Hours worked calculator: how long was your shift?
Subtract the start time from the finish time, then take off any unpaid break. 22:00 to 06:30 with a 30-minute meal break is 8 hours. Type your shift and the calculator gives the hours and minutes, the decimal hours a timesheet asks for, your pay before tax, and the breaks the law gives a shift that long.
Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.
| Start to finish | 8 hours 30 minutes (past midnight) |
|---|---|
| Unpaid break | 30 minutes |
| Hours worked | 8 hours 0 minutes |
| As decimal hours | 8.00 |
| Pay before tax at $26.50 an hour | $212.00 |
| Breaks the law gives a work period this long | Two paid 10-minute rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break |
- Only unpaid time comes off. A paid 10-minute rest break is part of the hours you worked, so leave it out of the break box.
- The finish is earlier than the start, so it is read as 06:30 the next day. Saved, the shift sits on Monday 5 October 2026, the day it started.
Free on every plan. Your account adds this shift to Your Timesheets on the date you chose, after asking, and keeps every change you make from then on.
How the hours are worked out
The calculator counts the minutes from your start to your finish and subtracts your unpaid break. When the finish is earlier than the start, the shift has gone past midnight, so a day is added: 22:00 to 06:30 is 8 hours 30 minutes from start to finish, and 8 hours once a 30-minute meal break comes off. The answer is shown in hours and minutes and as decimal hours, because timesheets and payslips use decimals: 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, not 7.45. Pay is the decimal hours multiplied by your hourly rate, before tax.
Which breaks come off, and which stay in
Part 6D of the Employment Relations Act 2000 sets the breaks for a work period, which runs from the time you start to the time you finish, breaks included (section 69ZC). Section 69ZD gives one paid 10-minute rest break for 2 to 4 hours; a rest break and a 30-minute meal break for more than 4 and up to 6 hours; and two rest breaks and a meal break for more than 6 and up to 8 hours. Past 8 hours, the time beyond starts the count again. Employment New Zealand says employers must pay for rest breaks but do not have to pay for meal breaks, so only an unpaid meal break comes off your hours; some agreements pay it. Our article on rest and meal breaks in New Zealand covers when breaks are taken and what can be agreed.
Night shifts and shifts that cross midnight
A night shift counts to its real finish the next morning, and the calculator keeps it on the date it started. Where the date matters for pay, such as a shift that runs into a public holiday, only the hours on the holiday itself are paid at time and a half, unless you and your employer have agreed in writing to treat a 24-hour period covering the shift as the holiday (Holidays Act 2003, section 44A). Split the shift at midnight: our public holiday pay calculator does that part. Whether time spent travelling, setting up or waiting counts as work is a separate question, covered in is travel time work time.
Checking your pay against your hours
Every hour you work must be paid at least the minimum wage: $23.95 an hour for adults from 1 April 2026, and $19.16 for the starting-out and training rates, which only some workers can be paid. The calculator warns if your rate is below the adult rate. For a whole week of shifts, use the weekly timesheet calculator, and if your payslip counts fewer hours than you worked, rounding and unpaid minutes explains what an employer may and may not do.
Questions
How do I work out how many hours I worked?
Subtract the start time from the finish time, then take off any unpaid break. 9:00 to 17:30 is 8 hours 30 minutes, and 8 hours with a 30-minute meal break taken off.
How do I calculate hours worked past midnight?
Add 24 hours to the finish time before you subtract. 22:00 to 06:30 is 30:30 minus 22:00, which is 8 hours 30 minutes, less any unpaid break.
How do I turn hours and minutes into decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the hours. 15 minutes is 0.25, 30 minutes is 0.5 and 45 minutes is 0.75, so 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours.
Do I take my breaks off my hours?
Take off unpaid breaks only. Employment New Zealand says employers must pay for rest breaks but do not have to pay for meal breaks, so a meal break usually comes off and a 10-minute rest break stays in.
How many breaks do I get in an 8-hour shift?
A work period of more than 6 hours and up to 8 hours gives two paid 10-minute rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break (Employment Relations Act 2000, section 69ZD(4)). The work period includes the breaks.
What happens when I save the shift?
Your account adds the shift to Your Timesheets on the date you chose, after asking, with the place you work and its hourly rate if you gave one. Logging hours is free on every plan, and every change is kept.
Sources
- Employment Relations Act 2000, Part 6D (ss 69ZC to 69ZEA): rest breaks and meal breaks.
- Employment New Zealand: rest and meal breaks.
- Employment New Zealand: hours of work.
- Minimum Wage Order 2026 (SL 2026/16), in force 1 April 2026.
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