Hours Calculator – Calculate Work Hours, Daily & Weekly Totals
Our free hours calculator totals your daily and weekly work hours the moment you enter a start time, end time, and break length. It converts every shift to decimal hours, flags any hours over your weekly threshold, and gives you a clean day-by-day breakdown no manual arithmetic needed.
Enter Your Schedule
| Date | Start Time | End Time | Break (min) | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Optional: Gross Pay Estimate
Add an hourly rate to see a rough gross total alongside your hour counts. Leave blank to see hours only.
Hours beyond this are flagged as over-threshold (default: 40)
An hours calculator takes your start time, end time, and break length for each shift and works out exactly how many hours you worked — per day and in total across the week. It handles the arithmetic of subtracting break time, managing overnight crossovers, and summing multiple days automatically.
The key difference between an hours calculator and a generic time calculator is purpose. This tool is built around the structure of a working schedule: daily entries, break deduction, weekly totals, and decimal hour output — the format that scheduling systems and HR tools use.
What It Calculates
- Net hours per shift after subtracting unpaid breaks
- Weekly hour totals summed across all days entered
- Decimal hours — converts minutes to the decimal format used in schedules (e.g., 7h 30m = 7.50)
- Hours over your weekly threshold — flagged separately so you can see when a week goes over your usual limit
- Average hours per day — useful for planning and balance checks
- Weekday vs. weekend split — helpful for tracking varied-rate or flexible schedules
Calculating work hours follows four steps. The calculator handles all of them automatically, but understanding the method helps you verify results.
Step 1 — Convert to 24-hour format
9:00 AM = 09:00 | 5:30 PM = 17:30
Step 2 — Find total elapsed time
17:30 − 09:00 = 8h 30m = 510 minutes
Step 3 — Subtract unpaid break time
510 min − 30 min break = 480 minutes
Step 4 — Convert to decimal hours
480 ÷ 60 = 8.00 hours
Overnight Shifts
When your end time is earlier than your start time (for example, 22:00 to 06:00), the calculator adds 24 hours to the end time automatically. This gives a correct positive result rather than a negative value.
Night Shift Example
Start: 22:00 | End: 06:00 (next day) | Break: 45 min
(06:00 + 24:00) − 22:00 − 0:45 = 7h 15m = 7.25 decimal hours
Understanding Decimal Hours
Schedules and most HR systems express time in decimal format because it makes arithmetic straightforward. Multiplying 8.5 decimal hours by a rate is simple; multiplying "8 hours 30 minutes" is not.
Minutes → Decimal Conversion
To calculate a full week, add one row per workday. As you fill in each day's start time, end time, and break, the weekly total updates automatically.
Standard 40-Hour Week Example
| Day | Start | End | Break | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 7.50 |
| Tuesday | 9:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 7.50 |
| Wednesday | 9:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 7.50 |
| Thursday | 9:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 7.50 |
| Friday | 9:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 7.50 |
| Weekly Total | 37.50 | |||
Tracking Hours Over Your Weekly Limit
When your total exceeds the threshold you set (default: 40 hours), the results split into "regular hours" and "over-threshold hours." This helps you immediately see when a week goes beyond a standard full-time schedule — useful for planning and workload management.
Example: 47.5-Hour Week
5 days × 9.5 hours = 47.5 total hours
• Regular: 40.0 hours
• Over threshold: 7.5 hours
Example 1 – Standard Day with Lunch
Schedule: 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, 30-min unpaid lunch
Elapsed: 8h 30m
After break: 8h 30m − 30m = 8.00 hours (8.00 decimal)
Example 2 – Overnight Shift
Schedule: 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, 45-min break
Adjusted end: 06:00 + 24h = 30:00 − 22:00 = 8h 00m
After break: 8h 00m − 45m = 7h 15m (7.25 decimal)
Example 3 – Part-Time Variable Schedule
Mon: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM = 4.00h
Wed: 1:00 PM – 6:30 PM (30-min break) = 5.00h
Fri: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (30-min break) = 5.50h
Weekly total: 14.50 hours
Minutes → Decimal Hours
Common Schedule Types
Full-time: 35–40 hours/week
Part-time: Under 35 hours/week
Compressed: 4 × 10 hours/week
12-hour shifts: 3–4 days/week
Flex schedule: Variable daily hours
Multiple Day Entries
Add unlimited daily rows
Overnight Shifts
Midnight crossover handled automatically
Threshold Tracking
Regular vs. over-threshold split
Decimal Output
Schedule-ready decimal hour format
4–6 hour shift
One 15-min paid rest break
6–8 hour shift
30-min unpaid meal break
8+ hour shift
30-min meal + one 15-min rest break
* Requirements vary by region. Enter only unpaid break minutes here.
Log hours at the end of each shift while the times are still fresh
Enter only unpaid breaks — paid rest periods count as worked time
Use 24-hour format to eliminate AM/PM confusion
Add the date to each row so weekend hours are identified correctly
Keep a personal copy of your entries as a backup record