How a Time Card Adds Up
Each punch pair is an interval. Convert both times to minutes past midnight, subtract, and sum the intervals for the day. Two pairs a day handles the usual pattern of a morning session, an unpaid lunch, and an afternoon session — the gap between the pairs is automatically excluded.
Minutes worked = (Out − In) for each pair, summed
Decimal hours = Minutes ÷ 60
The classic payroll error is writing 7 hours 45 minutes as 7.45 instead of 7.75. Minutes convert as a fraction of sixty, not of a hundred.
Minutes to Decimal Hours
| Min | Decimal | Min | Decimal | Min | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0.08 | 25 | 0.42 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 10 | 0.17 | 30 | 0.50 | 50 | 0.83 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 35 | 0.58 | 55 | 0.92 |
| 20 | 0.33 | 40 | 0.67 | 60 | 1.00 |
Rounding Punches
U.S. employers may round clock times, and three schemes are common:
| Increment | Also called | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | Quarter hour, "7-minute rule" | 7 minutes or less rounds down, 8 or more rounds up |
| 6 minutes | Tenth of an hour | Common in professional services billing |
| 5 minutes | — | Simple and close to exact |
The legal requirement is neutrality. Rounding must be as likely to favour the employee as the employer over time. A policy that only ever rounds down — or that rounds clock-ins up and clock-outs down — is unlawful under the Fair Labor Standards Act and has produced substantial class-action settlements.
Breaks: Paid or Not
| Break | Federal treatment |
|---|---|
| Under 20 minutes | Compensable — must be paid and counted as hours worked |
| Bona fide meal period, 30+ minutes | Unpaid, provided the employee is fully relieved of duty |
| Working through lunch | Paid — answering calls or emails means the time is worked |
| On-call at the workplace | Usually paid |
| On-call free to leave | Usually unpaid |
Because this calculator uses two punch pairs, the unpaid meal period is simply the gap between them — it never appears in the total. Short paid breaks should not be punched out for at all.
Overtime
Federal law requires 1.5× the regular rate beyond 40 hours in a workweek for non-exempt employees. Several points are widely misunderstood:
- The workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period the employer defines. Overtime is computed within it and cannot be averaged across two weeks.
- There is no federal daily overtime. Twelve hours on Monday is not overtime unless the week passes 40. California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado do require daily overtime.
- Paid leave does not count toward 40. A week with 8 hours of holiday pay and 36 hours worked produces no overtime.
- The regular rate includes non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, not just the base wage.
| Weekly hours | Regular | Overtime | Gross at $22/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37.5 | 37.5 | 0 | $825.00 |
| 40 | 40 | 0 | $880.00 |
| 45 | 40 | 5 | $1,045.00 |
| 50 | 40 | 10 | $1,210.00 |
| 60 | 40 | 20 | $1,540.00 |
Record Keeping
Employers must keep time records for non-exempt employees for at least two years, and payroll records for three. The records must show hours worked each day and total hours each week. Where an employer's records are missing or unreliable, courts have consistently accepted the employee's reasonable reconstruction instead — which makes accurate contemporaneous records the employer's protection as much as the employee's.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I enter an overnight shift?
Enter it normally — 22:00 to 06:00. When the out time is earlier than the in time, the calculator assumes the shift crossed midnight.
What if I only worked one session that day?
Fill the first pair and leave the second blank. Both pairs are optional.
Is the result gross or net pay?
Gross — before income tax, Social Security, Medicare and any deductions. Expect 20–35% to be withheld from a typical U.S. paycheck.
Can my employer round my hours down?
Only if the policy rounds both ways and is neutral over time. Systematic rounding that favours the employer is a wage violation.