Work Hours Calculator

Totalling a week of shifts

Each day is measured independently — start to end, minus any unpaid break — and the results are summed. Days left blank are skipped, so part-time and irregular patterns work without any special handling.

Overnight shifts are handled: an end time earlier than the start is treated as falling on the next day.

Breaks

Subtract breaks only if they're unpaid. Whether they are depends on jurisdiction and contract, but the common pattern is that a meal break is unpaid and short rest breaks are paid.

Many jurisdictions mandate a break after a set number of consecutive hours — often around six. If your rota doesn't include one, that's worth raising regardless of what the arithmetic says.

Overtime

The weekly total here is flat: every hour counts once. Overtime typically pays a premium above a threshold — 40 hours a week in the US under the FLSA, with different rules elsewhere and in some sectors.

To handle it, take the total, subtract the threshold, and price the two blocks separately. Watch for daily overtime rules as well: some jurisdictions and contracts trigger a premium past eight hours in a single day even if the week stays under the limit.

Keeping your own record

Employer time systems are usually accurate, but keeping a parallel record costs almost nothing and settles disputes quickly. Note the date, start, end, breaks and anything unusual — a shift that ran late, a break that didn't happen.