Work Hours Calculator

Turn a shift into a clear total

Begin with the times recorded for the same shift. For a daytime shift, subtract the start time from the finish time. For an overnight shift, use the next-day option so the finish time belongs to the following calendar day. This makes the assumption visible instead of silently treating every earlier finish time as an overnight shift.

Enter only the break time you want deducted. If a paid rest break should remain within the total under your arrangement, do not include it in the unpaid-break field. Add several unpaid breaks together before entering them: a 20-minute meal break and a 10-minute personal break become 30 minutes.

Read hours and decimal hours correctly

The hours-and-minutes result is useful for checking a clock record. Decimal hours are useful when multiplying time by an hourly rate. A result of 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.5 decimal hours. Writing 7.30 as a decimal number means a different duration because the digits after the point are fractions of an hour.

Check the unrounded time before copying a rounded decimal total into another system. If you need a weekly total, use the time card calculator to add the individual shifts. Record unusual adjustments separately so someone reviewing the total can see why it differs from the original clock times.

Know what the estimate covers

This is a clock-time calculation for a shift ending on the same day or the following day. It does not apply a country’s break rules, overtime rules, payroll rounding policy or automatic time-zone adjustment. For a shift crossing a daylight-saving change, check the actual elapsed time with a record that identifies the location and offset.

Common questions

Sources and references

• NIST: minute, hour and day unit relationships ↗
• MDN: local date and time values ↗