Work Hours Calculator
Add up a weekly timesheet from clock-in and clock-out times, subtract unpaid breaks, and split the result into regular and overtime pay.
Cómo usar esta calculadora
- 1Enter your usual start and end times using the 24-hour or AM/PM picker.
- 2Enter the unpaid break you take each day — most commonly 30 or 60 minutes.
- 3Set the number of days you worked.
- 4Add your hourly rate to see regular pay, overtime pay, and the weekly gross.
Cómo funciona
Timesheet arithmetic
shift = end time − start time (+24 h if it crosses midnight) paid per day = shift − unpaid break weekly hours = paid per day × days worked overtime = max(weekly hours − threshold, 0) gross pay = regular × rate + overtime × rate × multiplier
Time arithmetic is done in minutes rather than decimal hours, because clock times are base-60 and treating 8:30 as 8.30 is the classic timesheet error — it is 8.5 hours. Unpaid breaks are subtracted before totalling, and overtime is calculated on the weekly total rather than day by day, which is how the federal standard works.
Ejemplo resuelto
Working 09:00 to 17:30 with a 30-minute unpaid break gives 8 paid hours a day. Over 5 days that is 40 hours — exactly at the overtime threshold, so at $28 an hour the gross is $1,120 with no overtime premium.
Work Hours Calculator: la guía completa
8:30 is 8.5 hours, not 8.3
Clock time is base 60 and decimal hours are base 10, and mixing them is the most common timesheet mistake there is. A shift of 8 hours 30 minutes is 8.5 decimal hours; entering 8.30 into a payroll system underpays by 12 minutes a day, which is over an hour a week.
The conversion is minutes ÷ 60: 15 minutes is 0.25, 20 is 0.333, 45 is 0.75. This calculator works in minutes internally and reports both forms, so there is nothing to convert by hand.
Which breaks are paid
Under US federal law, short rest breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes are compensable and count toward hours worked. Bona fide meal periods of 30 minutes or more are not, provided the employee is completely relieved of duty.
That last condition matters. Eating at your desk while covering the phones is not a bona fide meal break, and the time is payable. So is any work performed during a nominally unpaid break — answering messages, restarting a machine, or covering for someone.
There is no federal requirement to provide meal or rest breaks at all, but many states impose their own, and those rules override the federal floor.
How overtime actually works
The FLSA requires 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, for non-exempt employees. The workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period the employer designates — it does not have to run Monday to Sunday, but it cannot be shifted around to avoid overtime.
Averaging across two weeks is not permitted for most employees. Working 50 hours one week and 30 the next means 10 hours of overtime, not zero.
The regular rate is not simply the base wage. Non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions must be folded in before the 1.5× is applied, which raises the overtime rate above what the base hourly figure suggests.
Some states go further. California requires 1.5× after 8 hours in a single day and 2× after 12, plus 1.5× for the first 8 hours on a seventh consecutive workday — so a Californian can earn daily overtime in a week under 40 hours.
Exempt versus non-exempt
Overtime rules only apply to non-exempt employees. Exemption requires meeting a salary threshold and a duties test — the work has to be genuinely executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, or certain computer roles.
Being paid a salary does not by itself make someone exempt, and neither does a job title. Misclassification is one of the most common wage-and-hour violations, and back-pay claims for unpaid overtime can reach two or three years.
If your work is largely routine and closely supervised, it is worth checking your classification against the actual duties tests rather than assuming the label on your offer letter is correct.
Preguntas frecuentes
How do I convert minutes to decimal hours?
Divide by 60. 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, 30 is 0.5, and 45 is 0.75. A 7 hour 20 minute shift is 7.333 decimal hours — never 7.20, which is the error that quietly costs people money on hand-filled timesheets.
Does the calculator handle overnight shifts?
Yes. If the end time is at or before the start time, it is treated as crossing midnight and 24 hours are added. A 22:00 to 06:00 shift correctly returns 8 hours.
Should I subtract my lunch break?
If it is unpaid and you are genuinely free of duty for 30 minutes or more, yes — enter it as the break. Short rest breaks of 5 to 20 minutes are paid under federal law and should not be subtracted, and neither should a lunch where you were still working.
When does overtime start?
Federally, after 40 hours in a workweek at 1.5× the regular rate. Several states add daily thresholds — California starts daily overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12. Adjust the threshold field above to match your state's rule.