Does the calculator work for a shift that starts at night and ends the next morning?

Yes. Enter the start and end times normally. The calculator detects the date change and computes the correct elapsed span.

What if I take multiple short breaks instead of one long lunch?

Add all unpaid break lengths together and enter the total as a single figure. The calculator does not need to know when each pause happened, only the combined duration.

Why does the calculator show decimal hours?

Payroll systems process decimal hours, not hours and minutes. A decimal hour is the fraction of an hour you worked. 0.5 hours = 30 minutes. 0.25 hours = 15 minutes. This avoids the confusion of adding 7:45 and 7:45 incorrectly.

Can I use this calculator for a salaried position?

Yes. The calculator tracks time regardless of how you are paid. Salaried employees often need to log hours for project tracking, client billing, or compliance with overtime laws.

Does the calculator account for rounding rules?

No. The calculator gives exact time. Your employer may round to the nearest quarter-hour using the 7-minute rule. That is a separate step explained in the /faq/time-clock-rounding-rules page.

Work Hours Calculator

Why does my timesheet total not match my pay stub?

You clock in, you clock out, you subtract your lunch. The arithmetic seems simple until you try adding a week of shifts and the numbers refuse to match.

The calculator subtracts unpaid break time from the elapsed span between your start and end entries. It delivers net working time in two formats: hours and minutes, plus the decimal equivalent payroll systems demand. A 30-minute lunch turns an 8-hour 30-minute shift into 8.0 hours worked. Forget that subtraction and you overcount by half an hour every single day.

How do I enter my clock-in, clock-out and break times?

Three inputs cover every shift.

Start time: when you began
End time: when you finished
Break duration: total unpaid break across the shift

Use 24-hour format (18:00, not 6:00 PM). If your time clock prints 12-hour times, convert them first. The /faq/24-hour-clock-guide walks through it.

Do not enter a break start and break end separately. The calculator needs total break length. Took 27 minutes for lunch and 11 minutes for a second pause? Enter 38 minutes as one figure.

How do I get total hours from start and end times?

The calculator subtracts the break from the elapsed span.

Example: 09:00 to 17:30 with a 30-minute break.

Elapsed: 8 hours 30 minutes
Minus break: 30 minutes
Net: 8 hours 0 minutes

That is an 8-hour day. Without deducting the break you would believe you worked 8.5 hours.

A 09:00 to 18:00 shift with a 1-hour unpaid lunch nets 8 hours. Many employers expect 8 hours of work plus an unpaid lunch, meaning you are on-site 09:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00. The calculator shows the worked total, not the time you spent near your desk.

How do I read the decimal hours output?

The calculator shows results as hours:minutes and as decimal hours. Payroll systems nearly always want the decimal figure.

A 7-hour 45-minute day equals 7.75 in decimal. That comes from 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75.

Conversions from the fact sheet:

Minutes	Decimal hours
15 min	0.25
30 min	0.50
45 min	0.75
7 min	0.1167
13 min	0.2167
40 min	0.6667

0.5 hours is not 50 minutes. It is 30 minutes. This is the single most common payroll error. A timesheet showing 7.5 hours means 7 hours 30 minutes, not 7 hours 50 minutes.

What if my shift spans midnight?

A shift starting at 22:00 and ending at 06:00 the next day crosses midnight. The calculator detects the date change automatically.

Night workers, security guards, hospital staff, and anyone finishing after midnight needs this. A 22:00 to 06:00 shift with a 30-minute break yields 7.5 hours worked. That is 8 hours elapsed minus 0.5 hours break.

Enter 22:00 start and 06:00 end without indicating the next day and some tools produce a negative duration. This calculator reads the intent correctly.

How do I add up weekly and monthly totals?

Run each shift through the calculator, then sum the decimal results.

Five 8.0-hour days give 40.0 hours. For a monthly total, multiply your average weekly figure by the number of weeks in that month. A month holds roughly 4.33 weeks, not exactly 4. The /faq/work-hours-in-year page breaks down exact counts per month.

Do not add hours and minutes as if they are ordinary decimals. 7 hours 45 minutes plus 7 hours 45 minutes is 15 hours 30 minutes, not 14 hours 90 minutes. Convert to decimal first, then sum.

When do my hours count as overtime?

The calculator shows your total. If the weekly sum exceeds 40 hours (the US FLSA threshold), you have overtime. It does not compute overtime pay, but it tells you how many hours qualify.

A weekly total of 47.5 decimal hours means 7.5 hours of overtime.

Overtime under US FLSA is calculated weekly, not daily. Assuming overtime starts at 8 hours per day is wrong in most US jurisdictions. Check your local rules.