Hours Worked Calculator - Free Weekly Time Card

How to calculate hours worked

Calculating hours worked comes down to one formula, applied to each day and summed for the week:

hours worked = ( clock out − clock in ) − unpaid break Convert both times to 24-hour format first, then subtract. Deduct unpaid breaks; leave paid breaks in.

The reliable way to do it by hand is to convert each clock time to minutes since midnight, subtract, then divide by 60. Working in minutes avoids the base-60 errors that come from trying to subtract "5:30 PM minus 9:00 AM" directly.

Worked example — a standard day

Clock in 9:00, clock out 17:30, with a 30-minute unpaid lunch.

Time on the clock: 17:30 − 9:00 = 8 hours 30 minutes. Minus the 30-minute break = 8 hours 0 minutes worked, or 8.00 in decimal.

Repeat for each day and add the daily totals for the weekly figure that goes to payroll.

Overnight shifts and the midnight rollover

The one case that breaks naïve subtraction is a shift that crosses midnight. If you clock in at 22:00 and out at 06:00, a straight subtraction gives −16 hours, which is nonsense.

The fix: when the clock-out time is earlier than the clock-in time, add 24 hours to the clock-out before subtracting. So 06:00 becomes 30:00, and 30:00 − 22:00 = 8 hours. The calculator above does this automatically — enter an out-time earlier than the in-time and it assumes the shift ran overnight.

How overtime works

This is where a simple hours total becomes a payroll calculation. Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees earn overtime at 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour beyond 40 in a workweek.

Worked example — a week with overtime

You work 46 hours at $20/hour.

Regular: 40 hours × $20 = $800. Overtime: 6 hours × $30 (1.5 × $20) = $180. Gross pay: $980.

Note that overtime is on hours worked, not hours on the clock — unpaid breaks come out first, then the 40-hour line is applied to what remains.

Two important wrinkles:

Overtime is weekly, not daily, under federal law. Four 11-hour days (44 hours) triggers 4 hours of overtime; the same 44 hours spread as five days plus a short day is identical federally — it's the weekly total over 40 that counts.
Some states add daily overtime. California, for example, requires overtime after 8 hours in a single day and double-time after 12, regardless of the weekly total. The calculator's overtime threshold is weekly; if your state has daily rules, check them separately.

Paid vs unpaid breaks

Not every break comes out of your hours. The distinction matters on every timesheet:

Meal breaks (usually unpaid). A bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more, where you're relieved of duty, is typically unpaid and deducted from hours worked.
Short rest breaks (usually paid). Breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes are generally counted as working time under federal rules and are not deducted.

So a 15-minute coffee break stays in your paid hours, while a 45-minute lunch comes out. Only enter unpaid minutes in the break column above.

Payroll rounding

Some employers round each entry to a fixed increment rather than paying to the exact minute. The most common is the quarter-hour (15-minute) rule, where the first 7 minutes round down and 8 or more round up.

Rounding is legal under the FLSA only if it's neutral over time — it must not systematically favour the employer. A system that always rounds in the company's favour isn't compliant, and several states now apply stricter standards. Because modern time clocks capture exact minutes automatically, the simplest and safest approach is to pay actual recorded time. The calculator defaults to Exact for that reason, with rounding options if your employer uses one.

The most common timesheet error: writing a clock time as if it were decimal. A shift ending at 5:15 is not 5.15 hours past 5:00 — it's 5.25, because 15 minutes is a quarter of an hour. Always convert minutes to decimal by dividing by 60 before multiplying by a pay rate. Getting this wrong under- or over-pays on every single shift.

Common mistakes when totalling hours

Reading clock minutes as decimals. 8:45 is 8.75 hours, not 8.45. Divide minutes by 60.

Forgetting the overnight rollover. A shift crossing midnight needs 24 hours added to the out-time before subtracting.

Applying overtime to on-clock time. Deduct unpaid breaks first, then apply the 40-hour threshold to hours actually worked.

Deducting paid rest breaks. Short breaks of 5–20 minutes usually count as paid working time and shouldn't be subtracted.

Rounding every day then summing. If you round at all, rounding the weekly total once introduces less distortion than rounding five daily entries.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate hours worked?

Convert clock-in and clock-out to 24-hour format, subtract the start from the end to get time on the clock, then subtract any unpaid break. For example, 9:00 to 17:30 with a 30-minute lunch is 8.5 hours minus 0.5, giving 8 hours worked. Total each day and sum for the week.

How is overtime calculated?

Under the FLSA, non-exempt employees earn 1.5 times their regular rate for hours beyond 40 in a workweek. Work 46 hours at $20 and the first 40 pay $800 while the 6 overtime hours pay $180 at $30 each, for $980 gross. Some states such as California add daily overtime rules.

How do I calculate hours for an overnight shift?

Add 24 hours to the clock-out time before subtracting. A shift from 22:00 to 06:00 becomes 30:00 minus 22:00, which is 8 hours. This calculator handles the midnight rollover automatically when the clock-out is earlier than the clock-in.

Should unpaid breaks be deducted from hours worked?

Yes — unpaid meal breaks are deducted, while short paid rest breaks are not. A bona fide meal break of 30 minutes or more is usually unpaid and excluded, whereas short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes are typically paid and counted as working time.

What rounding is allowed on a timesheet?

Employers may round to the nearest 15, 10, or 5 minutes as long as rounding is neutral over time and doesn't consistently favour the employer. The quarter-hour method rounds the first 7 minutes down and 8 or more up. Several states are stricter, and paying exact recorded time avoids the issue.

How many work hours are in a year?

A full-time schedule of 40 hours a week over 52 weeks is 2,080 hours a year before any time off. Subtracting two weeks of holiday brings it to about 2,000 hours, which is the round figure often used to convert an annual salary into an hourly rate.