Work Hours Calculator
Pick when work started and when it ended — even on different days — and subtract any unpaid breaks. You get hours and minutes, decimal hours and, if you add a rate, gross pay.
- Hours worked = end − start − unpaid breaks.
- Overnight and multi-day spans are handled automatically.
- 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM minus 30 min = 9 hours.
- Decimal hours × rate = gross pay.
How to calculate hours worked
- Note the exact start and endUse the actual times, including the date when work runs past midnight or over several days.
- SubtractEnd − start gives the elapsed time. 17:30 − 08:00 = 9 h 30 min.
- Deduct unpaid breaksOnly bona fide unpaid meal periods. 9 h 30 − 30 min = 9 h.
- Convert to decimal9 h 15 min = 9.25 hours. Multiply by the rate for pay.
How to use the Work Hours calculator
Fill in the fields above and press Calculate. Results appear straight away, in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
- Start date & time — starts at 2026-10-19T08:00; replace it with your own figure.
- End date & time — starts at 2026-10-19T17:30; replace it with your own figure.
- Unpaid breaks — starts at 30; replace it with your own figure.
- Hourly rate
Change any value and press Calculate again to compare scenarios. All figures are estimates for planning; check them against your own policy, contract and local rules before using them for payroll.
Shifts, on-call and travel: what counts as work time
Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, “hours worked” is broader than time at a desk:
- Counts: required pre-shift and post-shift tasks, short rest breaks, required training, waiting time while on duty, travel between job sites during the day.
- Usually does not count: normal home-to-work commute, bona fide meal periods, on-call time where the employee is free to use the time for themselves.
- Overnight shifts: for shifts of 24 hours or more, rules on sleep time are specific — check before excluding it.
Hours between common times
How many hours is 8 AM to 5 PM?
9 hours before breaks.
How many hours is 9 AM to 5 PM?
8 hours before breaks.
How many hours is 7 AM to 3:30 PM?
8 h 30 min before breaks.
How many hours is 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM?
9 hours before breaks.
How many hours is 6 AM to 6 PM?
12 hours before breaks.
How many hours is 7 PM to 7 AM?
12 hours (overnight) before breaks.
How many hours is 10 PM to 6 AM?
8 hours (overnight) before breaks.
How many hours is 11 PM to 7:30 AM?
8 h 30 min (overnight) before breaks.
How many hours is Monday 9 AM to Wednesday 5 PM?
56 hours elapsed before breaks.
How many hours is Friday 6 PM to Saturday 2 AM?
8 hours before breaks.
Long shifts and multi-day jobs
For a 12-hour hospital shift, a two-day site visit or an overnight event, add up the whole span and subtract the breaks. A shift from Friday 7:00 PM to Saturday 7:30 AM with a 30-minute meal is 12 hours of work. If the span crosses a workweek boundary, split the hours between the two weeks for overtime; the time card calculator handles a week at a time.
Worked examples
Real-world scenarios, worked through step by step.
Day shift
8:00 AM to 5:30 PM with a 30-minute lunch = 9 hours.
Overnight 12-hour shift
Friday 7:00 PM to Saturday 7:30 AM with a 30-minute meal = 12 hours.
Event crew
Saturday 6:00 AM to Sunday 1:00 AM with two 30-minute meals = 18 hours, which spans two days.
Paid hours
9.25 hours at $24 = $222.
Daylight saving time
When the clocks go forward in spring, an overnight shift is one hour shorter than the clock times suggest; when they go back in autumn, it is one hour longer. Employees must be paid for the hours actually worked. This calculator uses your browser’s clock, so a date-time range that crosses a daylight saving change in your time zone is measured in real elapsed hours.
Hours, decimal hours and pay
Payroll multiplies decimal hours by the rate: 37 h 45 min × $20 = 37.75 × $20 = $755. Convert other times with the decimal time converter, and check overtime with the overtime calculator.
If you need hours across many days or people, an automated time tracker or GPS clock-in for field teams records start and end times so nobody has to calculate them afterwards.
Tracking work hours for different teams
How hours are captured depends on where the work happens:
- Office and remote staff: desktop or browser timers record start and stop automatically; time tracking also links hours to projects.
- Field and construction crews: mobile clock-in with GPS verification records when work started at the site, not when someone remembered to note it.
- Shift workers: clock-in at the start of a rota slot and out at the end, with meal breaks recorded.
- Contractors and freelancers: timers per client project feed straight into invoices — see freelancer tracking.
Why “hours worked” disputes happen
Most disputes come from reconstructed times: a late start remembered as on time, a long day remembered as a normal one, or a missed meal break that was deducted anyway. Capturing times at the moment they happen removes the argument. The attendance tracking guide compares methods from paper to GPS clock-in.
Work hours in a month and a year
Useful totals for planning, budgets and capacity:
| Schedule | Per week | Per month (avg) | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full time, 8 h × 5 | 40 | 173.3 | 2,080 |
| 37.5-hour week | 37.5 | 162.5 | 1,950 |
| 35-hour week | 35 | 151.7 | 1,820 |
| Four 10-hour days | 40 | 173.3 | 2,080 |
| Three 12-hour shifts | 36 | 156.0 | 1,872 |
| Part time, 20 h | 20 | 86.7 | 1,040 |
Subtract paid holidays and vacation from the yearly figure to get hours actually worked — useful for pricing and capacity planning. A team member with 25 days off works roughly 2,080 − 200 = 1,880 hours a year.
Scheduled hours vs hours worked
Schedules describe the plan; hours worked describe what happened. The difference — late starts, early finishes, overtime, missed breaks — is where payroll errors and disputes live. Comparing the two each week with an attendance report catches problems early. Use the tardiness calculator to put a number on late starts and the attendance rate calculator to track attendance over time.
How different industries use it
- healthcare: 12-hour and overnight shifts are measured from clock-in to clock-out across midnight.
- construction and field service: Long site days and travel between sites.
Do it in Excel or Google Sheets
Enter full date-times (e.g. 2026-10-19 08:00) in A2 and B2 and unpaid break minutes in C2.
- Hours worked
=(B2-A2)*24-C2/60 - Hours and minutes
=TEXT(B2-A2-C2/1440,"[h]:mm") - Pay with the rate in D2
=((B2-A2)*24-C2/60)*D2
Because both cells include the date, multi-day and overnight spans need no special handling.
Who uses the Work Hours calculator — and why
- Shift workers with overnight or 12-hour shifts.
- Field and construction crews with long site days.
- Event and hospitality staff.
- Contractors billing a multi-day job.
- Payroll teams checking disputed hours.
- Healthcare staff on extended shifts.
How we calculate
- Hours = (end date-time − start date-time) − unpaid break minutes, using your browser’s clock (daylight saving changes in your time zone are reflected in elapsed time).
- What counts as hours worked: 29 CFR Part 785.
- All calculations run in your browser; nothing you type is sent to StaffTiming or stored.
Formulas checked against the sources above. Last reviewed: October 2026. This tool gives estimates for planning, not legal, tax or payroll advice.
Key terms explained
- Hours worked
- All time an employee is required or permitted to work.
- Elapsed time
- The time between start and end, before breaks.
- Bona fide meal period
- A meal break long enough to be unpaid, with the employee fully relieved of duty.
- On-call time
- Time an employee must be available; it may or may not count as work.
- Decimal hours
- Hours as a decimal for payroll.
- Shift span
- From first clock-in to last clock-out.
- Daylight saving time
- The seasonal one-hour clock change.
- Workweek boundary
- The point where one overtime week ends and the next begins.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate hours worked between two times?
Subtract the start time from the end time and deduct unpaid breaks. If the end is the next day, include the date or add 24 hours.
How many hours is 7 PM to 7 AM?
12 hours.
Does travel time count as work hours?
Travel between job sites during the workday usually counts. A normal commute does not.
Are breaks included in hours worked?
Short breaks are. Unpaid meal breaks of 30 minutes or more, with no duties, are not.
How do I handle a shift during a daylight saving change?
Pay for the hours actually worked: one less in spring, one more in autumn.
Can I calculate hours across several days?
Yes. Enter the start and end dates and times; the result is the full span minus breaks.
What is 9 hours 15 minutes in decimal?
9.25 hours.
Is waiting time paid?
Waiting while on duty generally counts as work; being free to leave and use the time as you wish generally does not.
Does training time count?
Required training during or connected to work usually counts as hours worked.
How do I record hours automatically?
Use a clock-in app or time tracker so start and end times are captured as they happen.
How do I calculate hours worked in a month?
Add the hours for each day or week in the month. On a steady 40-hour week it averages 173.3 hours.
What counts as a full working day?
Commonly 8 hours, but it depends on the contract. Use the actual hours worked for pay.
How many working hours are in a year?
2,080 on a 40-hour week, before subtracting paid holidays and vacation.
How many hours is a 12-hour shift after breaks?
Usually 11.5 hours with a 30-minute unpaid meal, or 11 hours with two.
How do I calculate hours for a split shift?
Calculate each part separately and add them; the unpaid gap between them is not work time.
Can I use this for overtime?
It totals hours; enter weekly totals in the overtime calculator to price overtime.
How many hours is 7 AM to 3:30 PM?
8 hours 30 minutes, or 8 hours after a 30-minute unpaid meal break.
How many hours is 6 AM to 2:30 PM?
8 hours 30 minutes before breaks.
How do I calculate hours worked across two days?
Enter the start date and time and the end date and time; the difference is the hours worked, minus any unpaid breaks.
How do I count hours for on-call shifts?
Count the time actually spent working when called in, plus any on-call time where you were not free to use the time for yourself. Rules vary, so check your policy.
How many hours is a 24-hour shift?
24 hours of span. Under US federal rules, up to 8 hours of sleep time can sometimes be excluded by agreement if the employee gets enough uninterrupted sleep.
Automate this with real tracked data.
StaffTiming records hours as they happen and turns them into payroll-ready timesheets, so you never re-type a calculation.