How to use it
- Choose Weekly or Biweekly, and the day your workweek starts. Add the period start date if you want dates on the card.
- For each day worked, type the In and Out times. Days off can stay blank. Same hours as the day before? Tap Same as … on that day to copy the previous day’s times and break in one go.
- For lunch, either type the unpaid minutes in Break, or tick Lunch out & back in and enter the times you clocked out and back in.
- Under Pay and overtime, enter the hourly rate and pick the overtime rule that applies to you.
- Press Print for a one-page time card with signature lines, or Share link to send the filled-in card to a manager.
Worked example: a 44-hour week
Maria works Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, with a 30-minute unpaid lunch. This week she also covered a Saturday morning, 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, with no break. She earns $18.00 an hour and the federal over-40 rule applies.
- Each weekday: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM is 8 hours 30 minutes. Minus 30 minutes lunch = 8.00 hours.
- Five weekdays: 5 × 8.00 = 40.00 hours. Saturday adds 4.00 hours. Weekly total = 44.00 hours.
- Overtime is anything over 40 in the workweek: 44 − 40 = 4.00 overtime hours, leaving 40.00 regular hours.
- Regular pay: 40 × $18.00 = $720.00. Overtime pay: 4 × $18.00 × 1.5 = $108.00.
- Total gross pay: $828.00 before taxes and deductions.
If Maria’s employer used a daily rule instead (overtime after 8 hours in a day), none of these days would go over 8, so the result would be 44 regular hours and no overtime. That’s why picking the right rule matters.
How it’s calculated
Each day is worked out first, then the week, then pay:
day = (out − in) + (out again − in again) − break
- If an out time is earlier than its in time, that block is treated as crossing midnight, so a 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM night shift counts as 8 hours on the day it started.
- Over 40 per week: regular hours are capped at 40 per workweek; the rest is overtime.
- Daily over 8: any time over 8 hours in one day is overtime.
- Both: daily overtime is counted first. Hours already paid as daily overtime aren’t counted again toward the 40, so nothing is paid twice.
- Biweekly periods: overtime is still worked out week by week. U.S. federal law doesn’t allow averaging two weeks together, so 50 hours in week 1 and 30 in week 2 still gives 10 overtime hours.
- Pay = regular hours × rate + overtime hours × rate × multiplier, rounded to the cent. Hours are kept to the exact minute, then shown in decimal hours to two places.
Some states also have double-time rules or seventh-day rules that this calculator doesn’t apply. Treat the pay figure as an estimate and check the rules for your state.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to count my lunch break on my time card?
Only if it’s paid. Under U.S. federal rules, a real meal break (usually 30 minutes or more, fully off duty) can be unpaid, so you subtract it. Short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes are normally paid and stay in your hours. Some states have their own break laws.
How is overtime calculated on a time card?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees get at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. A few states also require overtime after 8 hours in a day. Pick the matching rule in the calculator. See the Department of Labor overtime page for details.
Can I do a two-week (biweekly) time card?
Yes. Choose Biweekly and a second week appears. Each week’s overtime is calculated separately, as federal rules require, and both weeks are added together for the period total and pay.
How do I enter a night shift that ends the next morning?
Enter it on the day it started, for example Friday in 10:00 PM, out 6:30 AM. The calculator sees the out time is earlier and counts the hours across midnight.
What does the decimal number mean?
It’s your time in hours as a decimal, which is what most payroll systems use. 38 hours 45 minutes is 38.75 hours because 45 minutes is three quarters of an hour. Use the minutes to decimal chart to convert by hand.