Employee Hours Tracker

How Does an Employee Hours Tracker Work?

Add each employee, enter start and end times for every worked day, and subtract unpaid breaks. The tracker totals daily and weekly hours, splits regular time from overtime using the threshold you select, and can estimate gross pay from an optional hourly rate. Overnight shifts that end after midnight are counted as continuing into the next day, so 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM is 8 hours, not a negative number.

• Enter the employee, then each shift’s start, end, and unpaid break.
• Paid hours = end − start − unpaid break, with overnight wrap when end is earlier than start.
• Weekly totals become regular hours and overtime using the visible overtime settings.
• Hourly rate is optional. Empty rates show “Pay calculation: Not enabled,” not $0.

How to Use Employee Hours Tracker

1. Add an employee and an optional ID or hourly rate.
2. Enter start and end times for each worked day on the weekly time card.
3. Add unpaid break minutes for lunch or other unpaid time.
4. Add an extra shift on the same day when someone works a split schedule.
5. Review daily totals, weekly hours, regular time, and overtime.
6. Set the weekly overtime threshold, multiplier, and optional daily overtime if needed.
7. Copy the summary, download CSV, or print the timesheet.

What Can You Use This Employee Hours Tracker For?

Use it as a weekly timesheet, time card, or employee work hours calculator before payroll. It is built for small-business staffing, agency teams, restaurants, retail, contractors, shift workers, hourly employees, remote teams, and office staff who need hours worked in one place. It does not replace payroll software or claim industry-specific legal compliance.

How Employee Hours Are Calculated

This is the calculator’s selected method. Integer minutes are used internally so 7h 30m is exactly 7.50 decimal hours.

Worked time = end time − start time − unpaid breaks

If end < start: end = end + 24 hours (overnight shift)

Weekly hours = sum of all paid shift hours

Regular hours = minimum(weekly hours, OT threshold)

Overtime hours = maximum(weekly hours − OT threshold, 0)

Regular pay = regular hours × hourly rate

Overtime pay = overtime hours × hourly rate × OT multiplier

Estimated gross pay = regular pay + overtime pay

Same start and end (9:00 → 9:00) is a zero-length shift, not a 24-hour day. If unpaid break is longer than the shift, that shift is an error and counts as 0 paid hours. Default overtime uses a 40-hour weekly threshold and 1.5× multiplier. Optional daily overtime is off unless you enable that custom overtime setting.

Employee Hours Tracker vs Timesheet Calculator vs Time Card Calculator

People often search these phrases for the same weekly hours workflow. This page is the multi-employee tracker with a weekly time card, unpaid breaks, overtime split, and optional pay estimates.

• Employee hours tracker — ongoing team hours, several employees, weekly totals.
• Timesheet calculator — adding recorded time. For one person, use the work hours calculator.
• Time card calculator — clock-in/out style start and end times, which this page supports per day.
• Overtime calculator — regular vs overtime split. Pair this tracker with the overtime hours calculator when you already have hour totals.
• Work hours calculator — duration between two clock times, including overnight, on the hours calculator.
• Freelance hours — billable project time rather than employee timesheets, on the freelance hours calculator.

Real examples

How Overtime Is Calculated

How do I calculate overtime hours? Under the default weekly method, overtime is hours above the weekly threshold. At 47 hours with a 40-hour threshold, regular hours are 40 and overtime is 7. At $20/hour and 1.5×, regular pay is $800, overtime pay is $210, and estimated gross pay is $1,010. Daily overtime is a custom overtime setting and stays off unless you enable it. It is not labeled as California law or any other state rule.

Decimal Hours Explained

Decimal hours are commonly useful for payroll, invoices, spreadsheets, and reporting. The tracker shows both clock time and payroll hours: 7h 30m = 7.50, 15 minutes = 0.25, 45 minutes = 0.75. Mix those notations carefully when you paste totals into a spreadsheet.

Common Employee Hours Tracking Mistakes

• Forgetting an unpaid lunch and inflating payroll hours.
• Entering the wrong AM/PM on a 12-hour clock.
• Treating overnight shifts as a negative duration.
• Counting break time as paid when it was meant to be unpaid.
• Mixing 7h 30m with 7.30 and calling both 7.30 decimal hours.
• Applying overtime to the wrong workweek, or averaging two weeks in a biweekly period.
• Using a daily overtime rule when the intended rule is weekly only.
• Leaving Saturday or Sunday blank when those shifts were worked.
• Adding employee totals by hand instead of using the team summary.
• Putting names or pay rates into a shared URL.
• Assuming one overtime rule applies everywhere in the U.S.

U.S. Overtime: What Does 40 Hours Mean?

Default overtime settings use a 40-hour weekly threshold and 1.5× multiplier for a common U.S. federal baseline. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act generally requires at least 1.5× the regular rate for covered nonexempt employees after 40 hours in a workweek. That is not the same as saying everyone in the USA gets overtime after 40 hours. Some employees are exempt. State laws can differ. Daily overtime, seventh-day rules, and industry agreements may also apply. This page is a calculator, not legal or payroll advice. See the U.S. Department of Labor overtime fact sheet for the federal baseline.

Employee hours tracker FAQ