Hours Calculator
Use this free work hours calculator to find hours worked for any shift or a full week. Enter the start time, end time, and any unpaid break, and the tool returns hours and minutes worked along with decimal hours suited for payroll. Shifts crossing midnight are handled automatically. Add an hourly pay rate to see pay for the shift or week alongside.
The pay figure shown is gross pay before tax and any other deductions. For take-home pay, use our salary calculator or our Pakistan salary calculator. Overtime is not split out automatically because the rules and rates vary by country and contract.
Everything you need for work-hour math
Six features that cover single shifts and full weeks.
Single shift and weekly modes
Calculate one shift or a full Monday-to-Sunday week of work in one place.
Midnight crossover handled
A shift starting at 22:00 and ending at 06:00 correctly counts 8 hours, not minus 16.
Unpaid break support
Subtract any number of break minutes from total time at work.
Decimal hours output
Hours and minutes shown alongside decimal hours for easy use in payroll systems.
Optional pay rate
Add an hourly rate to see pay for the shift or week instantly.
Mobile-friendly layout
Clean responsive design with native time pickers on phones and desktops.
Who uses an hours calculator?
Anyone tracking hours worked or billed.
Hourly workers
Verify your weekly timesheet before submitting it to payroll.
Freelancers and contractors
Convert tracked hours into decimal hours and total billable amount.
Shift workers
Calculate shifts that cross midnight, weekend, or holiday boundaries.
Small business owners
Build a simple time card for staff with a known hourly rate.
Students with part-time jobs
Track how many hours you have worked and check the expected paycheck.
On-the-go quick checks
Run a quick calculation at the end of the day to verify a punch-in/punch-out total.
About work hours
A clear guide to time-card math, decimal hours, and overtime basics.
How the calculator finds hours worked
It converts both start and end times into total minutes since midnight, subtracts the start from the end, then subtracts the break. If the end is earlier than the start, it adds 24 hours' worth of minutes to handle a shift that crosses midnight. The result is total minutes worked, which is then shown as hours-and-minutes and as decimal hours.
Why decimal hours matter
Payroll systems, spreadsheets, and most billing software work in decimal hours because multiplying by a pay rate is straightforward. 2 hours 30 minutes is 2.5 decimal hours. 1 hour 45 minutes is 1.75. The calculator shows both formats so you can copy whichever your system needs.
How overtime is calculated
In the US, federal overtime kicks in after 40 hours in a week and is paid at 1.5 times the regular rate. Other countries have different rules: some count daily overtime (after 8 hours in a day), some apply different multipliers, and some exempt certain job categories. The calculator does not split hours into regular and overtime because rules vary so widely; sum the week and apply your local overtime rule.
Unpaid breaks and meal periods
In many jurisdictions, a meal break of 30 minutes or more is unpaid. Shorter rest breaks (10 to 15 minutes) are typically paid. Enter only the unpaid break in the calculator. If your break is paid, leave the field at 0. The break field subtracts from total time at work to give hours actually paid.
Shifts crossing midnight
A night shift starting at 22:00 and ending at 06:00 the next morning crosses midnight. The calculator detects this automatically when the end time is earlier than the start time and adds 24 hours to find the correct duration. So 22:00 to 06:00 with a 30-minute break gives 7 hours 30 minutes, not minus.
Working out gross pay
Gross pay is hours worked times hourly rate, before tax. Enter the rate in the calculator to see this figure. Most countries have additional deductions (income tax, social security, union dues) that take a chunk off the gross. For net pay, look at recent payslips or use a country-specific tax calculator.
Tracking a full week
The weekly mode shows seven rows, one per day, each with start time, end time, and break. Empty days count as zero hours. The week total sums all days and shows hours, decimal hours, and (if you entered a rate) weekly pay. This is the simplest possible time card for an hourly worker.
Common timesheet mistakes
Forgetting to subtract the lunch break is the single most common timesheet error. Other mistakes: missing the midnight crossover for a night shift, double-counting time when shifts overlap with rest periods, and rounding times to the nearest 15 minutes inconsistently. The calculator computes exact minutes from the times you enter, which is more accurate than mental math.
When to use this versus the salary calculator
Use the hours calculator to find hours worked and gross pay for a shift or week. Use the salary calculator to convert between annual, monthly, weekly, and hourly pay for a salaried position. Use the Pakistan salary calculator for tax-aware net pay on the FBR 2025-26 scheme.
Frequently asked questions
If you don't find your question here, ask us directly.
It subtracts your start time from your end time to find the time at work, then subtracts any unpaid break to get hours actually worked. The result is shown in hours and minutes and also as decimal hours, which is the format most payroll systems use. If you enter an hourly pay rate, the calculator multiplies decimal hours by the rate to show your pay for the shift.
Decimal hours make payroll math easy. Half an hour is 0.5, fifteen minutes is 0.25, and forty-five minutes is 0.75. Multiplying decimal hours by a pay rate is straightforward in any spreadsheet. Trying to multiply a pay rate by "8:30" causes errors in most software because clock format is not a number.
If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator assumes the shift crosses midnight and adds 24 hours to the end. So a 22:00 start to 06:00 end is treated as 8 hours, not minus 16. This is how most timesheet software works.
The break field is in minutes and is subtracted from total time at work. A 30-minute unpaid lunch on an 8.5-hour shift gives 8 hours worked. If your lunch break is paid, leave the break field at 0.
In most countries, overtime kicks in after 40 hours in a week or 8 hours in a day (depending on local labour law). The calculator does not split hours into regular and overtime automatically, because the rules and rates vary widely. Use the weekly mode to find your total, then split it according to your local rules and apply the overtime rate separately.
Enter it as a decimal. $14.75 per hour works fine. The calculator multiplies decimal hours by the rate to give the pay for the shift or week, formatted to two decimal places in dollars. If you are paid in a different currency, the math is the same; just treat the dollar sign as a placeholder.
No, the calculator is built for hourly pay. For a salaried worker, total hours worked are still useful (for tracking workload and overtime exposure), but pay is fixed regardless of hours. Use our salary calculator to convert annual pay to hourly equivalent.
Yes. Hourly billing is the default for many freelancers. Enter your billable hours and your hourly rate to find the invoice amount for the shift or the week. Most freelancers also need to add tax, fees, and project-specific markups separately.
Exact, given the input. The calculator sums each day's minutes, applies any breaks, and totals the result. It assumes Monday-to-Sunday weeks; if your pay period uses a different week, just shift the days around. Days you do not work should be left with empty start and end times.
Leave the start and end times blank for that day. The calculator treats blank days as 0 hours. You can also leave the break minutes at 0. The weekly total skips empty days automatically.
Local labour law varies. In many places, on-call time is paid at a reduced rate, and unpaid travel time is calculated separately. The calculator treats every minute between start and end as worked minus the break, so for on-call or split-shift situations you may need to enter several rows or calculate days separately.
No, the pay figure is gross pay before tax. For after-tax (take-home) pay, use our salary calculator, or our Pakistan salary calculator if you are in Pakistan. Tax depends on annual income, marital status, deductions, and country, so it cannot be calculated from a single shift.
Yes. Your start times, end times, breaks, and pay rate stay in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, logged, or shared. You can use the calculator without an account and even offline once the page has loaded.
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