Payroll Hours Calculator

Turn a timesheet or weekly hours into payroll hours, overtime counted by workweek, gross pay, and an estimated 2026 take-home for weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly paychecks.

Hourly rate ($)

Pay period

Week 1

40.00 hrs

Clock inClock outBreak (min)Hours

Mon8.00

Tue8.00

Wed8.00

Thu8.00

Fri8.00

Sat0.00

Sun0.00

Break is the unpaid meal break in minutes. Leave a day blank if it was not worked.

Gross pay per paycheck

$800.00

40.00 regular hrs × $20.00

Total hours

40.00

Overtime pay

$0.00

Yearly at this pace

$41,600.00

Estimated take-home per paycheck (2026)

Federal income tax is estimated by annualizing this paycheck, like the IRS percentage method. Add a state rate if you want it included.

Filing status

State income tax rate (%)

Federal income tax

$54.08

Social Security and Medicare

$61.20

State tax

$0.00

Take-home

$684.72

Estimate only. It assumes no pre-tax deductions (401(k), health insurance), credits, or extra withholding from your W-4.

Running payroll for a team? HiveDesk tracks hours automatically, splits overtime by workweek, and exports approved timesheets.

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Quick Answer

Payroll hours are the hours worked in the pay period, split into regular and overtime hours workweek by workweek. Gross pay is regular hours times the hourly rate plus overtime hours times 1.5 times the rate.

Formula

Gross pay = (Regular hours × Rate) + (Overtime hours × Rate × 1.5)

Overtime is hours over 40 in each workweek, not in the pay period

Subtract clock-in from clock-out for each day and take off unpaid meal breaks.
Convert each day to decimal hours (minutes ÷ 60).
Total each seven-day workweek separately; hours over 40 in a week are overtime.
Multiply and add: regular hours at the regular rate, overtime hours at 1.5 times the regular rate.
Subtract taxes and deductions to get take-home pay.

Worked Example: A Biweekly Paycheck

An hourly employee earning $20 an hour works 42 hours in the first week of a biweekly pay period and 38 hours in the second. The period totals 80 hours, which looks like two ordinary 40-hour weeks, but overtime is counted per workweek.

Workweek	Hours	Regular	Overtime	Pay
Week 1	42	40	2	$860.00
Week 2	38	38	0	$760.00
Pay period	80	78	2	$1,620.00

Paying the period as 80 straight-time hours ($1,600.00) would underpay the employee by $20.00. It is a small amount on one paycheck, but it is a wage violation that repeats every time the hours fall unevenly, and back-pay claims can reach back two years, or three for willful violations.

For a single filer with no pre-tax deductions, the 2026 estimate on a $1,620.00 biweekly paycheck is about $110.55 of federal income tax and $123.93 of Social Security and Medicare, leaving roughly $1,385.52 before any state tax.

Workweeks, Pay Periods, and Overtime

A workweek is a fixed, recurring block of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour days) that the employer sets. It does not have to start on Sunday or match the calendar week, but it cannot be moved around to avoid overtime. A pay period is simply how often wages are paid. The two are separate, and overtime always follows the workweek.

Weekly and biweekly pay periods line up with workweeks, so each paycheck covers one or two whole weeks. Semimonthly (the 15th and last day, for example) and monthly periods do not. When a workweek straddles two pay periods, the overtime for that week is due on the regular payday for the period in which the workweek ends. If the amount cannot be worked out in time, it must be paid as soon as practicable and no later than the next payday after it can be calculated.

Pay frequency	Paychecks a year	Hours per check at 40/week	Gross per check at $20/hour
Weekly	52	40.00	$800.00
Every two weeks (biweekly)	26	80.00	$1,600.00
Twice a month (semimonthly)	24	86.67	$1,733.33
Monthly	12	173.33	$3,466.67

Semimonthly and monthly hours are averages: a real semimonthly period contains anywhere from 9 to 12 weekdays (72 to 96 hours for a full-time employee), so hourly paychecks vary from period to period while salaried ones stay the same. Most states also set a minimum pay frequency for hourly workers. See biweekly pay explained and the biweekly pay calculator for more on pay frequencies.

The Regular Rate: When Overtime Is More Than 1.5 Times Base Pay

Overtime is 1.5 times the employee's regular rate, and the regular rate includes more than the base hourly wage. Nondiscretionary bonuses (attendance, productivity, or quality bonuses promised in advance), shift differentials, and commissions all count. Discretionary gifts, paid time off, and expense reimbursements do not.

Contact centers often pay agents a weekly bonus for hitting quality or adherence targets. Suppose an agent earning $20 an hour works 45 hours and earns a $50 bonus that week:

Straight-time pay	45 × $20.00 + $50.00 bonus = $950.00
Regular rate	$950.00 ÷ 45 hours = $21.11
Overtime premium	5 hours × 0.5 × $21.11 = $52.78
Total pay	$1,002.78

Paying the 5 overtime hours at 1.5 times the base rate and adding the bonus on top gives $1,000.00, which is $2.78 short. The gap is small per agent but grows with larger bonuses and longer weeks. For overtime at the base rate only, the time and a half calculator is quicker, and overtime pay laws by state covers daily overtime and other state rules.

Hourly Paycheck After Taxes

Estimated biweekly take-home for a full-time (80 hours per paycheck) single filer in 2026, after federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare, with no state tax or pre-tax deductions:

Hourly rate	Gross per check	Federal income tax	Social Security and Medicare	Take-home
$15.00	$1,200.00	$60.15	$91.80	$1,048.05
$18.00	$1,440.00	$88.95	$110.16	$1,240.89
$20.00	$1,600.00	$108.15	$122.40	$1,369.45
$22.00	$1,760.00	$127.35	$134.64	$1,498.01
$25.00	$2,000.00	$156.15	$153.00	$1,690.85
$30.00	$2,400.00	$204.15	$183.60	$2,012.25
$35.00	$2,800.00	$276.38	$214.20	$2,309.42
$40.00	$3,200.00	$364.38	$244.80	$2,590.82

Actual withholding follows the employee's Form W-4 and the IRS percentage-method tables, so a paycheck can differ from this estimate by a few dollars, and by more if the W-4 claims dependents or extra withholding. For salaried pay converted to hourly, see the salary to hourly calculator.

Payroll Records, Rounding, and Decimal Hours

For every non-exempt employee, federal rules require the employer to record the hours worked each workday and each workweek, the regular rate, and straight-time and overtime earnings. Payroll records must be kept for at least three years, and the time cards and schedules behind them for at least two.

Clock times may be rounded to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour, or quarter hour, provided the rounding is neutral over time. Quarter-hour rounding rounds 1 to 7 minutes down and 8 to 14 minutes up. Rounding that always favors the employer, or that is applied to clock-outs but not clock-ins, is a common source of wage claims.

Payroll systems need decimal hours: 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75, not 7.45. The minutes to decimal calculator has the full conversion chart. To total a week of shifts without pay, use the hours calculator; for a printable card with California daily overtime, use the time card calculator.

Getting Payroll Hours Right Every Period

Most payroll hour errors start before the calculation: a missed punch filled in from memory, a shift that crossed midnight entered on the wrong day, a pre-shift login that was never recorded, or a workweek boundary that shifted with the pay calendar. Every one of them changes regular and overtime hours.

HiveDesk records each employee's working time automatically, keeps overtime tied to the workweek, and routes timesheets for approval before they go to payroll. For contact centers, agent time tracking captures logged-in time across queues, so the hours on the paycheck match the hours on the phone system.

Payroll-Ready Hours Without the Spreadsheet

HiveDesk tracks hours automatically, splits overtime by workweek, and exports approved timesheets for payroll. $5/user/month, 14-day free trial.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate payroll hours?

For each day, subtract the clock-in time from the clock-out time and subtract any unpaid meal break. Convert each day to decimal hours by dividing the minutes by 60, add up each workweek separately, and count hours over 40 in each workweek as overtime. Then multiply regular hours by the hourly rate and overtime hours by 1.5 times the rate.

Is overtime calculated per pay period or per week?

Per workweek. The FLSA looks at each fixed seven-day workweek on its own, so a biweekly paycheck with 42 hours in the first week and 38 in the second includes 2 overtime hours, even though the two weeks total exactly 80. Averaging hours across a pay period to avoid overtime is not allowed.

How do I calculate hours for a semimonthly or monthly payroll?

Work out overtime by workweek, then pay each workweek's overtime on the regular payday for the period in which that workweek ends. Because semimonthly and monthly periods do not line up with seven-day weeks, some workweeks are split across two pay periods; the straight-time hours can be paid in each period as worked, but the overtime is settled when the workweek is complete.

Does 30 minutes equal 0.5 hours on payroll?

Yes. Payroll uses decimal hours, and 30 minutes is 30 ÷ 60 = 0.50 hours. 15 minutes is 0.25, 45 minutes is 0.75, and 20 minutes is 0.33. Writing 7 hours 30 minutes as 7.30 instead of 7.50 underpays the employee by 12 minutes.

What is the regular rate of pay for overtime?

It is the employee's total straight-time pay for the workweek divided by the hours worked, which is not always the base hourly rate. Nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions are included, so overtime must be paid at 1.5 times the higher combined rate.

How much is taken out of a paycheck?

Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 of wages in 2026) and Medicare (1.45%) together take 7.65% of most paychecks. Federal income tax depends on pay, filing status, and the W-4, and most states add their own income tax. Pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) contributions and health premiums lower the taxable amount.

How long must employers keep payroll and time records?

Under federal rules, payroll records must be kept for at least three years, and the time cards and schedules used to calculate pay for at least two years. The records must show hours worked each workday and each workweek for non-exempt employees. Many states require longer retention.

Can an employer round clock-in times for payroll?

Yes, to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour, or quarter hour, as long as the rounding is neutral over time and does not consistently reduce paid hours. Under quarter-hour rounding, 1 to 7 minutes round down and 8 to 14 minutes round up.