Work Hours Calculator
Calculate total work hours, breaks, and earnings for timesheet tracking
How It Works
Overview
A work hours calculator turns clock-in and clock-out times into total hours worked, subtracts unpaid break time, converts the result to decimal hours for payroll, and (optionally) multiplies by an hourly rate to estimate gross earnings. It's the manual replacement for a punch clock and the quickest way to reconcile a paper timesheet.
The tool supports multiple entries per day or per week — enter each shift, segment, or split as its own row. It correctly handles overnight shifts that cross midnight (e.g., 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM) and accepts a different break length per entry, which matches how a real day with multiple meetings, errands, or shifts actually plays out.
The Formula
Each entry is converted to total minutes since midnight, the start is subtracted from the end, and the unpaid break is removed:
- start_minutes = start_hour × 60 + start_minute
- end_minutes = end_hour × 60 + end_minute (add 1440 if shift crosses midnight)
- worked_minutes = end_minutes − start_minutes − break_minutes
- decimal_hours = worked_minutes ÷ 60
Earnings = decimal_hours × hourly_rate. For overtime, split the weekly total into ≤40 hours at the regular rate and the rest at 1.5×.
Worked Example
A retail worker has two shifts on the same day:
- Entry 1: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, no break — 4 hours 0 min
- Entry 2: 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM, with a 30-minute unpaid break — 5 hours 0 min (5.5 worked − 0.5 break)
- Total: 9 hours 0 minutes = 9.00 decimal hours
- At $18.50/hr → $166.50 gross
If she works five days like this, her week is 45 hours. The first 40 are paid at $18.50 = $740, and the 5 overtime hours at $27.75 = $138.75, for a weekly gross of $878.75.
When to Use This
- Filling out a weekly timesheet — when your employer accepts decimal hours.
- Verifying your paycheck — quick check that the hours on your pay stub match what you actually worked.
- Freelance and contractor invoicing — total billable time across multiple sessions in a day.
- Estimating overtime pay — see how much an extra shift adds to gross at 1.5× rate.
- Tracking project time — sum start/stop times for a single client or task across the week.
- Auditing salaried hours worked — even if you're salaried, knowing your real hours-per-week clarifies your effective hourly rate.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating 8:30 like 8.30. 8 hours 30 minutes is 8.50 decimal hours, not 8.30. The minutes are out of 60, not 100.
- Forgetting the unpaid lunch. A 9-to-5 shift with a 1-hour unpaid lunch is 7 paid hours, not 8.
- Not subtracting breaks for federal compliance. Under FLSA, meal breaks of 30+ minutes during which you're fully relieved of duties are unpaid. Working through lunch means you keep that hour as paid time.
- Mishandling overnight shifts. 23:00 to 07:00 is 8 hours, not −16. Add 24 hours to the end time when end < start.
- Mixing weekly overtime rules with daily rules. California, Alaska, and Nevada have daily overtime over 8 hours; most other states only have weekly overtime over 40.
Frequently Asked Questions
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