5 | 40:00 | 40.00 | 2400 |
0:45 six times is 4:30, not 0:270, because each 60 minutes has already been carried. Paste a list such as 2:45, 2h 15m, 1.5h, or -0:30 when the rows would be tedious to type. The optional clock line adds a duration to a time of day: 14:00 + 1 h 30 m is 3:30 PM, and a result past midnight is marked next day.
Frequently Asked Questions
+How do I add hours and minutes together?
Add the hours, add the minutes, then carry every 60 minutes into one hour. 2 hours 45 minutes plus 1 hour 30 minutes is 3 hours 75 minutes, which carries to 4 hours 15 minutes, or 4.25 decimal hours.
+Can I add more than two times at once?
Yes. The calculator starts with three rows and you can add as many entries as you need. Each row is included in one total, so a week of daily durations adds the same way two durations do. The total does not wrap at 24 hours.
+Why doesn't 1.30 + 1.30 equal 3 hours?
1.30 hours is 1 hour and 18 minutes, because 0.30 × 60 = 18. Twice that is 2.60 hours, or 2 hours 36 minutes, not 3 hours. The clock reading 1:30 plus 1:30 is 3:00, because those are minutes on a clock, not digits after a decimal point.
+Can the total go over 24 hours?
Yes. Durations keep going past midnight. 25:00 is 1 day 1 h, and the decimal is 25.00 hours. In Excel, format the sum as [h]:mm so a total past 24 hours does not roll back to a time of day.
+How do I add time in Excel?
Enter each duration as a time, then use =SUM on the cells. Format the result as [h]:mm, with the brackets, so totals of 24 hours or more stay visible. Without the brackets, Excel shows a clock time and drops whole days.
+How do I subtract a break from total time?
Set that row to minus, or paste a line such as -0:30. 5:00 minus 1:45 is 3:15 (3.25 hours, 195 minutes). A negative total is shown with a minus sign and is not wrapped around a clock.
+Are short rest breaks paid?
When the Fair Labor Standards Act applies, yes. 29 CFR 785.18 says rest periods of short duration, running from 5 minutes to about 20 minutes, must be counted as hours worked. That paid rest time may not be offset against other working time. A 10-minute rest break stays in the paid total. It is not a meal period. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-785/subpart-C/section-785.18
+Is a 30-minute meal period unpaid?
A bona fide meal period is not hours worked. 29 CFR 785.19 says the employee must be completely relieved of duty for the purpose of eating a regular meal. Ordinarily 30 minutes or more is long enough. Coffee breaks and time for snacks are rest periods, not meal periods. If the employee has to perform any duties while eating, the time is hours worked. The employee does not have to be allowed to leave the premises if they are otherwise completely freed from duty. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-785/subpart-C/section-785.19
+Can an employer round time clock punches?
29 CFR 785.48(b) describes rounding start and stop times to the nearest 5 minutes, the nearest tenth of an hour, or the nearest quarter of an hour. The practice is accepted for enforcement only when it averages out and does not, over a period of time, fail to pay for all the time actually worked. Rounding that always shortens the shift does not meet that test. The time clock rounding calculator at https://timecardguru.com/time-clock-rounding-calculator applies the quarter-hour practice and the nearest tenth of an hour. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-785/subpart-D/section-785.48
+Is overtime calculated on the biweekly paycheck?
No. Each workweek stands alone. 29 CFR 778.104 says the Act does not permit averaging hours over two or more weeks, even when the employee is paid biweekly. Someone who works 30 hours one week and 50 the next is owed overtime for the hours past the weekly maximum in the second week, even though the two-week average is 40. 29 CFR 778.107 states the general standard: those overtime hours are paid at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate. Exemptions exist, and this is not a coverage decision. Sources: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-778/subpart-B/section-778.104 and https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-778/subpart-B/section-778.107