Hours calculator

How to use it

1. Enter the start and end times in 24-hour format, for example 09:00 and 17:30.
2. Enter any unpaid break in minutes. Leave it at 0 if breaks are paid.
3. Read the time worked in hours and minutes, and as decimal hours for a timesheet or payroll.
4. For a week, fill in a row for each day you worked. Empty rows are ignored.

How the hours are worked out

The calculator takes the end time from the start time and subtracts the break. If the end time is the same as or earlier than the start time, it treats the shift as ending the next day. A night shift from 22:00 to 06:00 with a 30-minute break is 8 hours less 30 minutes: 7:30, or 7.50 decimal hours.

Decimal hours are minutes divided by 60. 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.5 hours; 7 hours 20 minutes is 7.33. At £12.50 an hour, 7.5 hours is £93.75. Don't type 7.30 for seven and a half hours: that is 7 hours 18 minutes.

A full week: Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:30 with an unpaid 30-minute lunch, is 8 hours a day and 40:00 hours (40.00 decimal) for the week. Add a Saturday from 10:00 to 14:15 with no break and the total becomes 44:15, or 44.25 hours.

Minutes to decimal hours

Use this table to turn the minutes on a clock card into the decimal part of an hour. Figures are rounded to two places.

Shifts when the clocks change

The calculator works with the times on the clock. On the night the clocks go back (Sunday 25 October 2026), a 22:00 to 06:00 shift lasts 9 hours, not 8. On the night they go forward (Sunday 28 March 2027), it lasts 7. Add or take away the hour yourself; see when the clocks change.

Most workers can't be made to work more than 48 hours a week on average, normally averaged over 17 weeks, unless they opt out (GOV.UK). For how a week's 168 hours add up, see how many hours are in a week. To time a task as you go, use the stopwatch; to count days rather than hours, use days between dates.

Frequently asked questions