Hours Calculator

Net hours worked = (End time − Start time) − Unpaid break. The calculator converts both clock times into total minutes since midnight, subtracts to find the raw elapsed time, then subtracts any unpaid break minutes before converting back into hours and minutes.

For example, a shift from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (8 hours raw) with a 30-minute unpaid lunch break results in 8 hours − 0.5 hours = 7.5 net hours worked, or 7 hours 30 minutes.

Overtime rules in many jurisdictions kick in only after a weekly threshold (often 40 hours), not per shift. This calculator gives per-shift net hours; multiply and sum across the week before comparing against your employer’s overtime policy.

This basic form assumes the end time falls after the start time on the same calendar day. If your shift starts in the evening and ends after midnight (for example, 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM), you will need to either split the shift into two segments (10:00 PM to midnight, and midnight to 6:00 AM) and add them together, or use a scheduling tool that explicitly supports overnight shifts.

Any night-shift differential pay rules your employer applies are policy-specific and are not modeled by this simple hours calculation — check your contract or HR handbook for how overnight premiums are calculated separately.

Only subtract breaks that your employment contract or local labor law treats as unpaid. Many jurisdictions mandate that short breaks (5–20 minutes) remain paid, while longer meal breaks (30+ minutes) are commonly unpaid — but the exact rule depends heavily on where you work.

If your workplace has multiple break types with different pay treatment, add up only the unpaid portions before entering a single break-duration figure into the calculator.

Part-time workers with split shifts — morning and evening blocks with a long unpaid gap between — should run the calculator separately for each block rather than stretching one continuous start-to-end span across the gap.

Some employers round punch times to the nearest 5, 6, or 15 minutes for payroll simplicity, following rules permitted in their jurisdiction. This calculator reports the exact raw math from the times you enter, so treat any small difference between this result and your official payslip as your employer’s rounding policy, not a calculation error — worth confirming with HR if the gap seems larger than expected.

Freelancers invoicing by the hour typically run this calculation once per client session, then sum the daily totals at week’s end. Keeping start time, end time, and break length on a simple log reduces the chance of transposing AM and PM on a late-night entry.

A common mistake is subtracting a full lunch break on days when only a short paid break was taken. Note whether each break was paid or unpaid at the time you log it — trying to reconstruct that from memory at month’s end often introduces small errors that add up across dozens of shifts.

If you bill in quarter-hour increments (common in consulting), round only after calculating the exact net hours for each session, not before. Rounding each punch individually can drift away from the true total over a busy week.

To add several already-calculated shift totals into one weekly figure, the Time Calculator handles duration addition cleanly. If you are converting between annual and hourly pay once you know your hours, the Salary Calculator covers that next step.