Time Card Calculator

About the Time Card Calculator

A time card records when you started and finished work each day, and how long your breaks were. At the end of the week those times have to be turned into total hours, split into regular and overtime hours, and multiplied by the right pay rates. Doing that by hand means converting every shift to decimal hours, adding them up and remembering the overtime rules — with plenty of room for small but costly mistakes.

This time card calculator does it in one step. Enter each shift on its own line — the day, the start and end times and the unpaid break in minutes — and it gives the hours for each day, the weekly total, the split into regular and overtime hours above a threshold you choose, and the pay at your hourly rate with an overtime multiplier such as time and a half.

How to Use the Time Card Calculator

Enter one shift per line, in the form day start-end break, for example:

  Mon 09:00-17:30 30
  Tue 8:45am-5:15pm 30
  Sat 9am-1pm

Leave out the break if there was none. Times can be 24-hour or am/pm.

Set the overtime threshold (40 hours a week by default), your hourly rate and the overtime multiplier (1.5 for time and a half).

How the Hours and Pay Are Calculated

  each shift:  hours = end − start − break      (+ 24 h if it ends after midnight)
  week total:  sum of the shifts
  regular:     the smaller of the total and the threshold
  overtime:    total − regular
  pay:         regular × rate + overtime × rate × multiplier

Step-by-Step Example

A five-day week at 20 an hour.

  Mon  09:00–17:30, 30 min break  → 8 h
  Tue  08:45–17:15, 30 min break  → 8 h
  Wed  09:00–18:00, 60 min break  → 8 h
  Thu  09:00–17:00, 30 min break  → 7.5 h
  Fri  09:00–15:30, 30 min break  → 6 h
  Total                           → 37.5 h  (no overtime)
  Pay: 37.5 × 20 = 750

A longer week with overtime.

  Mon–Thu  08:00–18:00, 30 min break  → 9.5 h each = 38 h
  Fri      08:00–14:00, no break      → 6 h
  Total                               → 44 h
  Regular 40 h × 20 = 800
  Overtime 4 h × 30 = 120            (time and a half)
  Pay: 920

Overtime Rules

Overtime rules vary by country, state and employer. In the United States, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires most hourly employees to be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a work week; some states, such as California, also require overtime for hours over 8 in a single day. Elsewhere, overtime may depend on the contract rather than the law, and rates of time and a quarter, time and a half or double time are all common. Set the threshold and multiplier to match the rules that apply to you. This calculator applies a weekly threshold only.

Night Shifts

If a shift ends earlier on the clock than it started, the calculator assumes it ended the next day. A shift written Fri 22:00-06:00 30 runs 8 hours, and after the 30-minute break counts as 7.5 hours worked. Enter each shift on the day it started, so that the week's hours fall in the right pay period.

Decimal Hours and Rounding

Each shift is converted to decimal hours before adding, because pay is hours times rate. A shift of 7 hours 30 minutes counts as 7.5 hours, not 7.30. Some employers round clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes. If yours does, round the times before entering them, so that the totals match the payroll system.

Checking Your Pay Slip

A time card calculation is a good way to check a pay slip. Compare the regular and overtime hours on the slip with your own totals, and multiply by the rates shown. Common discrepancies include breaks deducted that were not taken, overtime paid at the regular rate, or minutes lost to rounding. Keeping your own record of start and finish times makes any query much easier to settle.

Part-Time and Irregular Weeks

The calculator works just as well for part-time and irregular schedules. A student working Friday evening 17:00–22:00 and Saturday 9am-3pm with a 30-minute lunch has 5 hours plus 5.5 hours, a total of 10.5 hours. At 12 an hour that is 126 for the week. Shifts can be entered in any order and there can be more than one shift on the same day — for example a split shift of 07:00–11:00 and 16:00–20:00 — so long as each one is on its own line.

Time Cards and Timesheets

The terms are often used interchangeably. A time card traditionally records clock times — when you punched in and out — for one worker over a week or pay period. A timesheet often records hours against projects, clients or tasks, and may cover several people. This calculator works from clock times; the timesheet calculator focuses on totals across a pay period.

Understanding Your Result

The headline gives the weekly total in hours and minutes and as a decimal.

The by day line lists the hours worked on each shift.

The regular and overtime line splits the total at your threshold.

The average shift line gives the number of shifts and their average length.

The pay line, when a rate is entered, gives the total with the working.

When Should You Use This Calculator?

Use it to total a week of shifts from clock-in and clock-out times.

Use it to work out overtime and overtime pay.

Use it to check a pay slip.

Use it for night shifts and irregular hours.

Common Mistakes

Adding hours and minutes as decimals. 7:30 is 7.5 hours, not 7.3.

Deducting paid breaks. Only unpaid breaks come off.

Applying overtime per day when the rule is weekly. Check your rules.

Putting a night shift on the wrong day. Enter it on the day it started.

Forgetting the break column. Add the unpaid minutes after each shift's times.