Calculating Shift Hours, Breaks & Overtime Correctly
Accurately converting clock-in and clock-out times into payable hours requires subtracting unpaid meal breaks and correctly identifying overtime thresholds. Under the FLSA, non-exempt hourly employees earn 1.5x pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek.
Unpaid vs Paid Breaks
Meal breaks of 30 minutes or longer, where an employee is fully relieved of duty, are typically unpaid and must be subtracted from gross shift time. Short rest breaks (5–20 minutes) are usually paid and should not be deducted.
Weekly Overtime Threshold
Overtime is calculated on a per-workweek basis, not per-shift or per-day (except in a few states like California, which also mandate daily overtime after 8 hours).
Shift Hours & Overtime Pay Formula
Paid Hours = (Clock Out − Clock In) − Unpaid Break; Overtime Pay = (Hours − 40) × Rate × 1.5
Example: Clocking in at 8:00 AM and out at 5:00 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch equals 8.5 paid hours for that shift.
Common Timesheet Mistakes
- Forgetting to subtract unpaid lunch breaks, inflating payable hours.
- Mixing up AM/PM when a shift spans across noon or midnight.
- Applying overtime per-shift instead of aggregating total hours for the full workweek.
