Time Card Calculator

The mistake that costs people money

Payroll runs on decimal hours, not on clock time, and the conversion is not what it looks like. Forty-five minutes is 0.75 hours, not 0.45. Fifteen minutes is 0.25, not 0.15. Minutes have to be divided by 60, not simply moved after a decimal point.

It sounds obvious written down and it is one of the most common timesheet errors there is. Somebody working 8 hours 45 minutes a day, five days a week, who writes 8.45 instead of 8.75, under-reports by an hour and a half every week. This calculator shows both forms for each day so the two never get confused.

Overnight shifts

If a clock-out time is earlier than the clock-in — say 22:00 to 06:00 — the calculator treats the shift as crossing midnight and adds 24 hours before subtracting, giving 8 hours rather than a negative number. It flags when it has done this so you can check it was intended.

Breaks

Unpaid breaks are subtracted from the span between clock-in and clock-out. Whether a given break is paid or unpaid depends on jurisdiction and on the nature of the break, and the rules are more specific than most people assume.

Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, short rest breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes are generally counted as paid working time, while genuine meal breaks of 30 minutes or more are usually unpaid — but only if the employee is completely relieved of duty. Eating at your desk while covering the phones is working time, whatever it is called on the rota. In the UK, workers over 18 are entitled to a 20-minute uninterrupted rest break when working more than six hours, and it does not have to be paid. The EU Working Time Directive sets similar minimums with member-state variation.

Overtime

The threshold and premium vary widely, which is why both are adjustable here rather than fixed.

Two points worth knowing. In the US, overtime is calculated on the workweek, not the pay period — averaging a 50-hour week against a 30-hour week to avoid paying it is not permitted. And the UK has no statutory overtime premium at all: unless your contract provides one, extra hours are paid at the normal rate, subject only to the requirement that average pay does not fall below minimum wage.

Rounding

Employers may round clock times, commonly to the nearest quarter hour, but the rounding must be neutral — it cannot systematically favour the employer. A policy that rounds arrival times up and departure times down is unlawful under the FLSA. Rounding that averages out over time is acceptable; rounding that reliably shaves minutes is wage theft.

Keep your own record

Employers are legally required to keep accurate time records, but disputes are far easier to resolve when the employee has a contemporaneous record of their own. Note start and finish times daily rather than reconstructing them at the end of a pay period from memory — a reconstructed timesheet is much weaker evidence, and memory reliably rounds in favour of whoever is doing the remembering.

How do I convert minutes to decimal hours?

Divide by 60. Forty-five minutes is 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75 hours, not 0.45. Fifteen minutes is 0.25 and twenty minutes is 0.333. Writing the minutes straight after the decimal point is one of the most common payroll errors and it always under-reports: somebody logging 8.45 instead of 8.75 loses 18 minutes a day, which is an hour and a half across a working week.

How does the calculator handle an overnight shift?

If the clock-out time is earlier than the clock-in, it assumes the shift crossed midnight and adds 24 hours before subtracting. A 22:00 to 06:00 shift therefore comes out as 8 hours rather than a negative number. It flags on screen when it has made that assumption, so you can confirm it was an overnight shift rather than a typo.

Are lunch breaks paid?

It depends on jurisdiction and on whether you are genuinely relieved of duty. Under the US FLSA, short breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes generally count as paid working time, while meal breaks of 30 minutes or more are usually unpaid — but only if you are completely free from work. Eating at your desk while answering calls is working time regardless of what it is called. In the UK, a 20-minute break applies over six hours and need not be paid.

When does overtime start?

In the US, after 40 hours in a workweek under the FLSA, at 1.5× the regular rate — and some states add daily thresholds, with California requiring overtime after 8 hours in a day. India’s Factories Act sets 9 hours daily or 48 weekly at double time. The UK has no statutory overtime premium at all; extra hours are paid at the normal rate unless your contract says otherwise.

Can my employer round my clock times?

Yes, commonly to the nearest quarter hour, but the rounding must be neutral over time rather than systematically favouring the employer. Rounding arrivals up and departures down is unlawful under the FLSA. If a rounding policy reliably reduces your recorded hours rather than averaging out, that is a wage issue worth raising — and it is much easier to demonstrate if you have kept your own daily record.