Hours Worked Calculator

How to Use the Hours Worked Calculator

Enter the start time, finish time and unpaid break for each day you worked and the hours worked calculator adds up your week. You see each day as hours and minutes and as decimal hours, plus the weekly total, your days worked, your average per day and how many hours fall beyond the weekly overtime threshold. Add an hourly rate and it also estimates your gross pay, with overtime and optional weekend penalties.

Whether you call it a work hours calculator, a shift calculator or a work time calculator, the job is the same: count the time between clock-on and clock-off, take out unpaid breaks, and total it up so you can check your payslip. For a single duration between two times or dates, use the time duration calculator.

How to Calculate Hours Worked

Worked Example: A 44-Hour Week at $32 an Hour

Someone works Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm with a 30-minute unpaid break each day, plus Saturday 9:00 am to 1:00 pm with no break. Each weekday is 8 hours and Saturday is 4 hours, so the week totals 44.00 hours (44h 00m) over 6 days, an average of 7h 20m a day.

With a 38-hour threshold, 6 hours are overtime: 2 hours on Friday and all of Saturday. At $32 an hour with two-tier overtime (the first 2 hours at 1.5×, the rest at 2×) and no weekend penalties, ordinary pay is 38 × $32 = $1,216.00. Overtime is 2 × $48 + 4 × $64 = $352.00. Gross pay is $1,568.00. Using the optional resident tax estimate for 2026-27, about $319.45 a week goes in tax and Medicare, leaving roughly $1,248.55 after tax.

The 38-Hour Week, Overtime and Penalty Rates

Under the National Employment Standards, the maximum ordinary hours for a full-time employee are 38 a week, and an employer can only ask for reasonable additional hours. What you are paid for time beyond that depends on your modern award or enterprise agreement: some pay overtime after 38 hours a week, some also after a set number of hours in a day, and the rates are often higher for later overtime hours and for weekends and public holidays. Salaried staff may have overtime built into their salary, so check your contract.

The calculator's multipliers (1.5× then 2× overtime, 1.25× Saturday, 1.5× Sunday) are examples only. To find the rates for your award, use the Pay and Conditions Tool on the Fair Work Ombudsman website at fairwork.gov.au.

Breaks, Rounding and Keeping Records

Only unpaid breaks come off your hours; paid breaks stay in. If your employer rounds clock times, the rounding option lets you see the effect, but exact times are the best record. Keeping your own timesheet, even a simple one like this, makes it easy to check your payslip for missing hours or the wrong rate. If something looks wrong, raise it with your employer first, and the Fair Work Ombudsman can help if it isn't resolved.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate my hours worked?

Subtract your start time from your finish time, then subtract any unpaid break. A shift from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm with a 30-minute unpaid break is 8 hours 30 minutes minus 30 minutes, or 8 hours. Repeat for each day and add the days together for the week.

How do I figure out time worked when the minutes don't line up?

Work in minutes, then convert at the end. 7:42 am to 3:57 pm is 8 hours 15 minutes (495 minutes) before breaks. To get decimal hours divide the total minutes by 60, so 495 minutes is 8.25 hours.

How do I convert minutes to decimal hours for payroll?

Divide the minutes by 60: 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, 30 minutes is 0.50, 45 minutes is 0.75 and 20 minutes is 0.33 (rounded). Payroll systems usually want decimal hours, because multiplying 7.50 by an hourly rate is simpler than multiplying 7 hours 30 minutes. This calculator shows both h:mm and decimal for every day and the total.

How do I count my work hours for an overnight shift?

When the finish time is earlier than the start time, the calculator treats the shift as finishing the next day and adds 24 hours. A 10:00 pm to 6:30 am shift with a 30-minute break is 8 hours. Overnight rows are flagged so you can check them.

What is a normal work week in Australia, and when does overtime start?

The National Employment Standards set the maximum ordinary hours for a full-time employee at 38 hours a week, plus reasonable additional hours. Many modern awards and agreements pay overtime for hours beyond 38 a week, or beyond a daily limit, but the details vary. The calculator uses 38 hours as a default threshold that you can change to match your award or agreement.

What overtime rate should I use?

It depends on your award or agreement. A common pattern is time and a half (1.5×) for the first two or three overtime hours and double time (2×) after that, with higher rates on some Sundays and public holidays. Use the two-tier overtime option to model that, and use the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool at fairwork.gov.au to find the exact rates for your award.

Is a lunch break counted as work time?

Only if it's paid. An unpaid meal break comes off your hours, while a paid break (such as a paid tea break) stays in. Enter just the unpaid minutes in the break column. If you're not sure whether a break is paid, check your contract, award or payslip.

Should I round my start and finish times?

Some employers round shifts to the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes, and 6-minute units (tenths of an hour) are common in some industries. This calculator can round each shift for you, but the rules differ between workplaces, so ask how yours works. If you're unsure about rounding, keep exact times so you can compare them with your payslip.

Is this a work hours calculator for Australia, and can it work out my pay?

Yes. It uses Australian conventions: a 38-hour default week, AUD amounts and an optional resident tax estimate for 2026-27. Enter an hourly rate to see gross pay split into ordinary, weekend penalty and overtime amounts. Treat the figures as estimates, because your award decides what you're actually owed.