What it does
Type the start and end times for each work day, the break length in minutes, and the calculator adds it all up. Decimal hours (which is what payroll software expects) and total pay (using your hourly rate) come out at the bottom.
The default starts you with Monday-Friday at 9 to 5 with a 30-minute break each day, your typical workweek. Add days for shift workers or people with weekends. Edit any day’s label freely; it’s just a text field.
How it handles tricky cases
Overnight shifts: nurses, security, and bartenders often clock in at 9pm and out at 5am. The calculator detects when the end time is earlier than the start time and treats it as the next day, so 21:00 → 05:00 correctly counts as 8 hours.
Variable break lengths: each day has its own break field. Some companies require a 30-min break for shifts over 6 hours and a 15-min break for shifts over 4, adjust per day as needed.
Empty days: a day with the same start and end (or an empty schedule) just contributes 0 hours. Useful for tracking days off without removing the row.
Multiple shifts in one day: the calculator handles one shift per day. If you split into morning and afternoon shifts, add them as two separate days with the same label.
Decimal hours vs HH:MM
Payroll software almost always wants decimal hours, not “8 hours 30 minutes.” 8h30m converts to 8.5 hours. 8h45m converts to 8.75. The conversion isn’t intuitive when you’re tired at the end of a long shift, which is why mistakes are common when filling out time cards by hand.
The calculator shows both formats. The HH:MM version is for sanity-checking what you actually worked; the decimal version is what you copy into the payroll system.
Common mistakes time cards introduce
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Forgetting to subtract breaks: Many workers clock in at 9 and out at 5, take a 30-minute break, and report 8 hours. Real worked time is 7.5. Companies catch this and adjust pay accordingly; it’s better to track honestly.
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Rounding to the nearest 15 minutes: federal law allows rounding (called “the 7-minute rule”) but only if it averages out fairly. Some companies always round down, which is wage theft. Track exact times here, then round only if your employer’s policy explicitly says so.
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Off-the-clock work: answering emails after hours, “just five minutes” of setup before your shift starts. These count as work in most jurisdictions. The calculator helps you spot when these add up.
Pay calculations
The calculator multiplies total hours by your hourly rate. It doesn’t handle:
- Overtime: federal US law requires 1.5× pay above 40 hours/week. To compute manually, take total hours minus 40, multiply by 1.5× your rate, then add back the regular pay for the first 40.
- Tips and commissions: variable income that has to be tracked separately
- Differential pay: shift premiums for nights and weekends
- Tax withholdings: gross pay only; net pay is typically 25-30% lower after withholdings
For estimation purposes, the gross weekly number from this calculator × 50 working weeks is your annual gross.
Frequently asked questions
My boss disputed my time card. Can this serve as evidence? Not by itself, it’s a tool, not a verified record. For disputes, reference clock-in/out timestamps from a punch system (your employer’s responsibility to maintain) or work emails you sent at specific times.
What about lunch that runs over? If you took 45 minutes for a 30-minute break, enter 45. The calculator handles any break length up to a full day.
Can I track multiple weeks? The calculator handles one week at a time. For multi-week tracking, copy the totals into a spreadsheet at the end of each week.
What’s the federal minimum break requirement? There’s no federal mandate for breaks of any kind in the US, it’s all state-level. California requires 30-min unpaid lunch over 5 hours and 10-min paid breaks every 4 hours. Other states vary widely.