How to Calculate Work Hours with Breaks

Start with elapsed clock time

For a same-day shift from 08:45 to 17:15, the difference is 8 hours 30 minutes, or 510 minutes. If a 45-minute lunch is unpaid, subtract 45: the net is 465 minutes, which is 7 hours 45 minutes. Do not subtract paid breaks unless your reporting rules require it.

Use separate shifts for a split day

A morning shift from 08:00 to 12:00 and an afternoon shift from 13:00 to 17:30 add up to 8 hours 30 minutes. The one-hour gap is already excluded, so entering it again as an unpaid break would double-subtract it. Add a second shift instead of stretching one shift across the whole day.

Add the week before converting

Five shifts of 7 hours 45 minutes produce 2,325 minutes: 38 hours 45 minutes, or 38.75 hours. Mallow Hours sums integer minutes first. It never adds rounded daily decimal displays to obtain the weekly total.

Check your reporting period

The date you select starts the first seven-day block. A biweekly card contains two such blocks, not one combined overtime threshold. If your workweek starts on Sunday, select that Sunday rather than assuming the calendar defaults match your employer.

Optional estimated pay

With 38.75 hours and a rate of 20.00, the basic estimate is 775.00. If you enable overtime, only hours above your entered weekly threshold use the entered multiplier. This arithmetic is not a determination of legally payable wages; payroll rules may include other premiums, rounding and deductions.

Save something you can check later

Review incomplete inputs and overlaps before downloading. Save stores this card only on this device; CSV creates a spreadsheet-friendly record, and Print can produce a paper copy or a browser PDF. Export a JSON backup separately if you want to restore editable cards.

Continue with a practical example

Open Mallow Hours and choose Try an example. No data is saved until you press Save.

• Overnight Shifts, Breaks and Daylight Saving Time
• Convert Hours and Minutes to Decimal Hours