Reading a time
A time is read in whatever form you type it. 9, 9:15,
9:15am, 915, 0915 and 13:45 are all
accepted. Minutes above 59 or hours above 23 are rejected and the row turns pink.
A time with no am or pm and an hour from 1 to 12 is ambiguous: 4 could be
four in the morning or four in the afternoon. The calculator resolves it by choosing the reading
that gives the shorter shift. So 8 to 4 is eight hours, not twenty.
If you mean the small hours, write 4am, 04:00 or 0400 —
a leading zero or a four-digit form is treated as deliberate 24-hour time and never reinterpreted.
Totalling a day
Each in and out pair is one segment. A segment's length is clock-out minus clock-in. If the
clock-out is earlier than the clock-in, the shift crossed midnight and 24 hours are added:
10:00pm to 6:00am is eight hours.
The segments of a day are added together. Then the unpaid break, if you entered one, is subtracted from the day's total. A day cannot go below zero. A day with no times entered counts as not worked and is left out of every total.
| Day | Segments | Break | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 7:00–11:00, 11:30–2:00, 2:30–6:00 | none | 4:00 + 2:30 + 3:30 = 10:00 |
| Tue | 8:52–5:33pm | 30 min | 8:41 − 0:30 = 8:11 |
| Fri | 10:00pm–6:00am | none | 8:00 |
If you punched out for lunch, the punches already exclude it. Enter a break only for time that is deducted without a punch. Entering both deducts it twice.
Hours and decimal
Decimal hours are minutes divided by sixty, shown to two places. 8:11 is 8 + 11 ÷ 60 =
8.1833, shown as 8.18. 8:05 is 8.08, not 8.05. The totals row uses
the exact minutes, not the sum of rounded days, so it can differ from adding the decimal
column by hand by a hundredth. The exact figure is the correct one.
Overtime rules
Overtime is worked out one week at a time. A biweekly or monthly card is split into blocks of seven days from the first day, and each block is judged on its own. Nothing carries from one week into the next.
| Rule | What it does |
|---|---|
| Over 40 a week | All hours are regular until the week passes 40. Everything past 40 is overtime. |
| Over 8 a day | Each day: the first 8 hours are regular, the rest overtime. No weekly test. |
| Over 8 a day, 40 a week | Daily rule first, then if the remaining regular hours pass 40 in the week, the excess is also overtime. Hours are never counted twice. |
| California 8 / 12 | Each day: first 8 regular, 8 to 12 overtime, past 12 double time. Then the weekly 40 test on regular hours. And if all seven days of a week are worked, the seventh day is paid at overtime for its first 8 hours and double time after that. |
| None | Every hour is regular. |
Worked example, California rule, one week of 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 and 10 hours: the first six days are 48 regular hours, of which 8 pass the weekly 40 and become overtime. The seventh day is worked, so its 10 hours are 8 overtime and 2 double time. Result: 40 regular, 16 overtime, 2 double time.
Pay
If you enter a rate, gross pay is regular hours × rate, plus overtime hours × 1.5 × rate, plus double time hours × 2 × rate. It is gross — before tax, before deductions. It does not apply a blended rate for two jobs at different rates; that calculator is on the list.
What it does not do
- It does not round. Employer rounding to the nearest quarter hour is lawful only when it rounds both ways; this calculator shows exact minutes so you can see what rounding did.
- It does not know your state's meal break law, your union contract or your employer's handbook. Pick the rule that matches; if none does, use "none" and apply your own.
- It does not send anything anywhere. Every number on this page is produced on your device.
If you find a mistake
Send the exact times and the answer you expected to hello@hourstally.com. Every reported case becomes a permanent test so it cannot come back.