Whether you are an hourly worker verifying a paycheck, a small-business owner building payroll, or a freelancer reconciling a week of client hours, a time card calculator turns seven daily punch-ins into a single, defensible weekly number. This tool adds up your Monday-through-Sunday hours, deducts your unpaid lunch break once per day worked, splits the result into regular and overtime hours, and multiplies each block by your hourly wage — including the time-and-a-half premium that US federal law requires beyond 40 hours.
Adjust any field and the result card updates instantly. You can change the overtime threshold, the multiplier, or the lunch length to match your state, union, or contract rules.
How to Use
- Enter your Hourly Wage — your gross pay per hour before taxes, deductions, or tips.
- Type the hours you actually worked on each weekday (Monday through Friday). Use decimals for partial hours: 7.5 means seven and a half hours.
- Add Saturday and Sunday hours if you worked them; leave the field at 0 if the day was off.
- Set your Unpaid Lunch Break in minutes. The calculator deducts this amount once for every day you worked, so a 30-minute break on a five-day week removes 2.5 net hours. If your lunches are paid, set this to 0.
- Adjust the Overtime Threshold. The US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets 40 hours per week, but some states or union contracts use 8 hours per day or 12-hour shifts — change it if your rule is different.
- Set the Overtime Multiplier. The federal default is time-and-a-half (1.5x); double time (2.0x) is common on holidays or after 12-hour days.
The result card breaks the week into total net hours, regular hours, overtime hours, regular pay, overtime premium, and the final gross weekly amount. Multiply that gross figure by 52 to estimate your annual wages, or by 26 for a biweekly paycheck.
How the Math Works
The engine follows the same weekly model used by payroll departments and the US Department of Labor:
Net Hours = (Monday + Tuesday + Wednesday + Thursday + Friday + Saturday + Sunday) − (workdays × lunchMinutes ÷ 60)
Regular Pay = min(Net Hours, Overtime Threshold) × Hourly Wage
Overtime Pay = max(0, Net Hours − Overtime Threshold) × Hourly Wage × Overtime Multiplier
Gross Pay = Regular Pay + Overtime Pay
A workday is simply any day where you entered more than 0 hours; the lunch deduction is only applied to those days so you are not penalized for a day off. Overtime is calculated on the weekly net total, not per day, which is the federal FLSA rule — some states and contracts use daily overtime, and you can model that by lowering the threshold to 8.
Examples
Example 1 — A standard 9-to-5 week. You work Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 5:00 (8 hours each day), take an unpaid 30-minute lunch every day, and earn $20 per hour. Gross weekly hours are 40; five workdays × 30 minutes = 2.5 hours deducted; net hours are 37.5. Because 37.5 is under the 40-hour threshold, all time is regular. Regular pay is 37.5 × $20 = $750, overtime pay is $0, and gross weekly pay is $750.
Example 2 — Picking up a Saturday shift. Same $20/hour wage and 30-minute lunches, but you also work 6 hours on Saturday. Gross hours rise to 46; six workdays × 30 minutes = 3.0 hours deducted; net hours are 43. The first 40 hours are paid at straight time (40 × $20 = $800), and the remaining 3 overtime hours earn 1.5 × $20 = $30 each, adding $90 of overtime premium. Gross weekly pay is $890 — the Saturday shift is worth noticeably more than a regular weekday block.
Example 3 — A high-wage week. At $50 per hour, a 43-net-hour week produces 40 regular hours ($2,000) plus 3 overtime hours at 1.5× ($225), for a gross of $2,225. Push the multiplier to 2.0 for holiday double time and those same 3 hours jump to $300, lifting gross pay to $2,300.
Example 4 — Part-time with no overtime. A barista working 20 net hours at $15/hour earns 20 × $15 = $300 gross for the week, with no overtime because hours stay well under 40.
Why Net Hours Matter
Punch-clock software often shows you 8 hours from 9 to 5, but if you clock out for lunch, you were actually on the floor for 7.5. Paychecks are computed on net hours, not the span from first punch to last punch. Forgetting to deduct a 30-minute unpaid break every day over a year is 130 extra hours — at $20/hour that is $2,600 of wages you should not expect. This calculator makes the deduction explicit so your estimate matches what payroll will actually run.
Weekly vs Daily Overtime
The federal FLSA only requires overtime after 40 hours in a workweek, no matter how long a single day is. A 10-hour Monday followed by four 7.5-hour days is 40 net hours — no federal overtime. However, several US states (including California, Alaska, and Nevada) require daily overtime after 8 or 10 hours, and some union contracts pay double time after 12. You can model daily overtime by setting the threshold to 8: a 10-hour day then shows 2 regular hours over threshold converted to overtime, which is the way California payroll is usually approximated.
FAQ
How many hours is a 9-to-5 workday?
A 9:00-to-5:00 shift spans 8 clock hours. If you take an unpaid 30-minute lunch, your net hours are 7.5. Over five weekdays that is 37.5 net hours — the default in this calculator — which keeps most salaried-exempt and many hourly workers under the 40-hour overtime threshold.
When does overtime start under US federal law?
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees must receive at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. The threshold here defaults to 40 hours. Some states and contracts impose daily overtime (after 8 or 10 hours) or double time (after 12 hours or on holidays); adjust the threshold and multiplier to match your rule.
Should lunch breaks be included in worked hours?
Only if your employer pays for them. Most US non-exempt meal breaks of 20–60 minutes are unpaid when you are fully relieved of duty, so they should be deducted. This calculator subtracts the lunch once per workday; set it to 0 if your lunches are paid or if you worked through them and continued to be paid.
How do I convert weekly gross pay to annual salary?
Multiply the gross weekly figure by 52 to estimate annual wages, or by 26 for a biweekly paycheck and by 24 for semimonthly. For example, a $890 gross weekly paycheck is about $46,280 per year before taxes. Remember this is gross — federal income tax, FICA (7.65%), state tax, and benefits will reduce the take-home amount.
What is time-and-a-half and how is it calculated?
Time-and-a-half means overtime hours are paid at 1.5 times your regular hourly rate. If you earn $20/hour, an overtime hour is $30. Three overtime hours pay 3 × $30 = $90 on top of your regular pay. Some contracts use double time (2.0x), which would pay $40 per overtime hour in that same example.
Why does my paycheck not match this calculator exactly?
This tool computes gross pay only. Your actual paycheck subtracts federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare (FICA 7.65% combined for the employee), state income tax, any local tax, health-insurance premiums, 401(k) contributions, wage garnishments, and tip credits. Use the gross figure here as the starting point, then run it through a take-home-pay calculator for the net amount.
Are salaried employees eligible for overtime?
Most salaried workers earning above the FLSA salary threshold and performing executive, administrative, or professional duties are classified as exempt and do not earn overtime. Hourly and many non-exempt salaried workers are entitled to it. This calculator is designed for non-exempt hourly time cards; if you are salaried, your employer sets the annual figure regardless of weekly hours.
Disclaimer
This time card calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, payroll, tax, or employment advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you enter; actual wages, overtime eligibility, lunch-break rules, and overtime thresholds vary by federal and state law, industry, union contract, and employer policy. Always confirm hours, pay rates, and overtime with your employer's payroll department or a qualified labor professional before acting on the numbers shown here.