Hours Calculator
Log daily clock-in/out times, deduct unpaid lunch breaks, and tally gross payroll hours.
Parameters & Inputs
| Day | Start Time | End Time | Lunch (min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | |||
| Tue | |||
| Wed | |||
| Thu | |||
| Fri |
Summary & Breakdown
Earnings Breakdown
About the Hours Calculator
Accurate timecard tracking protects both employees and employers by ensuring fair wage compensation and compliance with labor overtime regulations.
This hours calculator computes gross payroll hours for a five-day workweek, subtracting unpaid meal breaks and automatically splitting regular hours from overtime beyond 40 hours per week.
Customize your hourly pay rate and overtime multiplier to verify your weekly paycheck.
How the Calculations Work
Computes daily duration in minutes between start and end times, deducts unpaid lunch break minutes, converts to decimal hours, and applies overtime wage rates to hours over 40.
Daily Hours = (End_Min - Start_Min - Lunch_Min) / 60 | Gross Pay = (Reg_Hours * Rate) + (OT_Hours * Rate * OT_Multiplier)
Variables & Definitions
- Regular Hours: Up to 40 hours per standard workweek paid at base rate
- Overtime Hours: Hours worked exceeding 40 per week (typically paid at 1.5x time-and-a-half)
- Lunch deduction: Unpaid meal period deducted from shift span
Working 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (8 hours) with a 30-minute lunch = 7.5 hours per day. Across 5 days = 37.5 hours. At $25/hr, gross earnings equal $937.50.
Key Terms Explained
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
US federal law establishing minimum wage and mandatory 1.5x overtime pay for hours exceeding 40 per week.
Overtime Threshold
Typically 40 hours per calendar workweek in federal regulations (or 8 hours per day in California).
Timecard Rounding (7-Minute Rule)
Permissible employer practice rounding employee punches to the nearest quarter hour (15 minutes).
Gross Pay
Total earnings before statutory payroll taxes, deductions, and withholdings.
Practical Tips & Pitfalls to Avoid
Deduct only bona fide meal breaks
Short rest breaks under 20 minutes must be paid by law in the US; only meal breaks over 30 minutes are unpaid.
Beware of shift crossovers
If a shift crosses midnight (e.g. 10 PM to 6 AM), calculate the pre-midnight and post-midnight segments.
Compare against your paystub
Keep weekly logs to confirm your employer's automated payroll system recorded every minute correctly.
Check local state overtime rules
States like California require overtime pay for any hours worked beyond 8 in a single day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Punches between 1 and 7 minutes round down to the nearest 15-minute mark, while punches between 8 and 14 minutes round up.
If an employee works through lunch or is not fully relieved of duties, the break must be compensated.
An overtime wage equal to 1.5 times the normal hourly rate (e.g., $20/hr base becomes $30/hr for overtime).
0.25 hrs = 15 min, 0.50 hrs = 30 min, and 0.75 hrs = 45 min.
No. This calculates gross earnings before federal, state, and FICA payroll deductions.