Time Card Calculator

How each day is totalled

Every day is the same small calculation as the duration calculator: clock-out minus clock-in, minus the break. 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM is 510 minutes gross; the 30-minute break leaves 480 minutes net — 8:00, or 8.00 decimal hours. The week is summed in minutes first and converted to decimal hours once at the end, which avoids the slow drift you get from adding up sixty separately-rounded decimal figures.

What "over 40 hours" means — and what it does not

The card splits the week at 40 hours because that is the threshold in the US Fair Labor Standards Act: for many non-exempt employees, hours past 40 in a single workweek are overtime, commonly paid at one and a half times the regular rate. It is a label on the hours, not a pay calculation, and the exceptions matter more than the rule:

Some states add daily rules on top — California, for example, generally counts hours past 8 in a day as overtime, with double time past 12. Salaried exempt employees are usually outside overtime rules entirely. Other countries set different thresholds and different multipliers, and a "workweek" does not have to start on Monday. Your employer's policy and your local labour rules are the authority; this card just keeps the arithmetic honest so you can compare your timesheet against theirs.

Overnight shifts on a time card

If a clock-out is earlier on the clock than its clock-in — in at 10:00 PM, out at 6:30 AM — the day is counted across midnight and the notes under the card say how many days were read that way. The hours are credited to the day the shift started, which is the common convention; if your employer credits them to the day the shift ends, move that row's hours when you compare.

Related pages

How overtime hours are calculated walks through weekly and daily rules with worked examples. Timesheet rounding covers the nearest-5, 6 and 15-minute rounding many employers apply, and the decimal hours chart converts any minutes figure by hand.

Frequently asked questions

Do I enter my lunch break every day?

Enter the unpaid break minutes for each day you took one. If your breaks are paid, enter 0 — the gross span is then the paid time. Leaving the break at 30 on a day you worked through lunch would understate that day by half an hour.

Why does the week total in decimal hours not match adding the daily decimals?

It can differ by a hundredth here or there if you round each day first. This card totals the minutes and converts once, which is the more accurate order — and the one most payroll systems use.

Is the "over 40" part definitely overtime pay?

No. It marks the hours past 40 in the week. Whether they are paid as overtime, and at what rate, depends on your job classification, state or country, and employer — see the notes above the card.

Can I do a two-week pay period?

Run one week, note the total, clear the card and run the second, then add the two week totals with the add time calculator. Bi-weekly periods are on the Pro list; the weekly card stays free.