Time Card Calculator

How the calculator counts a shift

Both times are converted to minutes after midnight (7:52 becomes 472, 16:37 becomes 997). The start is subtracted from the end; if the result is negative, the shift crossed midnight and 1,440 minutes (24 hours) are added. The unpaid break is then subtracted. The result is shown three ways: hours and minutes (8h 15m) for the timesheet, total minutes (495), and decimal hours rounded to two places (8.25). Gross pay is computed from the exact minutes (minutes × hourly rate ÷ 60) and rounded to the cent, so the rounded hours never cost you money.

Two edge cases are worth knowing. If the start and end times are identical, the result is zero, not 24 hours, so split a 24-hour shift into two entries. And the calculator does not know the date: on the night daylight saving time ends, a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift actually lasts nine hours, and on the night it begins, seven.

Minutes to decimal hours

Divide minutes by 60. The table covers the values that come up most on time cards.

The calculator displays decimal hours to two places but pays on the exact minutes. A shift with an awkward minute count, such as 8 h 20 min (8.333… h), shows 8.33 h and, at $30 an hour, pays the minute-exact $250.00 (500 × $30 ÷ 60). Multiplying the rounded 8.33 h instead would give $249.90, so a payroll system that rounds hours first comes out 10 cents lower.

Rounding time punches: the 7-minute rule

Federal regulations do not require time clocks, but where punches are rounded, 29 CFR 785.48(b) accepts the long-standing practice of recording time to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or quarter of an hour, provided that over time the practice does not fail to pay employees for all the time they actually worked. The Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #53 spells out the quarter-hour version: time from 1 to 7 minutes may be rounded down, but time from 8 to 14 minutes must be rounded up to a full quarter hour.

Rounding has to be neutral. A policy that always rounds clock-ins forward and clock-outs back, so that it only ever trims time, is the kind of practice the regulation excludes. Separately, under 785.48(a), employees who voluntarily clock in early or stay late without doing any work do not have to be paid for that time. If you are checking your own pay, enter the actual punches and compare; if your employer rounds, enter the rounded times.

Which breaks to subtract

The break field is for unpaid time only. According to the Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #22:

• Short rest periods, usually 20 minutes or less, are customarily paid and must be counted as hours worked. Do not subtract coffee breaks.
• Bona fide meal periods, typically 30 minutes or more, generally do not have to be paid, but only if the employee is completely relieved from duty. Eating at your desk while answering phones is working time.

So a day with two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch away from your post should be entered with a 30-minute break, not 60.

Weekly overtime under federal law

The FLSA overtime test is weekly, not daily. DOL Fact Sheet #23 sets the key rules:

• Overtime is due for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay.
• A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour periods). It can start on any day and at any hour, but it must stay fixed.
• Hours cannot be averaged over two or more weeks. Thirty hours one week and 50 the next means 10 hours of overtime, even though the average is 40.
• The FLSA does not require extra pay for weekends, holidays or regular days of rest as such; premium pay for those days comes from company policy, contracts or state law.

To build a weekly total, run each shift through the calculator and add the decimal hours:

At $22.50 an hour, that week pays 40 × $22.50 = $900.00 plus 2.25 overtime hours × $33.75 = $75.94, for $975.94 gross. An overnight shift that straddles the start of a new workweek is split at the boundary: the hours after it count toward the next week.

Not every worker is covered. Some salaried employees are exempt from overtime, and several states impose their own overtime rules, including daily thresholds, that go beyond the federal minimum. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour; many states set a higher one.

Common time card mistakes

• Treating minutes as decimals. 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 h, not 7.45 h.
• Subtracting paid breaks. Rest breaks of 20 minutes or less count as work time.
• Overnight math by hand. 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. is 8 hours, but subtracting 22 from 6 gives −16; add 24.
• Averaging across a pay period. Biweekly payroll still has to apply the 40-hour test to each workweek separately.