Shift workers know the pain of adding up start times, end times, and lunch breaks. This calculator takes a start hour and minute, an end hour and minute, and subtracts any break time to give you total minutes, total hours, and net hours after the break. No more counting on fingers across the noon boundary or wondering whether 9-to-5:30 with a 30-minute lunch is really 8 hours (it is).

A barista in Portland clocking in at 9:00 a.m., out at 5:30 p.m., with a 30-minute lunch types it in and gets 510 total minutes, 8.5 total hours, and 8.0 net hours. Those net hours are the ones that matter for pay, and having them computed removes the most common timesheet error — forgetting the break or subtracting it twice. The calculator handles overnight-spanning shifts in 24-hour time too, as long as start and end are entered correctly.

It computes raw elapsed time, not pay: no overtime multipliers, no rounding rules, no shift differentials. Employers round clock times per their own policies (usually to the nearest quarter hour), so confirm how your workplace handles the minutes before disputing a stub.

With the pre-filled defaults — Start Hour (0-23) 9, Start Minute (0-59) 0, End Hour (0-23) 17, End Minute (0-59) 30, Break Time (minutes) 30 — the Hours Calculator returns Total Minutes (with break) 510, Total Hours 8.5000, Net Hours (after break) 8.0000. Change any input and those results update instantly, so you can see exactly how each number you enter moves the answer.