How to use the work hours calculator
- Enter your start time — Type the time your shift or task began, such as 09:00. You can use a morning or evening time — the calculator works with the clock times you give it.
- Enter your end time — Type the time you finished, such as 17:30. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator treats it as an overnight shift and counts through midnight.
- Add your break — Enter any unpaid break in minutes, such as 30 or 60. This is subtracted from the total so you only count time actually worked.
- Add an hourly rate (optional) — If you want an estimate of pay, enter your hourly rate. Leave it blank to see hours only.
- Read your result — The calculator shows the time worked as hours and minutes, the same total as decimal hours, and — if you entered a rate — the estimated pay.
What this calculator shows
This tool tells you how much time is between a start time and an end time, after taking out any break. Enter when you started, when you finished, and how long you were on break, and it returns the total time worked for that period.
You get the result in two forms — as hours and minutes (like 8 hours 0 minutes) and as decimal hours (like 8.0) — plus an optional pay figure if you add an hourly rate. It is built for timesheets, shift logs, and quickly checking your own hours.
How the time is counted
The calculator takes the end time, subtracts the start time, and then subtracts your break. So a shift from 09:00 to 17:30 with a 30-minute break gives 8 hours and 30 minutes of clock time, minus the half-hour break, for 8.0 hours worked.
It also handles overnight shifts. If the end time is earlier than the start time — for example 22:00 to 06:00 — the calculator assumes the shift crosses midnight into the next day and adds the hours accordingly, rather than treating it as a negative result.
Decimal hours vs. h:mm
The same amount of time can be written two ways. Hours-and-minutes (h:mm) is how a clock reads it — 7 hours 30 minutes. Decimal hours express the minutes as a fraction of an hour, so 7 hours 30 minutes becomes 7.5, because 30 minutes is half of an hour.
Decimal hours are useful for payroll and spreadsheets, where you usually multiply hours by a rate. The calculator shows both so you can copy whichever your timesheet or payroll system expects.
Optional pay estimate
If you enter an hourly rate, the calculator multiplies your worked hours (in decimal form) by that rate to estimate gross pay for the period. For example, 8.0 hours at $20 per hour comes to $160.
This is a quick before-tax estimate. It does not account for overtime rates, deductions, or taxes, so treat it as a rough figure rather than an exact payslip amount.
How hours are calculated
worked = (end − start) − break · pay = decimal hours × hourly rate
Subtract the start time from the end time to get the clock time spanned, then subtract the break to get the time actually worked.
For an overnight shift where the end time is earlier than the start time, a full day is added before subtracting so the result stays positive.
Convert the worked time to decimal hours and multiply by your hourly rate to estimate pay.
| Start | End | Break | Hours worked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 17:30 | 30 min | 8.0 |
| 08:00 | 16:00 | 60 min | 7.0 |
| 22:00 | 06:00 | 30 min | 7.5 |