Accurately track your weekly work hours, calculate overtime pay, and manage your timesheet with our free Hours Calculator Week. Whether you need to enter specific start and end times or just total daily hours, this tool handles the math for you.
Weekly time tracking differs significantly from daily tracking because of one major factor: Overtime. In most jurisdictions, overtime isn't calculated day-by-day but rather based on the total hours accumulated over a defined 7-day workweek. This adds a layer of complexity—especially when you have mixed shifts, unpaid breaks, or variable schedules.
Our calculator takes the guesswork out of the equation. By centralizing your weekly data, we help you foresee your gross pay, understand your effective hourly rate, and ensure you are being paid for every minute you work.
How to Use the Weekly Hours Calculator
Our weekly hours calculator is designed for flexibility, supporting two different ways to input your time. Whether you need to track specific clock-in and clock-out times for a detailed timesheet or simply want to sum up your total daily hours for a quick payroll estimate, this tool adapts to your workflow. Choose the mode that fits your needs best:
Mode 1: Enter Start/End Times
Use this mode if you want to create a precise time card. It's perfect for verifying your paycheck or tracking exact shifts. For the most accurate results, ensure your device clock is synced with Time.gov.
- Select "Enter Start/End Times": Click the tab at the top of the calculator.
- Input Times: For each day you worked, enter your Start Time (e.g., 9:00 AM) and End Time (e.g., 5:00 PM).
- Add Breaks: If you took an unpaid lunch or break, enter the duration in minutes in the "Break" field. This is critical because a 30-minute unpaid lunch every day removes 2.5 hours from your weekly total.
- Review Totals: The calculator automatically handles AM/PM conversions and overnight shifts (e.g., starting at 10 PM and ending at 6 AM).
Mode 2: Enter Total Hours
Use this mode if you already know how many hours you worked each day (perhaps from a scheduling app) and just need to calculate the weekly total and gross pay.
- Select "Enter Total Hours": Click the tab at the top.
- Input Duration: Enter the total decimal hours for each day (e.g., enter "8.5" for 8 hours and 30 minutes).
- Instant Results: The weekly total updates instantly as you type.
Calculating Pay and Overtime
Regardless of the input mode, you can calculate your estimated earnings:
- Hourly Rate: Enter your base pay rate per hour.
- Overtime Threshold: By default, this is set to 40 hours per week (standard in the US). You can adjust this if your contract specifies a different limit (e.g., 35 hours for some healthcare workers).
- Overtime Multiplier: Select 1.5x (Time and a half) or 2.0x (Double time) for hours worked above the threshold.
Understanding Weekly Work Hours Math
Calculating hours manually can be tricky, especially when dealing with minutes and decimal conversion. Here is how the math works behind the scenes.
Converting Minutes to Decimals
Payroll systems typically use decimal hours, not hours and minutes. To convert minutes to a decimal, divide the minutes by 60.
Common Conversions:
- 15 minutes = 0.25 hours
- 30 minutes = 0.50 hours
- 45 minutes = 0.75 hours
- 10 minutes ≈ 0.17 hours
- 5 minutes ≈ 0.08 hours
Example: If you worked 8 hours and 45 minutes, the decimal calculation is:8 + (45 / 60) = 8.75 hours.
Calculating Overtime Pay
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the United States, non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
The Formula:
- Calculated Regular Hours: The lesser of Total Hours or 40.
- Calculated Overtime Hours: Total Hours minus 40 (if positive).
- Regular Pay:
Regular Hours × Hourly Rate - Overtime Pay:
Overtime Hours × (Hourly Rate × 1.5) - Total Gross Pay:
Regular Pay + Overtime Pay
For example, if you earn $20/hour and work 45 hours in a week:
- Regular Pay: 40 hours × $20 = $800
- Overtime Pay: 5 hours × ($20 × 1.5) = $150
- Total Pay: $800 + $150 = $950
Common Scenarios & Tips
Handling Overnight Shifts
If you work a shift that crosses midnight (e.g., 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM), standard subtraction doesn't work directly because the end number is smaller than the start number. Our calculator logic automatically detects when the End Time is earlier than the Start Time and treats it as a shift ending the next day.
Tip: For weekly overtime purposes, the hours generally count toward the "workday" on which the shift started, but consult your specific company policy as this can vary.
Unpaid Lunch Breaks and the "Suffered or Permitted" Rule
Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. However, when employers do offer short breaks (usually lasting about 5 to 20 minutes), federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours that would be included in the sum of hours worked during the workweek and considered in determining if overtime was worked.
Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be compensated as work time. The employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating regular meals. If you are required to answer phones while eating at your desk, that is NOT an unpaid lunch; you should be paid for that time.
Rounding Rules
Some employers round employee time to the nearest quarter-hour (15 minutes). For example:
- Clocking in at 8:07 AM might be rounded to 8:00 AM.
- Clocking in at 8:08 AM might be rounded to 8:15 AM.
If your employer uses rounding, ensure you enter the rounded times into the calculator for the most accurate payroll estimate. However, always track your actual times in a personal log to ensure the rounding practice doesn't systematically underpay you over time.
Understanding Workweek Definitions
A crucial but often overlooked aspect of weekly hour calculations is understanding exactly when your workweek begins and ends. Under federal law, a workweek is defined as a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours—seven consecutive 24-hour periods. However, your employer determines when that week starts. It could begin on Sunday at midnight, Monday at 6 AM, or any other designated time.
Why This Matters: If your workweek starts on Sunday and you work 35 hours Sunday through Thursday, then another 10 hours Friday and Saturday, you've worked 45 hours in one workweek and are entitled to 5 hours of overtime. However, if your workweek started on Saturday, those Friday/Saturday hours might fall into a different workweek, potentially eliminating your overtime pay. Always confirm your employer's workweek definition with HR.
Salaried Non-Exempt Employees
While most salaried employees are exempt from overtime, some salaried workers are classified as \"non-exempt\" and are entitled to overtime pay. This often confuses both employers and employees. If you're paid a salary but don't meet the duties and salary tests for exemption (executive, administrative, professional, etc.), you must still track your hours and receive overtime for hours worked beyond 40.
To calculate the hourly rate for a salaried non-exempt employee, divide the weekly salary by the number of hours the salary is intended to cover (usually 40). For example, if your salary is $1,000 per week:
- Regular Rate: $1,000 ÷ 40 = $25/hour
- Overtime Rate: $25 × 1.5 = $37.50/hour
Fluctuating Workweek Method
Some employers use the \"fluctuating workweek\" method for salaried non-exempt employees. Under this arrangement, the salary covers all hours worked in a week (whether 30 or 50), and overtime is calculated at half the regular rate (0.5x) rather than time-and-a-half (1.5x). This method has specific legal requirements and isn't available to all employers, but it's worth understanding if your pay seems calculated differently than expected.
Exempt Classification Changes
The Department of Labor periodically updates the salary threshold for exempt classification. As of recent regulations, the minimum salary for most exempt employees is $684 per week ($35,568 annually). If you earn less than this and perform non-exempt duties, you may be entitled to overtime regardless of your job title. Stay informed about current thresholds by checking the DOL Overtime page.