Type the in and out times for each day into the time card calculator and it totals the week in hours and minutes and in decimal hours, with overtime and a pay estimate. Need paper? Print a blank timesheet.
Add up a time cardWhat goes on a time card
Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must keep a record of the hours worked each day and the total hours worked each workweek, and keep time cards for two years. A time card is where those hours start, so it needs:
- Your name, and an employee number if you have one.
- The workweek it covers, such as “week ending Saturday 10 October 2026”.
- For each day: the date, time in, lunch out, lunch in and time out.
- A total for each day and for the week.
- Your signature and your supervisor’s, if the employer asks for them.
Filling it in, step by step
- Fill in the header first. Name, department and the week’s dates. Use the first and last day of your employer’s workweek, which may not be Monday to Sunday.
- Write each punch when it happens. Time in when you start, lunch out and lunch in around an unpaid meal, time out when you finish. Writing at the end of the week from memory is where errors creep in.
- Use am and pm, or the 24-hour clock. Never a bare 5, which could be morning or evening.
- Work out each day. Time out minus time in, minus the unpaid lunch.
- Add up the week and sign. Add the daily totals, check them, then sign and hand it in.
A filled-in week, with lunch
A week with ordinary days, one long day and a Saturday morning:
| Day | In | Lunch out to in | Out | Total (decimal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 8:00 am | 12:00 to 12:30 pm | 4:30 pm | 8:00 (8.00) |
| Tue | 7:55 am | 12:05 to 12:35 pm | 4:40 pm | 8:15 (8.25) |
| Wed | 8:00 am | 12:00 to 12:30 pm | 6:15 pm | 9:45 (9.75) |
| Thu | 8:02 am | 11:58 am to 12:28 pm | 4:32 pm | 8:00 (8.00) |
| Fri | 8:00 am | 12:00 to 12:45 pm | 5:30 pm | 8:45 (8.75) |
| Sat | 9:00 am | None | 1:00 pm | 4:00 (4.00) |
| Week | 46:45 (46.75) |
Each day is the morning block plus the afternoon block. Tuesday is 7:55 to 12:05 (4 hours 10 minutes) plus 12:35 to 4:40 (4 hours 5 minutes), so 8:15. The week is 2,805 minutes, and 2,805 ÷ 60 = 46.75 hours.
The time card with lunch calculator takes the four punches for a day exactly as written and checks they are in order.
Writing down lunch
The US Department of Labor treats a genuine meal period, ordinarily 30 minutes or more, as unpaid only if you are completely relieved from duty. Short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked.
- Unpaid lunch: write lunch out and lunch in, and leave that time out of the day’s total.
- Paid lunch, or lunch at your desk while still working: it stays in the total. Many cards then just show time in and time out.
- Short coffee breaks: don’t punch out or subtract them unless your employer pays them that way and the law allows it.
Some states have their own meal and rest break rules, so check yours.
Showing overtime
The federal rule is overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Don’t split it by day unless your state requires daily overtime. The week above at $18 an hour:
Regular: 40 × $18 = $720.00
Overtime: 6.75 × ($18 × 1.5) = 6.75 × $27 = $182.25
Gross pay: $720.00 + $182.25 = $902.25
On the card, write the total (46.75) and, if there are boxes for it, regular 40.00 and overtime 6.75. On a biweekly card, total each week separately; 46.75 hours one week and 33.25 the next is still 6.75 overtime hours, not an even 80. The overtime pay guide covers bonuses and other cases. These figures are estimates before tax, not what your employer must pay.
Hours and minutes or decimal hours
8:45 means 8 hours 45 minutes. Payroll systems usually want decimal hours, where 45 minutes is three quarters of an hour: 8.75. Writing 8.45 instead would cost you 18 minutes.
| Minutes | 15 | 30 | 45 | 20 | 40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 0.25 | 0.50 | 0.75 | 0.33 | 0.67 |
Divide the minutes by 60 for any other value, or use the minutes to decimal chart. Write the h:mm total or the decimal total, and label which one it is.
Rounding and corrections
Federal rules allow employers to round punch times to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour, as long as it doesn’t, over time, leave employees underpaid for time actually worked. If your workplace rounds, it applies the rule; write your real times on the card.
To fix a mistake on a paper card, cross it out with one line so it can still be read, write the right time next to it and add your initials. Don’t use correction fluid or write over the old number.
Common mistakes
- Subtracting across noon wrongly. 8:00 am to 4:30 pm is 8 hours 30 minutes. Convert pm times to the 24-hour clock (4:30 pm is 16:30) before subtracting.
- Night shifts. For 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, the out time is the next day: 8 hours. Count it on the day the shift started, unless your employer says otherwise.
- Adding decimals and minutes together. Pick one format for the whole card.
- Forgetting a punch. Leave the box empty and tell your supervisor, rather than guessing a time.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the FLSA. Hours worked each day and each workweek; time cards kept two years
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the FLSA. Rest and meal periods
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
- 29 CFR 785.48: Use of time clocks. Rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth or quarter hour