How to use the hours calculator
- For each day you worked, type a start and end time. Any common format works:
9:00 AM,9am,9aor 24-hour time like17:30. - Enter your unpaid break in minutes, such as 30 for a half-hour lunch. Leave it blank if you did not take one.
- Leave days off blank. Use Add a day for a two-week pay period.
- Add your hourly pay if you want gross pay for the week. Under Overtime rules, pick the federal weekly rule or a daily rule, and 1.5x or 2x pay.
The hours calculator shows the total in hours and minutes, and in decimal hours for payroll. The table under the chart lists every day; use Download CSV to keep a copy or send it to your manager.
How to calculate hours worked by hand
- Convert both times to 24-hour time. 8:15 AM stays 8:15. 4:45 PM becomes 16:45.
- Subtract the start from the end. 16:45 − 8:15 = 8 hours 30 minutes. If the minutes come out negative, borrow 60 minutes from the hours.
- Subtract unpaid breaks. 8 hours 30 minutes − 30 minutes = 8 hours.
- Add up the days and convert the minutes to decimals if your payroll needs it.
Example: a five-day week
Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, with a 30-minute lunch. Each day is 8 hours 30 minutes on the clock minus 30 minutes of break, so 8 hours. Five days make 40 hours. At $20 an hour, that is $800 of gross pay. Add a Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM and the week reaches 45 hours, with 5 hours of overtime paid at $30, for $950.
Minutes to decimal hours
Payroll systems and time sheets usually want hours as a decimal: 7.75 rather than 7 hours 45 minutes. Divide the minutes by 60.
| Minutes | Decimal | Minutes | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0.08 | 35 | 0.58 |
| 10 | 0.17 | 40 | 0.67 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 20 | 0.33 | 50 | 0.83 |
| 25 | 0.42 | 55 | 0.92 |
| 30 | 0.50 | 60 | 1.00 |
A common mistake is writing 7 hours 30 minutes as 7.30. It is 7.50. On a $20 rate, that slip costs $4 every time.
Converting AM/PM to 24-hour time
For afternoon and evening times, add 12 to the hour. Midnight is 0:00 and noon is 12:00.
| 12-hour | 24-hour | 12-hour | 24-hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 0:00 | 12:00 PM (noon) | 12:00 |
| 6:00 AM | 6:00 | 1:00 PM | 13:00 |
| 8:30 AM | 8:30 | 5:30 PM | 17:30 |
| 11:00 AM | 11:00 | 10:00 PM | 22:00 |
Overnight and split shifts
When a shift crosses midnight, the end time looks earlier than the start. Count to midnight, then from midnight to the end: 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM is 2 hours plus 6 hours, or 8 hours. The calculator does this automatically whenever the end time is at or before the start time.
For a split shift, such as 6 AM to 10 AM and again 4 PM to 8 PM, the simplest approach is to enter the whole span (6 AM to 8 PM) with the gap as the break: 840 minutes on the clock minus 360 minutes off is 8 hours. Or use Add a day and enter each part on its own row.
Which breaks are paid?
Federal law does not require employers to give breaks, but it does say which ones must be paid if they do:
- Short rest breaks, usually 20 minutes or less, count as hours worked. Do not subtract them.
- Meal periods, usually 30 minutes or more, can be unpaid if you are completely relieved of duty. If you eat at your desk while answering calls, it is work time.
Many states go further and require meal or rest breaks for certain shifts. California, for example, requires a 30-minute meal period for shifts over five hours, with limited exceptions. Your state labor department lists its rules.
When overtime starts
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees earn at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is any fixed run of seven days, not necessarily Sunday to Saturday, and each week stands alone: a 30-hour week does not cancel out a 50-hour one.
A few states add daily overtime on top. California pays 1.5x after 8 hours in a day and 2x after 12. Alaska, Colorado and Nevada also have daily rules with their own conditions. Choose Over 8 hours a day, then over 40 a week to apply the common daily rule; the calculator does not add California’s double-time or seventh-day rules, so check those separately if they apply to you.
Overtime also has a tax angle now. For 2025 through 2028, the half-time premium on federally required overtime can be deducted on your federal return. The no tax on overtime calculator estimates what that saves you.
Time clock rounding
Employers may round punch times to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or quarter hour (15 minutes), as long as the rounding evens out over time and does not end up underpaying employees. Rounding that always favors the employer, such as rounding every clock-in up and every clock-out down, is not allowed. If your pay stub hours keep coming in below your own records, this hours calculator gives you an exact count to compare.
Tips for accurate time sheets
- Write times down as you go, not from memory on Friday.
- Record the actual minutes, not rounded ones, unless your employer’s policy says otherwise.
- Note unpaid breaks separately so they are easy to check.
- Keep your own copy. A CSV from this calculator, saved each week, is a simple record.
Want your hourly rate as a salary, or the reverse? Use the salary to hourly calculator. Otherwise, fill in this week’s times in the hours calculator and copy the link to save the whole time card.