

Be sure to check with your employer to understand which breaks must be entered into your time card. This is only necessary for unpaid breaks or to subtract breaks from billable project time.įor example, if you take one half-hour break for lunch and two 15-minute breaks, then you can subtract one hour from the total time worked.Įach employer varies in the breaks that are paid or unpaid to employees. The next step is to subtract any unpaid breaks you took during the day. Step Four: Subtract Breaks from the Hours at Work This amount is just the number of hours you were at work because it might include any unpaid breaks you took we’ll account for those next.

This isn’t necessarily the number of hours you worked in a day. If you work from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm (17:00), you would subtract 8.5 from 17.0, which equals 8.5 hours. The third step is to subtract the start time from the end time. Step Three: Subtract the Start Time from the End Time This becomes 8.75 after the fraction is reduced. For 8:45 am, we would rewrite it as 8 and 45/60. You can reduce the fraction to change the number to 17.5. But what if you end at 5:30 pm (17:30 in 24-hour time) or begin at 8:45 am? In this case, you would take the number after the colon (or take the minutes) and divide by 60.įor example, 17:30 is the same as 17 and 30/60. Next, you’ll need to convert the times to a decimal. To convert the starting and ending times to 24-hour time, morning hours will always stay the same, and you will add 12 if the time is in the afternoon (1:00 pm to 11:59 pm). This allows you to subtract the start time from the end time in the third step.įor example, if you work from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, convert 5:00 pm to 24-hour time, which is 17:00. The first step is to convert the starting and ending times to 24-hour time, or military time. Step One: Convert the Start and End Times to 24-hour Time You can calculate the total hours worked in a week by following five simple steps. Of course, you can also use a time card calculator like the one above to make the process much easier. You can calculate the number of hours for a time card using the five-step process outlined below.

This ensures that employees are paid accurately for their time and helps employers measure productivity and efficiency. A time card or time sheet is the method by which employers record the total hours worked during a given period for employees.Īny employee who is not exempt (typically hourly wage employees) is required to complete a time sheet per the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
