Work Hours / Timesheet Calculator
A whole week of shifts, totalled in decimal hours with the overtime split out.
Your week
Pay & rounding
Per hour past 40
This totals hours worked across a week from daily start and end times, minus breaks.
It gives the result in decimal hours, which is what payroll systems use, and separates regular from overtime hours.
How timesheets are totalled
A timesheet totals the hours between clock-in and clock-out, minus unpaid breaks. 9:00 to 17:30 with a 30-minute lunch is 8.0 hours, so a standard five-day week is 40.
The step where money is lost is the conversion to decimal hours. Payroll runs on decimals, so 8 hours 20 minutes must be entered as 8.333, not 8.20. Minutes divide by 60, not by 100.
The rule people get wrong on overtime is that under the US Fair Labor Standards Act it is calculated per workweek, not per pay period. Working 50 hours one week and 30 the next means 10 hours of overtime, even though the two-week total is 80.
Divide minutes by 60 for the decimal figure. Entering 8.20 for 8 hours 20 minutes under-reports by 8 minutes a day.
What to enter
- Daily start and end times
- Clock in and clock out for each day. Overnight shifts need the calculation to carry past midnight.
- Unpaid break duration
- Subtracted from each day. Whether a break is paid depends on its length and on state law.
- Hourly rate
- For calculating pay. Overtime is at least 1.5× beyond 40 hours in a workweek.
- Overtime threshold
- 40 hours a week federally. Some states, including California, also have daily overtime rules.
Minutes to decimal hours
- 10 minutes
- 0.167
- 15 minutes
- 0.25
- 20 minutes
- 0.333
- 30 minutes
- 0.50
- 45 minutes
- 0.75
What this assumes
Overtime rules here are the federal FLSA baseline. State rules can be more generous and always override where they are.
Break rules vary by state. Short breaks under about 20 minutes are generally paid; bona fide meal periods generally are not.
How to calculate your timesheet hours
Total each day, subtract breaks, convert to decimals, then split regular from overtime.
- overtime
- Hours beyond 40 in a single workweek, at 1.5× or more
- minutes ÷ 60
- The conversion payroll needs, never minutes ÷ 100
Work out each day's elapsed time. 9:00 to 17:30 is 8 hours 30 minutes. Overnight shifts need 24 hours added to the end time first.
Subtract unpaid breaks. 8:30 minus a 30-minute lunch is 8:00.
Convert to decimal hours. Divide the minutes by 60. 8 hours 20 minutes becomes 8.333.
Split regular from overtime. Total the week. Anything beyond 40 hours is overtime at 1.5× or more.
See a worked example: why overtime is per week, not per period
- Week 1
- 50 hours
- Week 2
- 30 hours
Week 1: 40 regular hours plus 10 hours of overtime at 1.5×.
Week 2: 30 regular hours, no overtime.
The two-week total is 80 hours, which looks like exactly two normal weeks.
But overtime is assessed per workweek, so those 10 hours are still owed at time and a half. Averaging across a biweekly pay period is not permitted under the FLSA.
10 overtime hours, despite an 80-hour fortnight
Frequently asked questions
Divide the minutes by 60. 15 minutes is 0.25, 20 is 0.333, and 45 is 0.75.
8 hours 20 minutes is 8.333 hours, not 8.20. That error under-reports 8 minutes a day, which is over a full working day across a year.
Per workweek under the FLSA, regardless of how often you are paid.
50 hours one week and 30 the next means 10 hours of overtime, even though the fortnight totals 80. Averaging across a two-week period is not permitted.
Unpaid meal breaks, yes. Under federal rules, bona fide meal periods, typically 30 minutes or more, are generally unpaid and excluded from hours worked.
Short breaks under about 20 minutes are generally counted as paid time. State rules vary and can be more generous.
Add 24 hours to the end time before subtracting. 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM is 30:00 − 22:00 = 8 hours.
Without that, the subtraction returns a negative number. Any shift crossing midnight needs this adjustment.
Yes, within limits. Rounding to the nearest quarter hour is common and permitted, provided it is neutral over time and does not systematically favour the employer.
Always rounding down is not allowed. If your recorded time is consistently rounded against you, that is worth raising.
Federal law has no daily overtime rule, only the 40-hour weekly threshold. Some states do.
California is the best-known example, with overtime after 8 hours in a day and double time after 12. Where state law is more generous, it applies.
Problems people actually run into
Entering minutes as decimals
8 hours 20 minutes entered as 8.20 rather than 8.333 loses 8 minutes a day. Across a year of five-day weeks that is more than 34 hours.
Divide minutes by 60 before entering anything into payroll. It is the single most costly arithmetic error on a timesheet.
Averaging hours across a pay period
A biweekly total of 80 hours can still contain overtime, and often does. The FLSA assesses each workweek separately.
Total each week on its own. Anything beyond 40 in that week is owed at 1.5×, whatever the other week looked like.
Results are estimates for general information only and are not professional financial, medical, or legal advice. Read our full disclaimer.
Last updated: September 4, 2026