Finance Tool

Time Card Calculator

A time card calculator computes hours worked per day from clock-in and clock-out times, deducts unpaid meal breaks, and applies federal and state overtime rules to estimate gross pay before taxes. This calculator follows the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for weekly overtime, with optional daily-OT overlays for California, Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, and Oregon. Results are computed entirely in your browser — nothing leaves your device. Built for hourly employees, payroll auditors, and small-business owners who want a transparent calculation trail they can print and hand to payroll.

Methodology based on DOL Fact Sheet #23 and the California DLSE Overtime FAQ.

Time Card Entry

Hourly Rate ($)

Overtime Mode

1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek.

Rounding

Exact time is the default. These options simulate rounding; they do not verify payroll compliance or that all actual work is paid.

Pay Period

Federal only (FLSA) — scope and limits: Weekly overtime as required by the FLSA, with no state daily rule. It does not check exemption status or blend different pay rates into one regular rate. Source: DOL Fact Sheet #23.

Workweek limits: Each grid is one Monday–Sunday workweek and assigns the whole shift to its starting row. It does not split shifts at a workday or workweek boundary, account for daylight-saving clock changes, or support shifts of 24 hours or longer. If your payroll week starts on another day or time, or a shift crosses its boundary, use a payroll system that allocates hours to the correct workweek before calculating overtime.

This Week

Day	Start (HH:MM)	End (HH:MM)	Break (min)	Paid leave?
Monday	Start time for Monday	End time for Monday	Unpaid break minutes for Monday	PTO
Tuesday	Start time for Tuesday	End time for Tuesday	Unpaid break minutes for Tuesday	PTO
Wednesday	Start time for Wednesday	End time for Wednesday	Unpaid break minutes for Wednesday	PTO
Thursday	Start time for Thursday	End time for Thursday	Unpaid break minutes for Thursday	PTO
Friday	Start time for Friday	End time for Friday	Unpaid break minutes for Friday	PTO
Saturday	Start time for Saturday	End time for Saturday	Unpaid break minutes for Saturday	PTO
Sunday	Start time for Sunday	End time for Sunday	Unpaid break minutes for Sunday	PTO

Changing an entry or setting clears the previous result. Calculate again before printing your updated timesheet.

How a Time Card Calculator Works

durationMinutes(start, end, break) =
  end >= start ? (end - start) - break : (end + 24:00 - start) - break
grossPay = regular*rate + ot*rate*1.5 + doubleTime*rate*2

The calculator follows three sequential rules that come straight from the FLSA and state daily-OT statutes:

Compute each day’s duration. Parse the start and end times to minutes since midnight, subtract any unpaid break minutes, and add 24 hours when the end time is earlier than the start (overnight shift). Apply the optional rounding step before subtraction.
Apply state daily OT first. Each row’s worked hours are split at the selected mode’s daily thresholds, listed in Federal & State Overtime Rules. Each row is treated as its own workday. Modes without a daily rule skip this step.
Apply federal weekly OT to remaining regular hours. Sum each day’s "regular" hours across the workweek. If the sum exceeds 40 hours, the excess is paid at 1.5x the regular rate per FLSA §7(a)(1). Hours already counted as daily OT are NOT counted again — same hour cannot be paid twice.

Worked numerical example: 5 × 9 schedule

Suppose you work Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM with a 60-minute unpaid lunch each day, at $18.00 per hour, federal-only mode:

Each day: 9 hours on the clock minus 1 hour break = 8 hours worked.
Weekly total: 8 hours × 5 days = 40 hours.
40 hours is the federal OT threshold — no overtime is owed.
Gross pay = 40 × $18.00 = $720.00.

This matches Reference Case 1 verified against the DOL elaws Overtime Calculator Advisor.

Worked Examples

Retail associate — 5 × 9 schedule, federal only

Inputs: Mon-Fri 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, 60 min unpaid lunch, $18.00/hr.

Output: 40.00 regular hours, 0 OT, $720.00 gross.

Hitting exactly 40 hours means no FLSA overtime is triggered. Lunch deductions are why a 9-hour on-clock day yields only 8 paid hours.

Restaurant cook — 6 × 8, weekly OT trigger

Inputs: Tue-Sun 11:00 AM to 7:30 PM, 30 min break, $19.50/hr, federal.

Output: 40 reg ($780) + 8 OT ($234) = $1,014.00 gross.

This schedule reaches 48 worked hours, so 8 exceed the federal weekly threshold. A sixth workday alone does not trigger federal overtime.

California warehouse — two long days

Inputs: Mon 14h, Tue 14h (no break), $22.00/hr, California mode.

Output: 16 reg + 8h @1.5x + 4h @2x = $352 + $264 + $176 = $792.00.

California double-time after 12h is why two 14-hour days pay much more than four 7-hour days. Each day splits into 8h / 8-12h / >12h buckets.

Hourly employee — biweekly with cross-week OT

Inputs: Wk1 = 45h (M-Th 10h, F 5h). Wk2 = 40h (M-F 8h). $30/hr, federal.

Output: Wk1: $1,425 (40 reg + 5 OT). Wk2: $1,200. Period gross = $2,625.00.

FLSA forbids averaging weeks across a biweekly period — week 1’s 5 OT hours must be paid at 1.5x even though week 2 did not exceed 40.

Overnight nurse — split shift across midnight

Inputs: Monday 19:00–07:00 next day, 30 min unpaid break; Wednesday 19:00–07:00 next day, 30 min unpaid break; Friday 19:00–05:00 next day, 30 min unpaid break. $32.00/hr, federal-only mode, no rounding.

Output: 32.50 regular hours, 0.00 overtime hours, $1,040.00 gross.

Each shift crosses midnight. Enter the end time on the following day and subtract only the unpaid break. This example assumes no shift crosses the employer’s workweek boundary.

Federal & State Overtime Rules

Under FLSA Section 7(a)(1), non-exempt employees must be paid at 1.5 times their regular rate for any hours worked over 40 in a single workweek (Source: DOL Fact Sheet #23). The 2026 federal salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional exemptions remains $684/week ($35,568 per year) after the 2024 DOL rule increases were vacated by federal court.

Some states add a daily overtime rule on top of the federal weekly rule. Each overtime mode in the calculator applies one rule set, for the scope stated below; check the source before relying on a total.

Federal only (FLSA)
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek.
Scope and limits: Weekly overtime as required by the FLSA, with no state daily rule. It does not check exemption status or blend different pay rates into one regular rate.
Source: DOL Fact Sheet #23.
California
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek, or over 8h in a workday, or the first 8h of a 7th consecutive workday; 2x for hours over 12h in a workday, or past 8h on a 7th consecutive workday.
Scope and limits: Non-exempt employees on a standard schedule. Alternative workweek schedules, exemptions and wage-order exceptions are not modelled. The 7th-day rule applies only when all seven rows of the workweek have worked hours.
Source: Labor Code §510 — DLSE Overtime FAQ.
Alaska
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek, or over 8h in a workday.
Scope and limits: Employers with four or more employees. Not modelled: employers with three or fewer employees (straight time allowed), hours under a voluntary flexible work hour plan filed with the Alaska Department of Labor (no daily overtime up to 10 hours a day), and exemptions.
Sources: AS 23.10.060 — Alaska Wage and Hour FAQ; Alaska flexible work hour plans.
Nevada — rate below 1.5× NV minimum wage
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek, or over 8h in a workday.
Scope and limits: Choose this only if your regular rate is below 1.5 times the Nevada minimum wage in effect for the pay period; check the current rate in the Labor Commissioner’s bulletin. Nevada counts a workday as the 24 hours from when you start work, but this calculator totals each row on its own, so daily overtime is understated when a shift starts less than 24 hours after the previous one began. An agreed schedule of four 10-hour days and the NRS 608.018(3) exemptions are not modelled.
Sources: NRS 608.018 and 608.0126; Nevada minimum wage bulletins.
Nevada — rate 1.5× NV minimum wage or more
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek.
Scope and limits: For a regular rate of at least 1.5 times the Nevada minimum wage in effect for the pay period: overtime only after 40 hours in the workweek. The NRS 608.018(3) exemptions are not modelled.
Sources: NRS 608.018; Nevada minimum wage bulletins.
Colorado
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek, or over 12h in a workday.
Scope and limits: Colorado also pays overtime after 12 consecutive hours, regardless of when the workday starts or ends. This calculator totals each row on its own and does not combine a shift that continues into the next row: Monday 16:00–00:00 followed by Tuesday 00:00–08:00 shows 0 overtime hours, although those 16 consecutive hours include 4. Enter a continuous shift as one row (Monday 16:00 to 08:00) to count it. Exemptions and variances are not modelled.
Source: COMPS Order #40, Rule 4 (7 CCR 1103-1).
Oregon (manufacturing)
Pays: 1.5x for hours over 40h in a workweek, or over 10h in a workday.
Scope and limits: Manufacturing employees who directly process goods. Daily and weekly overtime are compared and the greater is paid, which this calculation reproduces. Not modelled: collective bargaining agreements, emergency or repair work, administrative employees and other Oregon industries’ rules.
Source: ORS 652.020 and 653.265 — BOLI manufacturing overtime.

When both federal weekly OT and a state daily OT rule could trigger, the employer pays whichever produces the higher total — but the same hour can never be counted under both rules. This calculator applies daily OT first, then runs the remaining "regular" hours through the federal 40-hour test, exactly as required by FLSA §7 and DOL Field Operations Handbook §32d.

Checking and Keeping Your Time Card

Compare the daily entries with your actual start and end times and unpaid breaks. Check that your entries follow your employer's workweek boundaries before using the weekly totals. A printed calculation is a useful comparison, but it is not a complete payroll record or proof that all required pay has been included.

Under the federal FLSA recordkeeping rules, employers must keep payroll records for at least three years. Supporting wage-calculation records, including time cards, work schedules and wage-rate tables, must be kept for at least two years. See DOL Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements for the required information and federal retention rules. Check applicable state requirements before deciding when to dispose of records.

This calculator estimates hours and gross pay under the selected settings. It does not determine exemption status or add missed-meal premiums, penalties or other pay adjustments. If your records and paycheck disagree, keep the original entries and ask payroll to explain the difference.

Common Mistakes & Edge Cases

Overnight shifts where end time is earlier than start

A 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM shift has end < start in 24-hour clock terms. Naive subtraction produces -16 hours. The fix is to add 24 hours when end < start. This calculator detects the case automatically; if you enter 22:00 and 06:00 it interprets the shift as 8 hours. A 10:00 AM to 2:00 AM shift is 16 elapsed hours before breaks. Do not split a shift arbitrarily at midnight: payroll workday and workweek boundaries determine how its hours must be allocated. See the workweek limits beside the form.

Midnight notation: 12:00 AM is 00:00, 12:00 PM is noon

Users routinely flip these on a 12-hour clock. This calculator uses 24-hour HH:MM input to eliminate the ambiguity. If your time-tracking software exports 12-hour times, double-check that 12:00 AM has been converted to 00:00 (start of day) and 12:00 PM to 12:00 (noon) before entering values.

Auto-deducted meal breaks the employee actually worked through

DOL Fact Sheet #22 makes clear that a meal period is unpaid only if the employee is fully relieved of duty. A blanket policy of deducting 30 minutes from every shift is not FLSA-compliant when the employee actually ate at their desk while answering calls. This tool requires you to enter the break minutes per day, deliberately surfacing the issue rather than hiding it in a global toggle.

Daily versus weekly OT double-counting

When state daily-OT is enabled, the same hour cannot be paid under both daily and weekly OT. The calculator applies daily OT first, then checks whether remaining regular hours plus prior days exceed 40 — only the excess gets weekly-OT treatment. Audit the per-day breakdown to confirm hour 41 is paid once, not twice. This is exactly how DOL Field Operations Handbook §32d resolves the question.

Rounding bias toward the employer (illegal)

Use exact time unless you are checking an established rounding policy. Federal guidance names 5-minute, 6-minute and 15-minute intervals and requires payment for all actual work over time. The other options here are mathematical comparisons, not a determination that a policy is lawful. Do not use a percentage of punches rounded down as a compliance test; this calculator cannot evaluate a policy across employees and pay periods.

Multiple pay rates in the same workweek (blended rate)

When an employee works two jobs at different rates ($15/hr cashier 25h, $20/hr keyholder 18h = 43h total), federal OT is owed on hours 41-43 at 1.5x the WEIGHTED-AVERAGE rate, not 1.5x the rate of whichever job hour 41 happened to fall in. This is the FLSA "regular rate of pay" rule (29 CFR 778.115). Almost no consumer time-card calculator implements it — verify by hand or with the DOL elaws Advisor.

PTO and holiday hours don’t count toward overtime

FLSA OT is triggered by hours WORKED, not paid time off. If you took 8 hours PTO Monday and worked 38 hours Tuesday through Friday, total paid hours = 46 but OT hours = 0. Use the "Paid leave" toggle in this calculator to mark such days; their hours are paid at straight rate but excluded from the 40-hour weekly OT trigger.

Related Concepts

Hourly paycheck calculator — once you know hours worked, the next step is computing net (after-tax) take-home pay, which adds federal income tax withholding, FICA (7.65%), and any state income tax. The IRS publishes withholding tables in Publication 15-T.

Overtime calculator — a focused tool just for OT math (regular rate of pay, blended rate, daily versus weekly), useful for employees verifying a paycheck after the fact rather than entering shifts. See our salary calculator for the next step after determining gross.

Biweekly pay calculator — converts an hourly rate plus average weekly hours into a biweekly gross figure for budgeting; complements the time card’s per-period totals. Note that FLSA OT calculations always run per workweek, never averaged across the biweekly period.

Salary-to-hourly converter — answers the inverse question for salaried employees considering an hourly job offer; depends on the same 2,080 hours/year baseline FLSA uses ($684/week × 52 weeks).

State minimum wage — verifies the user’s effective hourly rate (after tips/deductions) clears the state minimum, which is a legal floor under the FLSA’s "regular rate." Some states (Washington, New York, California) have higher minimums than the $7.25 federal floor.

Federal vs California — 14-Hour Day at $22.00/hr

The same 14-hour single-day shift (06:00–20:00, no break) under federal-only and California rules, calculated by this calculator. Source: FLSA §7(a)(1) and CA Labor Code §510.
Bucket	Federal-only (no daily OT)	California
Regular (1x)	14.00h × $22.00 = $308.00	8.00h × $22.00 = $176.00
Time-and-a-half (1.5x)	0	4.00h × $33.00 = $132.00
Double-time (2x)	0	2.00h × $44.00 = $88.00
Day total	$308.00	$396.00

The federal-only column assumes this day stays under 40 hours for the workweek, so every hour is straight time. The California worker earns $88.00 more for the same hours because of daily overtime and double-time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do unpaid lunch breaks get subtracted from my time card?

Yes. Under the FLSA, meal periods of 30 minutes or longer are unpaid only if the employee is fully relieved of duty (DOL Fact Sheet #22). Short rest breaks of 5 to 20 minutes must be paid and counted as hours worked. If you ate at your desk while answering emails, that meal counts as paid work time and should not be deducted from your time card.

How is overtime calculated for a workweek that crosses two pay periods?

The FLSA requires overtime to be calculated per workweek, not per pay period. If you work 50 hours in week 1 and 30 hours in week 2 of a biweekly period, your employer must pay 10 hours at 1.5x in that paycheck (DOL Fact Sheet #23). Employers cannot average the 80 total hours across the two weeks to avoid overtime — each workweek stands alone.

Can my employer round my time card to the nearest 15 minutes?

Yes, but only if the rounding is neutral over time. The "7-minute rule" rounds clock-ins and clock-outs to the nearest quarter hour: 7 minutes or fewer rounds down, 8 minutes or more rounds up. The FLSA (29 CFR 785.48(b)) forbids systematic round-down practices that consistently underpay employees. A single time card cannot establish whether a policy pays for all actual work over time; state rules may be stricter.

What overtime rules apply in California?

California uses both federal weekly OT (1.5x after 40 hours per week) and state daily OT (1.5x for hours 8 through 12, and 2x for hours over 12 in a single workday) per DLSE rules. On the 7th consecutive workday in a workweek, the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5x and any additional hours that day are paid at 2x. Same hour cannot be counted under both rules — the employer pays whichever produces the higher amount.

Is the FLSA salary threshold for overtime exemption $684/week in 2026?

Yes. The federal minimum salary to qualify for executive, administrative, and professional exemptions remains $684 per week ($35,568 per year) in 2026, after the 2024 DOL rule increases were vacated by federal court. Some states (CA, NY, WA) impose higher thresholds; the higher of the two governs. Salaried employees below the threshold are still entitled to overtime under the FLSA.

How do I calculate overtime if I work two different jobs at different rates?

This is the FLSA "regular rate of pay" rule (29 CFR 778.115). Add up all your earnings for the week, divide by total hours worked to get the blended regular rate, then any hours over 40 must be paid at 1.5x that blended rate — not at 1.5x the rate of whichever job hour 41 happened to fall in. Most calculators skip this; verify the math by hand or with the DOL elaws Overtime Calculator Advisor.

Do paid time off (PTO), holidays, or sick days count toward overtime?

No. FLSA overtime is triggered by hours worked, not hours paid. If you take 8 hours PTO Monday and work 36 hours Tuesday through Friday, your paycheck shows 44 hours paid but your OT eligibility is based on 36 worked hours — no overtime is owed. Some union contracts treat holiday hours as worked, but federal law does not. Mark paid-leave days explicitly in this calculator so they are excluded from OT.

How do overnight shifts get reported on a time card?

Enter the actual start and end clock times (e.g. 22:00 and 06:00). When the original end is earlier than the start, the calculator adds 24 hours before rounding. Identical punches represent zero hours. Each grid is one Monday–Sunday workweek and assigns the whole shift to its starting row. It does not split shifts at a workday or workweek boundary, account for daylight-saving clock changes, or support shifts of 24 hours or longer. If your payroll week starts on another day or time, or a shift crosses its boundary, use a payroll system that allocates hours to the correct workweek before calculating overtime.

What records does my employer have to keep about my time?

Under the FLSA recordkeeping rules (29 CFR 516, DOL Fact Sheet #21), payroll records — including hours worked each workday, total hours each workweek, the regular hourly rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, deductions and pay-period dates — must be kept for at least 3 years. Time cards, work schedules and other records used to compute wages must be kept for at least 2 years. The FLSA requires no particular timekeeping method, and the records must be open to inspection by the DOL Wage and Hour Division, which investigates complaints. Federal rules do not give employees a right to copies; check your state’s rules.

Is there a federal limit on how many hours my employer can schedule me?

No. The FLSA caps neither hours per day nor hours per week for employees age 16 and over. Your employer can schedule 60+ hour weeks legally; they just have to pay 1.5x the regular rate for everything over 40 hours in a workweek. Different rules apply to minors under 16 and to certain regulated industries (truck drivers, airline crew, railroad workers). Some states impose meal-break or rest-break rules, but federal law does not cap total hours.

Authoritative Sources

U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
Official federal definition of overtime, regular-rate calculation, and the workweek standalone rule.
U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the FLSA
What counts as compensable time including breaks, meal periods, on-call time, and travel.
U.S. Department of Labor — elaws Overtime Calculator Advisor
The federal government’s own reference calculator we test our outputs against.
California DIR / Division of Labor Standards Enforcement — Overtime FAQ
Strictest state OT rules in the U.S.; sets daily 8h/12h thresholds and the 7th-consecutive-day rule.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management — How to Compute FLSA Overtime Pay
Federal-employee version with worked examples of regular-rate computation.
University of Alabama at Birmingham HR — 7-Minute Rounding Rule Quick Guide
Academic-grade reference on FLSA-permitted rounding under 29 CFR 785.48(b).

Disclaimer

This calculator estimates U.S. wage-and-hour math based on the FLSA and commonly-cited state daily-OT rules; it is not legal or tax advice. Results do not include FICA (Social Security and Medicare), federal/state income tax withholding, local payroll taxes, union pay differentials, prevailing-wage requirements, or collective-bargaining premiums. For a binding determination of wages owed, consult a qualified payroll professional or contact the DOL Wage and Hour Division or your state labor department. All calculations are performed locally in your browser; no data leaves the page.

Published by Kalcify · Last updated September 25, 2026

Calculators are built against primary sources — government tax authorities (IRS, HMRC, CRA, ATO) for finance and the World Health Organization for health metrics. Updated when rates or rules change. View methodology and data sources.

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