How to use the time card
- For each day you worked, enter the start time, end time and unpaid break in minutes. Leave days off blank.
- Enter your hourly rate and choose the overtime rule: weekly only (federal) or California daily and weekly.
- Read the totals per day and for the week, in hours:minutes (8:45) and in decimal hours (8.75), which is what most payroll systems use.
- Use Copy as CSV to paste the sheet into Excel or Google Sheets, or Print for a clean one-page summary. Clear sheet starts a new week.
The sheet stays in this browser between visits and is never uploaded.
Worked example
Alex earns $20 an hour and takes a 30-minute unpaid break every shift. Monday is 8:00 to 17:30 (9 hours), Tuesday a long 6:00 to 19:30 (13 hours), Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 to 17:30 (8 hours each) and Friday an overnight shift from 22:00 to 6:30 the next morning (8 hours). That is 46 hours.
Federal rules: the first 40 hours are regular and the 6 hours past 40, all on Friday night, are overtime. Pay is 40 × $20 = $800 plus 6 × $30 = $180, a total of $980.
California rules: Monday has 1 hour of daily overtime and Tuesday has 4 hours at 1.5x plus 1 hour over 12 at double time. That leaves exactly 40 regular hours, so no weekly overtime is added. Pay is $800 + 5 × $30 = $150 + 1 × $40 = $40, a total of $990.
Daily overtime matters most for long days in a short week. Four 10-hour days make 40 hours: $800 federally with no overtime, but $880 in California (32 regular hours plus 8 overtime hours).
Federal overtime (FLSA)
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour periods) and need not start on Monday. Each week stands alone, so hours cannot be averaged over two weeks. Federal law does not require extra pay for long days, weekends or holidays as such. Some employers pay double time by policy or contract; the optional double-time box covers that.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Overtime Pay and Fact Sheet #23.
California overtime and the seventh-day rule
California requires 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday and over 40 in a workweek, and double time for hours over 12 in a workday. On the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5x and anything over 8 at 2x. The calculator applies the seventh-day rule when all seven days of the Monday to Sunday week are worked, so Sunday is the seventh day.
Overtime is not paid twice for the same hour. Hours already paid as daily overtime do not count again toward the 40-hour weekly threshold: four 12-hour days make 48 hours, but only the 32 regular hours count toward 40, so there is no weekly overtime. Working 6 hours on each of 7 days (42 hours) earns $860 at $20 under federal rules, but $900 in California because all 6 Sunday hours are at 1.5x.
Sources: California DIR overtime FAQ and DLSE guidance on daily and weekly overtime.
What the calculator assumes
The workweek runs Monday to Sunday, and an overnight shift counts on the day it starts. Breaks you enter are unpaid and are taken off the shift; short paid rest breaks should not be entered. The regular rate is your hourly rate; bonuses and commissions that by law raise the regular rate are not included. Pay shown is gross, before tax. Many salaried and other exempt employees are not owed overtime, and other states, such as Alaska and Nevada, have their own daily rules.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert minutes to decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60. 45 minutes is 0.75 hours, so 8 hours 45 minutes is 8.75 hours. The calculator shows both forms for each day and the week.
How do I enter an overnight shift?
Enter the real start and end times, such as 22:00 and 06:30. When the end is earlier than the start, the calculator counts it as ending the next morning.
Is overtime paid for working more than 8 hours in a day?
Not under federal law, which only counts hours over 40 in the week. California, and a few other states, also require daily overtime.
Is overtime time and a half of my hourly rate?
At least 1.5 times your regular rate. For hourly workers with no bonuses or shift premiums, the regular rate is the hourly rate.
Is my time sheet stored anywhere?
Only in your own browser (local storage), so it is still there when you come back. Nothing is sent to a server. Use Clear sheet to remove it.