Hours Worked Calculator
An hours worked calculator turns a clock-in time and a clock-out time into a usable total, in both a readable format and decimal hours. Enter a start time, an end time, and any unpaid break minutes, and the tool subtracts the break from the raw shift length to produce net time worked. It also handles overnight shifts, so a start time later than the end time is read as a shift that crosses midnight rather than an error. An optional overtime threshold splits the result into regular hours and overtime hours, which is useful for timesheets, payroll review, freelance invoicing, and any situation where you need to double-check a shift total by hand.
Quick answer
Enter times in 24-hour HH:MM format, such as 08:00 or 17:30, not AM/PM notation.
What this tells you
- •Enter times in 24-hour HH:MM format, such as 08:00 or 17:30, not AM/PM notation.
- •Break minutes are unpaid time and get subtracted directly from the raw shift length.
- •If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator assumes the shift crossed midnight and adds a full day before subtracting.
- •Decimal hours make the total easy to plug into payroll software or a spreadsheet formula.
- •The overtime threshold is a simple hours-per-shift cutoff, not a substitute for your employer's actual overtime policy.
- •Total hours worked is shown in a readable hours-and-minutes format alongside the decimal figure.
How to Use
- 1Enter the shift start time in 24-hour format, for example 08:00 for 8 AM or 22:00 for 10 PM.
- 2Enter the shift end time the same way. If the shift ends after midnight, use the next day's clock time, such as 06:00 for a shift that ends at 6 AM.
- 3Enter the total unpaid break minutes taken during the shift. Use 0 if no break was taken or if breaks were paid and should not be deducted.
- 4Set the overtime threshold in hours if your shift has one, such as 8 for a standard eight-hour day, or leave the default in place.
- 5Click calculate to see total hours worked, decimal hours, and the regular versus overtime split.
How It Works
Formula
Gross minutes = end time - start time (add 1440 minutes if the result is negative)
Net minutes = gross minutes - break minutes, floored at 0
Total hours = net minutes / 60
Overtime hours = max(0, total hours - overtime threshold)
Regular hours = total hours - overtime hoursBoth clock times are converted to minutes past midnight first, so 08:00 becomes 480 and 17:00 becomes 1020. The calculator subtracts start from end to get the gross shift length. When that subtraction produces a negative number, it means the end time is on the following day, so the tool adds 1440 minutes (a full 24-hour day) to correct it before continuing. Unpaid break minutes are then subtracted from the gross figure to get net minutes actually worked, and that net figure never drops below zero even if break time was entered incorrectly. Net minutes divided by 60 gives total hours as a decimal. If an overtime threshold is set, any hours beyond that threshold are counted as overtime and the remainder stays as regular hours, so the two numbers always add back up to the total.
Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.
Worked Examples
Standard day shift with a lunch break
The gross shift runs from 08:00 to 17:00, which is 540 minutes, or 9 hours. Subtracting the 60-minute lunch break leaves 480 net minutes, exactly 8 hours. Since the total matches the 8-hour overtime threshold exactly, none of the time counts as overtime.
Overnight shift crossing midnight
Because 06:00 is earlier on the clock than 22:00, the calculator adds 1440 minutes to treat this as an overnight shift, giving 480 gross minutes, or 8 hours. A 30-minute break brings net time down to 450 minutes, which is 7.5 hours. This is the correct way to log a graveyard shift without manually adding a day to the math.
Long shift that runs into overtime
This shift spans 12.5 gross hours from 07:00 to 19:30. After removing a 45-minute break, net time worked is 705 minutes, or 11.75 hours. With an 8-hour threshold, the first 8 hours count as regular time and the remaining 3.75 hours show up as overtime.
Short shift with no break
A 3.5-hour morning shift with no break entered simply carries the gross time straight through as net time. This case is common for checking part-time or on-call hours where a formal break was not taken.
Extended shift with a higher overtime threshold
This 16-hour gross shift includes a 90-minute break, leaving 870 net minutes, or 14.5 hours worked. Because the overtime threshold here is set to 10 hours instead of the usual 8, the first 10 hours count as regular time and the remaining 4.5 hours are overtime. Raising or lowering the threshold changes only where the split happens, not the total.
Weekly timesheet with a half-hour lunch
Tomas clocks in at 07:30 and out at 16:45 Monday through Thursday with a 30-minute unpaid lunch each day. Each shift is 555 gross minutes minus 30, or 525 net minutes, which is 8.75 hours. On Friday he works 08:00 to 14:30 with no break, which the tool reports as 6h 30m and 6.50 hours. His week adds up to 4 x 8.75 + 6.50 = 41.50 hours. The per-shift threshold flags 0.75 hours on each long day, 3.00 hours in all, but under the federal weekly rule only the 1.50 hours over 40 are overtime (29 CFR 778.101). Add the decimal hours for the whole week before deciding what overtime is due.
Timeclock Rounding Under the 7-Minute Rule
How quarter-hour rounding treats each clock-in or clock-out minute. Minutes 1 to 7 past a quarter round down to it, and minutes 8 to 14 round up to the next quarter.
| Clock shows | Rounds to | Direction | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| :53 to :59 | :00 of the next hour | Up, by 1 to 7 minutes | 8:56 becomes 9:00 |
| :00 to :07 | :00 | Down, by 0 to 7 minutes | 9:04 becomes 9:00 |
| :08 to :14 | :15 | Up, by 1 to 7 minutes | 9:11 becomes 9:15 |
| :15 to :22 | :15 | Down, by 0 to 7 minutes | 9:19 becomes 9:15 |
| :23 to :29 | :30 | Up, by 1 to 7 minutes | 9:26 becomes 9:30 |
| :30 to :37 | :30 | Down, by 0 to 7 minutes | 9:33 becomes 9:30 |
| :38 to :44 | :45 | Up, by 1 to 7 minutes | 9:41 becomes 9:45 |
| :45 to :52 | :45 | Down, by 0 to 7 minutes | 9:48 becomes 9:45 |
Quarter-hour rounding is one of the increments accepted by 29 CFR 785.48(b), along with 5 minutes and one tenth of an hour. The regulation allows it only when the practice does not, over a period of time, fail to pay employees for all the time they actually worked, so rounding that only ever favors the employer is not permitted. This calculator does not round. It uses the exact minutes you enter.
Meal breaks, rest breaks, and the 40-hour workweek
The break minutes this calculator subtracts should be unpaid meal periods. Under the federal rules a bona fide meal period is not work time, and it ordinarily lasts 30 minutes or more with the employee completely relieved of duty (29 CFR 785.19). Someone who eats at the desk while answering the phone has not been relieved of duty, so that lunch stays on the clock and belongs in the shift, not in the break field.
Short rest breaks work the other way. Rest periods of roughly 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked and are paid (29 CFR 785.18), so leave them out of the break field. A shift from 08:00 to 16:30 with two 10-minute paid breaks and a 30-minute unpaid lunch gets 30 in the break field, not 50, and comes out to 8.00 hours.
The overtime threshold here is a per-shift cutoff, and federal law does not count that way. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek (29 CFR 778.101), and a workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour periods, that the employer sets (29 CFR 778.105). An overnight shift from 22:00 to 06:00 is handled by adding 1440 minutes when the end time is earlier than the start time, and its hours belong to whichever workweek they fall in. To check a week, run each shift, add the decimal hours, and compare the sum with 40.
Two limits matter before you rely on the total. State law can set a different trigger than the federal 40-hour week: California, for one, requires daily overtime after 8 hours in a workday under Labor Code section 510, and the per-shift threshold here is a number you choose, not a legal test. The tool also trusts the times you enter. It does not apply timeclock rounding under 29 CFR 785.48(b), and it cannot decide whether waiting time, on-call time, or work the employer permitted but did not request counts as hours worked (29 CFR 785.11 and 785.14 through 785.17). Compare the result with your employer's timekeeping records and the rules that apply where you work.
Common mistakes
- Entering times in AM/PM format, such as 5:00 PM, instead of the required 24-hour HH:MM format, such as 17:00.
- Forgetting to enter unpaid break minutes, which inflates total hours worked above what will actually be paid.
- Assuming the overtime threshold enforces a real payroll policy rather than acting as a simple hours-per-shift cutoff you control.
- Entering an end time that looks earlier than the start time by mistake, which the tool always reads as an overnight shift.
- Mixing paid and unpaid break minutes into a single number, which can under- or overstate net hours depending on the employer's break policy.
- Using this tool as the final word on a paycheck instead of cross-checking against an employer's actual timesheet or payroll system.
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