Hours Worked

Calculating Hours Worked Between Clock-In and Clock-Out

Hours worked is the time between clock-in and clock-out, minus any unpaid break. Enter when you clocked in, when you clocked out, and how many minutes of unpaid break you took, and this calculator returns your total hours worked — plus your total pay, if you enter an hourly rate.

This calculator handles overnight shifts correctly: if your clock-out time is earlier in the day than your clock-in time (like working 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM), it assumes the shift crossed midnight rather than treating it as an error.

The Formula

$\vE{\text{Raw Hours}} = \vA{\text{Clock-Out Time}} - \vB{\text{Clock-In Time}}$ (adding 24 hours if the shift crosses midnight)

$$\vF{\text{Total Hours Worked}} = \vE{\text{Raw Hours}} - (\vC{\text{Unpaid Break Minutes}} \div 60)$$ $$\text{Total Pay} = \vF{\text{Total Hours Worked}} \times \vD{\text{Hourly Rate}}$$

Worked Example

Clocking in at 9:00 AM, out at 5:00 PM, with a 30-minute unpaid lunch break, at $20/hour:

1. Raw hours: $\vA{\text{17:00}} - \vB{\text{9:00}} = 8 \text{ hours}$.
2. Total hours worked: $8 - (\vC{30} \div 60) = 7.5 \text{ hours}$ (7h 30 m).
3. Total pay: $7.5 \times \vD{20} = 150.00$.

Key Factors to Consider

• Overtime pay isn’t factored into this calculator’s total pay figure. This calculator multiplies every hour by the same flat rate — if your work is subject to overtime rules (commonly 1.5x pay past 40 hours/week in the U.S.), use the dedicated Overtime Pay Calculator for hours beyond the standard threshold.
• A single shift’s total is different from a full pay period’s total. This calculator computes one clock-in-to-clock-out shift at a time — for a weekly or biweekly total across multiple shifts, add up each shift’s own hours calculated here, or use the Time Card Calculator, which is built for multi-day totals.
• Whether break time is paid or unpaid depends on your employer’s policy and applicable labor law. This calculator subtracts the break time you enter as unpaid — a short paid break (common for brief rest periods under many labor laws) shouldn’t be entered here, since it’s still compensated time despite not being active work.
• Rounding practices for clock-in/out times vary by employer. Some employers round punches to the nearest 5, 10, or 15 minutes per their own timekeeping policy — this calculator uses your exact entered times without any rounding, so compare against your employer’s specific rounding rule if your actual paycheck may differ slightly.

Common Mistakes

• Entering a paid break as if it were unpaid. A brief paid rest break (often required by law for short breaks) is still compensated time — subtracting it here would understate your actual hours worked, since only genuinely unpaid time should reduce the total.
• Forgetting this calculator doesn’t apply overtime pay. Every hour here is paid at the same flat rate — if your job pays 1.5x past 40 hours in a week, the total pay figure understates what you’re actually owed for those extra hours.
• Mixing up AM and PM on an overnight shift. A shift like 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM only computes correctly when both times carry the right AM/PM — swapping either one produces a nonsensical negative or unrealistically long shift length.
• Treating this as a multi-day total. This calculator computes a single clock-in-to-clock-out shift at a time — for a full week or pay period spanning several shifts, add each shift’s total separately or use a dedicated multi-day timesheet tool instead.

Useful to Know

• Need your total pay across several shifts in a pay period, not just one? The Time Card Calculator calculator adds up multiple days at once.
• Does your job pay a higher rate past a certain weekly threshold? The Overtime Pay Calculator calculator factors that premium rate in, which this calculator deliberately doesn’t.
• Curious what an hourly rate here works out to as an annual salary, or vice versa? The Hourly to Salary Calculator calculator converts between the two.