Work Hours Calculator

Enter start time, end time and your lunch break – the calculator shows net hours worked in hours:minutes and decimal hours, compares it with your target hours and totals a full week, just like a time card calculator.

Time of day, e.g. 08:00 or 8.30
If the end is before the start, it counts as the next day (night shift).
min
Unpaid break, e.g. a 30- or 60-minute lunch break
h
0 = no target comparison

Result

Hours worked (excluding breaks)
8:00 h (8.00 h)
Time on the clock (including breaks)
8:30 h
Total breaks
0:30 h
Difference to target hours
0:00 h (0.00 h) – balanced

How it is calculated

How the calculation works

Time on the clock = end − start. Hours worked = time on the clock − breaks, since an unpaid lunch or rest break is not working time. Decimal hours are minutes ÷ 60, the format most payroll and time card systems expect. If the end is earlier than the start, the calculator counts across midnight (night shift).

Example day

07:45 to 17:15 with a 45-minute lunch break. Time on the clock 9:30 h, hours worked 9:30 − 0:45 = 8:45 h = 8.75 h. With a target of 8 hours that is 0:45 h of overtime.

Example week

Monday to Thursday 07:30–16:30 with a 30-minute break each day (8:30 h each), Friday 07:30–13:30 with no break (6:00 h). Total 4 × 8:30 + 6:00 = 40:00 h for the week.

Use it as a time card calculator

Fill in each day's start, end and lunch break in week mode, and the table adds up worked hours per day and for the whole week, with the difference to your target hours shown at the bottom.

Multiple breaks, biweekly and monthly totals

The break field takes the total of all breaks in a day – add a 15-minute morning break and a 30-minute lunch break together and enter 45. For a biweekly pay period, run week mode twice (or once per week) and add the two weekly totals. For a monthly total, multiply the weekly hours worked by the number of weeks in that month, since months don't have a fixed number of working days.

Calculate hours worked in Excel or Google Sheets

Start time in A2, end time in B2, break in minutes in C2: =(MOD(B2-A2,1)-C2/1440)*24 returns hours worked as decimal hours. MOD(…,1) keeps a night shift across midnight from turning negative, and C2/1440 turns break minutes into a fraction of a day. Example: 07:45, 17:15, 45 → 8.75. For a weekly total in hours:minutes, format the sum cell as [h]:mm, otherwise the sheet wraps back to 0 after 24 hours.

Rounding start and end times

This calculator uses the exact minutes you enter and does not round. Some U.S. employers round punches to the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes; under the federal rules this is generally accepted only if it evens out over time and does not consistently shortchange employees (29 CFR 785.48). If your employer rounds, enter the rounded times to reproduce their figure.

Hours worked, overtime and decimal hours

Hours:minutesDecimal hours
0:15 h0.25 h
0:30 h0.5 h
0:45 h0.75 h
8:45 h8.75 h

This calculator reports the difference between hours worked and your target hours as plain overtime or hours short – it does not apply any jurisdiction's overtime pay rules (such as the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, which generally requires 1.5× pay for non-exempt employees beyond 40 hours in a workweek). Check your contract or local labor law for what counts as paid overtime and how it is compensated.

Frequently asked questions

Does a lunch break count as hours worked?

No, an unpaid lunch or rest break is not working time, so the calculator always subtracts the break you enter from the time between start and end.

Can I use this as a time card calculator for a full week?

Yes. Switch to weekly mode, enter start, end and break for each day (leave a day empty for time off), and the table shows hours worked per day plus the weekly total compared with your target hours.

How do I convert hours worked to decimal hours for payroll?

Divide the minutes by 60: 15 min = 0.25 h, 30 min = 0.5 h, 45 min = 0.75 h. So 8 hours 45 minutes equals 8.75 decimal hours. The calculator shows both formats – decimal hours are what most payroll software expects.

How is overtime calculated?

Enter your target hours per day or week; the calculator subtracts them from the hours actually worked and shows the difference as overtime or hours short. It does not apply any country-specific overtime rules – check your contract or local labor rules for what counts as paid overtime.

How is a night shift calculated?

Just enter start and end, e.g. 22:00 and 06:00. If the end is before the start it counts as the next day: 8:00 h on the clock, 7:30 h worked with a 30-minute break. The shift is assigned to the day on which it starts.

What is the difference between hours worked and time on the clock?

"Time on the clock" (gross) is simply end minus start. "Hours worked" (net) subtracts your breaks – it is the figure most timesheets and payroll systems actually use.

How do I calculate hours worked in Excel with start and end time?

With start in A2, end in B2 and the break in minutes in C2, use =(MOD(B2-A2,1)-C2/1440)*24 for decimal hours – it also handles night shifts past midnight. 07:45 to 17:15 with a 45-minute lunch gives 8.75. For several breaks, enter their total in C2.

How do I calculate biweekly or monthly hours worked?

For a biweekly pay period, use week mode for each of the two weeks and add the totals together. For a month, there is no dedicated mode since months have a different number of working days – multiply your weekly hours worked by the number of weeks in that month, or your daily hours by the actual number of working days.

Sources and legal basis

As of:

Related tools