How the Time Card Calculator Works
A time card, or time sheet, is a record of the hours you work each day. At the end of the week, you add them up to find out how many hours you worked, whether any of them were overtime, and how much you should be paid. The Time Card Calculator does this for a whole week, using the exact minutes of each shift.
What you enter
- The times for each day, Monday to Sunday. Each day has two shifts. The first is "In" and "Out", and the second is "In again" and "Out". Use the second shift for the time after a lunch break. Leave both boxes of a shift empty if you did not work.
- An unpaid break (optional): minutes to take off a day, for a break that is not already a gap between two shifts.
- When overtime starts: the number of hours in a week after which overtime is paid. It is 40 in many places.
- The overtime multiplier: 1.5 means time and a half, and 2 means double time.
- An hourly rate (optional): to see your pay.
The buttons "Copy Monday to Tue-Fri" and "Clear all times" save you from typing the same times again.
How the results are worked out
Each time is turned into minutes since midnight. For each day:
shift = out - in if the out time is earlier than the in time, the shift went past midnight: add 1,440 minutes day = first shift + second shift - break week = sum of the seven days regular hours = the smaller of the week and the overtime limit overtime hours = the week - the overtime limit, if this is positive pay = regular hours x rate + overtime hours x rate x multiplier
All the sums are made in exact minutes. The hours are only turned into decimals to be shown, so there is no rounding error in the totals.
A worked example
Monday to Friday, you work from 08:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 17:00. Overtime starts after 40 hours.
| Step | Result |
|---|---|
| First shift (12:00 - 08:00) | 4 hours |
| Second shift (17:00 - 13:00) | 4 hours |
| One day | 8 hours |
| Five days | 40 hours |
| Overtime | 0 hours |
The hour from 12:00 to 13:00 is a gap between the shifts, so it is not counted. You do not need to enter it as a break.
A week with overtime
Now you work 9 hours a day from Monday to Friday, and 4 hours on Saturday. Your rate is $20 an hour, and overtime pays time and a half.
| Step | Result |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday (5 x 9 hours) | 45 hours |
| Saturday | 4 hours |
| Total for the week | 49 hours |
| Regular hours | 40 hours |
| Overtime hours (49 - 40) | 9 hours |
| Regular pay (40 x $20) | $800.00 |
| Overtime pay (9 x $20 x 1.5) | $270.00 |
| Total pay | $1,070.00 |
Chart: the hours each day
Each block is 15 minutes.
Mon ████████████████████████████████████ 9 h Tue ████████████████████████████████████ 9 h Wed ████████████████████████████████████ 9 h Thu ████████████████████████████████████ 9 h Fri ████████████████████████████████████ 9 h Sat ████████████████ 4 h Sun 0 h
Chart: regular time and overtime
The 49 hours of the week. Green is regular time, and amber is overtime.
████████████████████████████████████████ 49 h ■ Regular 40 h ■ Overtime 9 h
Overtime is only 18% of the hours, but it earns 25% of the pay: $270 of $1,070.
Night shifts
If you work at night, the "Out" time is earlier than the "In" time, because you finish on the next day. The calculator adds 24 hours in that case. Take a shift from 22:00 to 06:00 with a 30-minute unpaid break:
| Step | Result |
|---|---|
| 06:00 - 22:00 | -16 hours, which means the next day |
| Add 24 hours | 8 hours |
| Less the break of 30 minutes | 7 hours 30 minutes, which is 7.5 hours |
Enter the whole shift on the day when it starts.
Minutes are not decimals
A time of 8 hours 20 minutes is 8.33 hours, not 8.20. Many people get this wrong on time sheets. To change minutes to a decimal, divide by 60:
| Minutes | Decimal hours |
|---|---|
| 10 | 0.17 |
| 15 | 0.25 |
| 20 | 0.33 |
| 30 | 0.50 |
| 45 | 0.75 |
Five days of 8 hours and 20 minutes is 41 hours 40 minutes, or 41.67 hours. That is 1 hour 40 minutes (1.67 hours) of overtime.
About overtime rules
In the United States, most hourly workers must be paid at least one and a half times their normal rate for the hours over 40 in a work week. Some states add a rule for a single day. For example, in California hours over 8 in a day can also count as overtime. Other countries have their own rules. This calculator uses one weekly limit, which you can change. It does not work out daily overtime, double time or special rates for nights, weekends or holidays.
Tips
- Write down your times every day. It is easy to forget a time by Friday.
- Check how your employer rounds your time. Some round to the nearest 5 or 15 minutes. The calculator uses the exact minutes.
- Check the break rules. In some places a short break must be paid, and a long meal break does not have to be.
- Compare with your pay stub. If the hours are different, ask your payroll team.
What this calculator does not include
- Taxes and other deductions. The pay is before them.
- Overtime that is worked out by the day, double time and different rates for different hours.
- Paid time off, holidays and sick leave.
- Weeks that start on a day other than Monday. Use the seven days in the order that suits you.
This tool gives an estimate for general information only. It is not legal or payroll advice. Your employer and your local law decide how your hours and pay are counted.