A time card turns a week of punches into the numbers payroll uses: hours each day, the weekly total, regular and overtime hours, and gross pay. Here is the whole process on one real-looking week, so you can follow each step and check your own card.
The example week
$20.00 an hour, overtime after 40 hours in the workweek, Monday to Sunday.
| Day | In | Lunch | Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00 AM | 30 min | 4:30 PM |
| Tuesday | 7:55 AM | 30 min | 4:40 PM |
| Wednesday | 8:00 AM | 30 min | 6:00 PM |
| Thursday | 8:00 AM | 30 min | 4:30 PM |
| Friday | 8:00 AM | 45 min | 5:15 PM |
| Saturday | 9:00 AM | none | 1:00 PM |
Step 1: Hours for each day
For each day, subtract the time in from the time out, then subtract the unpaid lunch. Working in hours and minutes avoids decimal mistakes.
| Day | Out − in | − Lunch | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:30 | 0:30 | 8:00 |
| Tuesday | 8:45 | 0:30 | 8:15 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 | 0:30 | 9:30 |
| Thursday | 8:30 | 0:30 | 8:00 |
| Friday | 9:15 | 0:45 | 8:30 |
| Saturday | 4:00 | — | 4:00 |
If you worked two separate shifts in a day, calculate each shift the same way and add them. If a shift ends after midnight, it ends the next day: 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM is 8 hours.
Only subtract breaks that are unpaid. Under federal rules, a bona fide meal period, usually 30 minutes or more when you are fully relieved from duty, does not have to be paid. Short rest breaks are generally paid and stay in the total. See how to calculate lunch breaks on a time card.
Step 2: Add the week
Add the hours and the minutes separately, then carry every 60 minutes into an hour:
- Hours: 8 + 8 + 9 + 8 + 8 + 4 = 45
- Minutes: 0 + 15 + 30 + 0 + 30 + 0 = 75 minutes = 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total: 46 hours 15 minutes
Step 3: Convert to decimal hours
Payroll multiplies decimal hours by your rate. Divide the minutes by 60: 15 ÷ 60 = 0.25, so 46:15 is 46.25 hours. Do not write 46.15; that would lose 6 minutes of pay. See how to convert minutes to decimal hours.
Step 4: Split regular and overtime hours
Under the federal FLSA, hours over 40 in a workweek are overtime for nonexempt employees.
- Regular hours: 40
- Overtime hours: 46.25 − 40 = 6.25
Overtime belongs to the hours worked after the 40th hour, which in this week is Saturday and the end of Friday, not the long Wednesday. Some states also count hours over 8 in a day; see regular hours vs overtime hours.
Step 5: Calculate gross pay
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Regular pay | 40 × $20.00 | $800.00 |
| Overtime pay | 6.25 × $30.00 | $187.50 |
| Gross pay | $987.50 |
That is pay before taxes and deductions.
What about rounding?
Some employers round punches, for example to the nearest quarter hour. Federal rules allow rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth, or quarter of an hour when it averages out so employees are paid for all the time they actually work. With quarter-hour rounding, Tuesday’s 7:55 AM becomes 8:00 AM and 4:40 PM becomes 4:45 PM. Only apply rounding if your employer does.
Check it in seconds
Enter the same week in the time card calculator and it shows 46.25 hours, 6.25 overtime, and $987.50. For a card with lunch-out and lunch-in punches over two weeks, use the timesheet calculator. Want a paper version? Print a blank weekly time card.
Sources
- 29 CFR 785.48, Use of time clocks and rounding (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
- 29 CFR 785.19, Meal periods (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
About this guide. Written for US employees as general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules can differ by state, employer, and contract. See our methodology and disclaimer.