Hours Calculator
Enter a start time and a finish time to get the hours between them, with breaks deducted and the total shown in both hours and minutes and decimal hours.
9:00 am
5:30 pm
Deduct it only if it is unpaid.
Hours worked
09:00 to 17:30, less 30 minutes break. Elapsed time in UTC.
8 hours worked, which is 8 decimal hours for payroll.
Counted in UTC (GMT), not counting today.
Change either and every figure above updates. Most date tools pick a zone and a counting rule silently, which is why two sites can answer the same question with different numbers.
Why payroll wants decimal hours
Seven hours and thirty minutes is 7.5 hours. Seven hours and twenty minutes is 7.33 hours, not 7.20.
That second one is where the money goes missing. Minutes are in sixtieths and pay is in hundredths, so you cannot move the decimal point across. Twenty minutes is a third of an hour, which is 0.333, and typing 7.20 into a timesheet underpays by eight minutes a shift. Over a year of five-day weeks that is about 35 hours, which is more than four full working days unpaid.
This calculator gives both formats on every row. Copy whichever your payroll system asks for.
| Minutes | Decimal hours |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0.08 |
| 10 minutes | 0.17 |
| 15 minutes | 0.25 |
| 20 minutes | 0.33 |
| 30 minutes | 0.5 |
| 40 minutes | 0.67 |
| 45 minutes | 0.75 |
| 50 minutes | 0.83 |
Overnight shifts
A shift that starts at 22:00 and ends at 06:00 is eight hours, not minus sixteen.
Any calculator that gives you a negative number is subtracting clock times rather than working out elapsed time. This one detects that the finish time is earlier than the start time and rolls it to the next day automatically.
The same logic applies to any shift crossing midnight, which is why the tool asks for times and works out dates rather than the other way round.
Breaks, and what counts as working time
Deduct unpaid breaks. Do not deduct paid ones.
That sounds obvious and it is the most common error on a timesheet, because the rest break you actually took and the break your contract assumes are often different lengths.
What counts as working time is a legal question, not an arithmetic one, and it varies by country and by contract. This calculator does the arithmetic. It cannot tell you what your contract or your local law treats as working time, and if there is money in the difference it is worth checking rather than assuming.
The two nights a year when a shift is not the length you think
Twice a year the clocks change, and on those two nights a shift is not as long as the clock says.
On the night the clocks go forward, an hour disappears. A shift from 22:00 to 06:00 runs for seven hours, not eight, because the hour the clocks skip never happens.
On the night the clocks go back, an hour happens twice, and the same shift runs for nine hours.
Whether you get paid for eight or for the hours you were actually there is a matter for your employer, and practice genuinely varies. What is not in doubt is how long you were there, and that is what this calculator gives you: it works out real elapsed time using the timezone rules for the actual date, so on those two nights it will show seven or nine rather than eight.
Most timesheet tools get this wrong because they subtract clock times. If a night-shift total has ever looked odd in late March or late October, this is why.
Set the date of the shift to the night the clocks change in your own zone and the result above will say so, and show you both figures.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours is 9 to 5?
Eight hours, or seven and a half if you take an unpaid half-hour break. In decimal hours that is 8.0 or 7.5.
How do I convert minutes to decimal hours for payroll?
Divide the minutes by 60. Fifteen minutes is 0.25, twenty is 0.33, thirty is 0.5, forty-five is 0.75. Do not just move the decimal point: twenty minutes is 0.33 hours, not 0.20.
How do I calculate hours for an overnight shift?
Enter the start and finish times as normal. When the finish time is earlier than the start time the calculator rolls it to the next day, so 22:00 to 06:00 gives eight hours rather than a negative number.
Should I deduct my lunch break?
Deduct it if it is unpaid. Leave it in if it is paid. Enter the break you actually took rather than the one your contract assumes, if they differ.
Do the clocks changing affect my hours?
Yes, on two nights a year. A shift across the spring change is an hour shorter in real time, and one across the autumn change is an hour longer. This calculator uses the timezone rules for the actual date, so it shows the real elapsed time. Whether you are paid for it is a question for your employer.
Can I add up a whole week?
Yes. Open the weekly timesheet, fill in a row per day, and the weekly total appears at the bottom in both hours and minutes and decimal hours.