Work Hours to Pay: Turning Clock Time Into Dollars (2026)

Minutes Are Not Decimals

Payroll multiplies decimal hours, not clock time. 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, never 7.45. That single confusion is the most common reason a stub reads low.

| Clock minutes | Decimal |

| --- | --- |

| 15 | 0.25 |

| 20 | 0.33 |

| 40 | 0.67 |

| 45 | 0.75 |

| 50 | 0.83 |

Convert a whole week at once in the work hours calculator, or a single span in the time duration calculator.

Which Minutes Are Paid

Hours worked means all time you are required or permitted to work, including short breaks under 20 minutes, waiting time you cannot use for yourself, required training, and work performed before or after your shift with the employer's knowledge. A genuine meal break of 30 minutes or more, fully relieved of duty, is unpaid — but answering the phone through lunch makes it paid time. The lunch break calculator settles that case.

Rounding Has Limits

Rounding to the nearest quarter hour is allowed only when it is neutral over time. Rounding that always favors the employer — down to the quarter hour, never up — is unlawful no matter how small each instance looks. Four minutes a day is roughly 17 hours a year.

Hours to Pay, With Overtime

Paid hours become pay in two pieces: the first 40 at your regular rate, everything above at 1.5 times it. Example: 44.25 paid hours at $19 is 40 x $19 = $760 plus 4.25 x $28.50 = $121.13, for $881.13 gross. Run yours through the weekly overtime earnings calculator, then the take-home pay calculator for the after-tax figure.

Keep Your Own Record

Your employer must keep time records, but nothing stops you from keeping a phone note of daily start, end and break times. In a wage dispute, a contemporaneous record from the worker frequently decides the outcome.