How to Calculate Hours Worked on a Time Card
To calculate hours worked on a time card, subtract each day's in time from its out time, take off unpaid breaks, and add the days into a weekly total. For example, 8:58 AM to 5:04 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch is 7 hours 36 minutes, or 7.60 hours.
This guide covers the arithmetic and the federal rules it cites, checked October 20, 22 and 25, 2026. State laws and employer policies can add their own rules on breaks, rounding and overtime, and this page is not legal advice.
How to calculate hours worked in a day
Subtract on the 24-hour clock, then take off the unpaid break. A punch in at 8:58 AM and out at 5:04 PM reads 08:58 and 17:04.
- Subtract the times. 4 minutes is less than 58, so borrow 1 hour: 16:64 − 08:58 = 8 hours 6 minutes.
- Subtract the unpaid break. 8 hours 6 minutes − 30 minutes = 7 hours 36 minutes.
- Convert to decimal hours if payroll needs them. 36 ÷ 60 = 0.60, so the day is 7.60 hours.
A shift that ends after midnight needs 24 hours added to the out time first. 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM is 30:30 − 22:00 = 8 hours 30 minutes, and a 30-minute meal break leaves 8 hours. The guide on subtracting two clock times covers borrowing and overnight spans step by step.
Totaling a weekly time card
Add the days’ hours and minutes separately, carry every 60 minutes into the hours, and convert only the weekly total to decimal. The example week has different punches and breaks every day.
| Day | In | Out | Unpaid break | Hours worked | Decimal hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:58 AM | 5:04 PM | 30 min | 7:36 | 7.60 |
| Tuesday | 8:52 AM | 5:11 PM | 30 min | 7:49 | 7.82 |
| Wednesday | 9:07 AM | 5:30 PM | 45 min | 7:38 | 7.63 |
| Thursday | 8:45 AM | 5:22 PM | 30 min | 8:07 | 8.12 |
| Friday | 9:00 AM | 3:38 PM | None | 6:38 | 6.63 |
| Week | 37:48 | 37.80 |
The hours column adds to 35 and the minutes column to 168. 168 minutes is 2 hours 48 minutes, so the week is 37 hours 48 minutes, or 37 + 48 ÷ 60 = 37.80 decimal hours.
Try it: total a weekly time card
Edit any punch or break. Each day and the week update in hours and minutes and in decimal hours. Turn on rounding to see what quarter-hour rounding does to the same punches.
- Week total
- 37:48 37.80 hours
- Hours over 40
- 0:00 0.00 h
Rounded punches give 38:00 (38.00 hours) against 37:48 (37.80 hours) from the actual punches: 12 minutes more this week.
How a punch rounds to the nearest quarter hour
8:52 AM is 7 minutes past 8:45 AM, so it rounds down to 8:45 AM.
Which breaks come off the time card
Only unpaid meal periods are subtracted. Under 29 CFR 785.19, a bona fide meal period is ordinarily 30 minutes or more, and the employee must be fully relieved of duty. An office worker who is required to eat at the desk is still working. Rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked under 29 CFR 785.18.
A day from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM with a 30-minute lunch and two paid 15-minute breaks is 8 hours worked. The lunch comes off and the breaks stay in.
Convert the weekly total, not each day
Rounding every day to two decimals and adding the results drifts from the true total. Five days of 8 hours 20 minutes are 8.33 hours each after rounding, which add to 41.65. The real week is 41 hours 40 minutes, or 41.67 hours, so the daily shortcut loses 0.02 hours. The minutes to decimal hours chart has every value from 1 to 60 minutes.
What quarter-hour rounding does to the week
Federal rules in 29 CFR 785.48(b) let employers round punches to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour. Over a period of time, rounding must not underpay employees for time actually worked. With quarter hours, 1 to 7 minutes past the quarter rounds down and 8 to 14 minutes rounds up, which is where the name “7-minute rule” comes from.
| Actual punch | Minutes past the quarter hour | Rounded punch |
|---|---|---|
| 8:52 AM | 7 | 8:45 AM |
| 8:53 AM | 8 | 9:00 AM |
| 9:07 AM | 7 | 9:00 AM |
| 9:08 AM | 8 | 9:15 AM |
| 5:11 PM | 11 | 5:15 PM |
| 5:22 PM | 7 | 5:15 PM |
Rounding every punch in the example week gives 38 hours 0 minutes, 12 minutes more than the actual 37 hours 48 minutes. A different set of punches can lose minutes instead, which is why the regulation judges rounding by its effect over time rather than week by week.
Hours over 40
For covered, non-exempt employees, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours under 29 CFR 778.105, and it can start on any day. Federal law adds no premium for weekend or holiday work by itself.
The example week of 37:48 has no overtime. A week of 43 hours 30 minutes at $18.00 an hour pays 40 × $18.00 = $720.00 plus 3.50 × $27.00 = $94.50, or $814.50 before deductions.
That $27.00 assumes straight hourly pay. The regular rate is the week’s total pay, less a short list of exclusions, divided by the hours worked (29 CFR 778.108 and 778.109). Night-shift differentials (778.207(b)) and nondiscretionary bonuses (778.208) count as pay, so they lift the overtime rate.
With an $87.00 production bonus, straight-time pay plus bonus is 43.5 × $18.00 + $87.00 = $870.00, so the regular rate is $870.00 ÷ 43.5 = $20.00 (778.110(b)). Each overtime hour is then worth $30.00, so the week pays 40 × $20.00 + 3.5 × $30.00 = $905.00, not the $901.50 you get by adding the bonus to $814.50.
State law can set a higher bar. California requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate for work over 8 hours in a workday, and double time over 12 (Labor Code § 510), unless an alternative workweek schedule applies. There, Thursday’s 8:07 in the example week includes 7 minutes of overtime, though the week stays under 40.
A time sheet in Excel or Google Sheets
Put each day on its own row, with the in time in column B, the out time in C and the unpaid break in minutes in D. The hourly rate goes in J1. The same formulas work in Excel and Google Sheets.
| Cell | Formula | What it calculates |
|---|---|---|
| E2 | =MOD(C2-B2,1)*24-D2/60 |
Decimal hours for the day, including overnight shifts |
| E7 | =SUM(E2:E6) |
Hours for the week (37.8 for the example week) |
| F7 | =MIN(E7,40) |
Regular hours |
| G7 | =MAX(E7-40,0) |
Hours over 40 |
| H7 | =F7*J1+G7*J1*1.5 |
Gross pay at time and a half |
| B2 rounded | =MROUND(B2,TIME(0,15,0)) |
A punch rounded to the nearest quarter hour |
Keep the daily hours unrounded in column E so the weekly sum stays exact, and round only the figure that goes to payroll.
Common time card mistakes
- Writing 7 hours 30 minutes as 7.30 records 12 minutes too little, because the decimal value is 7.50.
- Subtracting paid rest breaks removes time that 29 CFR 785.18 counts as hours worked.
- Skipping the 24-hour step on an overnight shift turns 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM into a negative number.
- Trusting the clock readings on a daylight saving time night counts 1 hour too many in March and 1 too few in November.
If your paycheck looks short
Check the pay stub one workweek at a time against your own record of punches and unpaid breaks, since overtime is owed week by week. If payroll cannot explain a gap, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division takes confidential complaints at 1‑866‑487‑9243. An employer may not retaliate against a worker who files one. Your state labor office handles state rules such as daily overtime.
Frequently asked questions
Do early clock-ins count as hours worked?
Not when no work is done. Under 29 CFR 785.48(a), time spent clocked in early or late without working does not have to be paid, but any work done in that time counts.
Does driving between job sites count as hours worked?
Yes. Under 29 CFR 785.38, travel from one job site to another during the workday counts as hours worked. Normal travel from home to work does not, under 29 CFR 785.35.
Related guides
- How to add hours and minutes
Add durations column by column and carry every 60 minutes into the hours, with clock-time, spreadsheet and time sheet examples.
Related calculators
- Time Duration Calculator
Hours and minutes between two times or dates, with breaks, overnight shifts and decimal hours.
- Time Addition Calculator
Add or subtract hours, minutes and seconds, or find the time X hours from a start time.