Timecard GuruHow Overtime and Pay Are Calculated
Daily hours = (clock out − clock in) − unpaid break. The week is the sum of those days. Regular hours are the part up to the threshold you set, which starts at 40. Overtime hours are the rest. Gross pay = regular × rate + overtime × rate × multiplier.
Hypothetical example: 5 days of 9 hours is 45 hours. At a 40-hour line that is 40 regular hours and 5 overtime hours. At $20 an hour and 1.5×, regular pay is $800 and overtime pay is $150, so gross pay is $950. This is arithmetic only. Check your employer and local rules before you treat it as pay owed. The separate overtime calculator takes daily hour totals when you do not have clock times. An unpaid meal comes off the day first; the lunch break calculator is the one-shift version of that subtraction. Punches a clock already rounded are on the rounding rules page.
Overnight Shifts
22:00 to 06:00 is 8 hours, because the clock-out is the next morning. The row says so when the end time is earlier than the start. A 30-minute unpaid break on that shift comes off the 8 hours the same way it would in the daytime. The same time in and out stays 0 hours.
Time Worked Calculator for One Day
One pair of clock times does not need a whole week. The hours calculator measures the gap, and the time card calculator keeps lunch separate from paid hours across the week. If you already have the daily lengths and only need to add up hours and minutes, use the add time calculator. To read the weekly total as hours and minutes or as a decimal, use the decimal hours converter.
Common Weekly Totals
Decimal hours are minutes ÷ 60, rounded to two places. Overtime hours use a 40-hour weekly threshold. Two different schedules can share a total: five 8-hour days and four 10-hour days are both 40.00, and overtime on that line is 0.00.
| Weekly pattern | h:mm | Decimal | OT hours at 40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 days × 8 hours | 40:00 | 40.00 | 0.00 |
| 4 days × 10 hours | 40:00 | 40.00 | 0.00 |
| 5 days × 7.5 hours | 37:30 | 37.50 | 0.00 |
| 6 days × 8 hours | 48:00 | 48.00 | 8.00 |
| 5 days × 9 hours | 45:00 | 45.00 | 5.00 |
| 4 days × 12 hours | 48:00 | 48.00 | 8.00 |
Frequently Asked Questions
+How do I calculate hours worked on a timesheet?
For each day, daily hours = (clock out − clock in) − unpaid break. Add the days to get the week. Decimal hours = minutes ÷ 60. Five days from 9:00 to 17:00 with a 30-minute unpaid lunch are 7.50 hours a day and 37.50 for the week.
+Do unpaid breaks count toward overtime?
Generally only hours worked count, and a bona fide unpaid meal is not hours worked. Check your employer and local rules before you treat a break as overtime. This calculator subtracts the unpaid break from the day before it applies the weekly threshold you set.
+How do I handle shifts past midnight?
If clock-out is earlier than clock-in, the shift is counted on the next day. 22:00 to 06:00 is 8 hours. The same clock time in and out is 0 hours, not 24.
+Can I export my timesheet?
Yes. Export CSV downloads the rows, the weekly total, regular hours, overtime hours, and gross pay when you entered a rate. Print / Save PDF uses the browser print dialog. Nothing is uploaded.
+Time card vs timesheet — what's the difference?
A time card usually records one employee's clock-in and clock-out for a shift. A timesheet collects many of those days, often a week or a pay period, into one total. This page is the weekly sheet. A single pair of clock times can also be totaled on the hours calculator.
+What is 5 days of 9 to 5 with a 30-minute break?
Five days of 9:00 to 17:00 with a 30-minute break equals 37.50 hours. Each day is 8 hours minus 30 minutes, or 7.50 hours. The calculator opens with those five rows filled in.
+How do I convert my weekly total to decimal hours?
Divide the leftover minutes by 60 and add them to the whole hours. 37 hours 30 minutes is 37.50 decimal hours. The calculator shows that decimal next to the hours-and-minutes total.
+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