How a time card is added up
A time card (or timesheet) lists when you started and stopped work each day. To find your hours for the day, subtract the start time from the end time and then subtract any unpaid break. Add the seven days together and you have your weekly total. Enter the times, your unpaid break and your hourly rate, and this calculator shows the total in hours and minutes, in decimal hours, and as gross pay before taxes.
Payroll systems often use decimal hours. To convert, divide the minutes by 60: 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, 30 minutes is 0.50, 45 minutes is 0.75 and 20 minutes is 0.33, so 7 hours 20 minutes is 7.33. The calculator shows both forms.
Entering times, breaks and overnight shifts
You can type times the way you write them: 9:00 AM, 5:30 pm, 5p, 17:45 or 0930. A time with AM or PM is taken exactly as typed. A time such as 09:00 or 17:45, with a leading zero or an hour above 12, is read as a 24-hour time. A plain 9 or 5 could be morning or evening, so the calculator assumes the shorter shift: 9 to 5 means 9 AM to 5 PM, and 10 PM to 6 means an overnight shift. When it has to guess, it shows the clock times it used under the row.
If the end time is earlier than the start time, the shift runs past midnight. A 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM shift with a 30-minute break is 8 hours, counted on the day it started. The unpaid break box is for time you are not paid for. The U.S. Department of Labor explains that a bona fide meal period, typically 30 minutes or more, is generally not work time when you are completely relieved from duty. Short rest breaks, usually 20 minutes or less, are customarily paid and count as hours worked, so they should not be entered as unpaid break.
Overtime after 40 hours
For employees covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) who are not exempt, overtime must be paid at no less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for each hour over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, seven 24-hour periods in a row. It does not have to be the calendar week and can start on any day and hour, which is why this calculator lets you choose the day your workweek starts. Hours cannot be averaged over two or more weeks, so 50 hours one week and 30 the next still means 10 overtime hours in the first week.
Daily overtime in some states
Federal law does not require overtime for working more than 8 hours in a day, but some states do. California, for example, has daily overtime rules, and Alaska, Nevada and Colorado have rules of their own, with different limits and conditions. Some states also add double time or seventh-day rules. Turn on the daily overtime option to estimate the effect: hours over the daily limit you choose (8 by default) are paid at 1.5 times, and those hours are not counted a second time toward the weekly 40. This is only an estimate and does not apply every state's rules. Check the U.S. Department of Labor's state labor law pages or your state labor office for the rules where you work.
A worked example
Say you are paid $20 an hour and work Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch. Each day is 9 hours, so the week is 45 hours. The first 40 hours pay $800, and the 5 overtime hours pay 5 x $30 = $150, for $950 of gross pay before taxes. Now say you work four 10-hour days instead, 40 hours in all. Under federal rules there is no overtime and the pay is $800. In a state with an 8-hour daily rule, the 2 extra hours on each of the four days, 8 hours in total, would be overtime: 32 x $20 + 8 x $30 = $880. Use the daily overtime option to see that difference.
What this calculator leaves out
It estimates gross pay only. It does not subtract federal or state income tax, Social Security, Medicare or other deductions; for take-home pay use the paycheck calculator. It does not model tips, bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, piece rates, exempt salaried workers, union contracts or the rounding some employers apply to punches, so your payroll hours can differ slightly from the exact minutes shown here. Bonuses and similar pay can also raise the regular rate used for overtime. To compare your hourly rate with the legal minimum, see the minimum wage by state page, and to turn an hourly wage into a yearly figure use the salary calculator.
The timesheet stays in your browser. If you tick the box to remember it, it is saved only on this device, and unticking the box deletes it. You can also print it or save it as a PDF from the result box.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate hours worked on a time card?
Subtract the start time from the end time for each day, then subtract unpaid break time, and add up the days. For example, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch is 8 hours. To convert minutes to decimal hours, divide by 60, so 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours. The calculator shows both forms.
When do I get overtime pay?
Under federal law, covered non-exempt employees get at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some states also require overtime after a number of hours in one day. Salaried employees can be exempt only if they meet salary and duties tests, so a salary alone does not decide it.
Do unpaid breaks count as hours worked?
A bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more, when you are fully relieved from duty, is generally not counted as work time. Short rest breaks of about 20 minutes or less are normally paid and count as hours worked. If you work during your meal period, that time counts too. Your state may have its own meal and rest break rules.
Official sources
Checked on October 17, 2026: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #23: Overtime pay requirements of the FLSA, Fact Sheet #22: Hours worked under the FLSA, DOL, Overtime pay, DOL, State labor laws and DOL, State labor offices.
This page gives general information and arithmetic, not payroll, tax or legal advice. Your employer's timekeeping, your state's laws and your employment status decide what you are owed.