How do you convert time to decimal hours?
Payroll systems multiply hours by a pay rate, so they need hours as a decimal number, not hours and minutes. The conversion takes two steps:
- Divide the minutes by 60. 45 minutes / 60 = 0.75
- Add the whole hours. 7 + 0.75 = 7.75 hours
| Hours and minutes | Math | Decimal hours |
|---|---|---|
| 7:45 | 7 + 45/60 | 7.75 |
| 8:20 | 8 + 20/60 | 8.33 |
| 6:50 | 6 + 50/60 | 6.83 |
| 4:05 | 4 + 5/60 | 4.08 |
| 40:27 | 40 + 27/60 | 40.45 |
The calculator above does this instantly. Type hours and minutes in the top row to get decimal hours, or fill in the weekly time card with start times, end times and unpaid breaks. It totals the week in decimal hours and in hours and minutes, flags hours over 40 and, if you add an hourly rate, estimates gross pay with time and a half for overtime.
How to convert decimal hours back to minutes
Multiply the decimal part by 60. For 7.6 hours, 0.6 x 60 = 36, so 7.6 hours is 7 hours 36 minutes. This is handy when a pay stub lists 38.4 hours and you want to check it against your schedule: 0.4 x 60 = 24 minutes, so 38 hours 24 minutes.
Minutes to decimal conversion chart (0 to 59 minutes)
Each value is the minutes divided by 60, rounded to two decimal places.
| Minutes | Decimal hours |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0.00 |
| 1 | 0.02 |
| 2 | 0.03 |
| 3 | 0.05 |
| 4 | 0.07 |
| 5 | 0.08 |
| 6 | 0.10 |
| 7 | 0.12 |
| 8 | 0.13 |
| 9 | 0.15 |
| 10 | 0.17 |
| 11 | 0.18 |
| 12 | 0.20 |
| 13 | 0.22 |
| 14 | 0.23 |
| 15 | 0.25 |
| 16 | 0.27 |
| 17 | 0.28 |
| 18 | 0.30 |
| 19 | 0.32 |
| 20 | 0.33 |
| 21 | 0.35 |
| 22 | 0.37 |
| 23 | 0.38 |
| 24 | 0.40 |
| 25 | 0.42 |
| 26 | 0.43 |
| 27 | 0.45 |
| 28 | 0.47 |
| 29 | 0.48 |
| 30 | 0.50 |
| 31 | 0.52 |
| 32 | 0.53 |
| 33 | 0.55 |
| 34 | 0.57 |
| 35 | 0.58 |
| 36 | 0.60 |
| 37 | 0.62 |
| 38 | 0.63 |
| 39 | 0.65 |
| 40 | 0.67 |
| 41 | 0.68 |
| 42 | 0.70 |
| 43 | 0.72 |
| 44 | 0.73 |
| 45 | 0.75 |
| 46 | 0.77 |
| 47 | 0.78 |
| 48 | 0.80 |
| 49 | 0.82 |
| 50 | 0.83 |
| 51 | 0.85 |
| 52 | 0.87 |
| 53 | 0.88 |
| 54 | 0.90 |
| 55 | 0.92 |
| 56 | 0.93 |
| 57 | 0.95 |
| 58 | 0.97 |
| 59 | 0.98 |
To read the chart, add the decimal to your whole hours. 8 hours 38 minutes is 8 + 0.63 = 8.63 hours.
If your payroll system uses more precision, divide by 60 yourself. One minute is 0.0167 hours to four decimal places.
How do you add hours and minutes on a time card?
When you total shifts by hand, add hours and minutes in separate columns, then carry every 60 minutes into an hour:
- Add the hours. 8 + 7 + 8 = 23 hours
- Add the minutes. 45 + 50 + 35 = 130 minutes
- Carry full hours. 130 minutes is 2 hours and 10 minutes, so the total is 25 hours 10 minutes
- Convert once. 10 / 60 = 0.17, so the total is 25.17 decimal hours
To find the length of a single shift, subtract the start time from the end time. It is easier on a 24-hour clock, where 4:30 p.m. becomes 16:30. A shift from 7:50 to 16:30 is 8 hours 40 minutes. If the end minutes are smaller than the start minutes, borrow an hour: 16:30 minus 7:50 becomes 15:90 minus 7:50, which is 8:40. Then subtract any unpaid meal break before converting.
Time card example: converting a full week
Morgan Diaz works at Fabrikam and takes an unpaid lunch every day. Here is one week:
| Day | In | Out | Unpaid lunch | Time worked | Decimal hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00 a.m. | 4:45 p.m. | 30 min | 8 h 15 m | 8.25 |
| Tuesday | 7:50 a.m. | 4:30 p.m. | 30 min | 8 h 10 m | 8.17 |
| Wednesday | 8:05 a.m. | 5:20 p.m. | 45 min | 8 h 30 m | 8.50 |
| Thursday | 8:00 a.m. | 3:20 p.m. | 30 min | 6 h 50 m | 6.83 |
| Friday | 9:00 a.m. | 6:12 p.m. | 30 min | 8 h 42 m | 8.70 |
| Total | 40 h 27 m | 40.45 |
At $20 an hour, Morgan earns 40 x $20 = $800 for regular time plus 0.45 x $30 = $13.50 for overtime, or $813.50 before taxes. Our overtime calculator shows the full overtime math.
Now the common mistake: if someone enters 40 hours 27 minutes as 40.27, overtime drops to 0.27 x $30 = $8.10, and Morgan is shorted $5.40 that week. Over a year of similar weeks, that adds up to more than $280.
Total minutes first. Add the week’s time in hours and minutes, then convert once. Rounding each day to two decimals and adding can drift by a hundredth of an hour or more over a long week.
What are the rules for rounding time on a time card?
The federal rule is 29 CFR 785.48(b). The Department of Labor accepts the long-standing practice of recording start and stop times to the nearest 5 minutes, the nearest tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or the nearest quarter hour (15 minutes), for enforcement purposes. The condition is that the practice must not, over a period of time, result in failing to pay employees for all the time they actually worked.
In plain terms, rounding has to be neutral. It should round both up and down, so it evens out. A system that always rounds in the employer’s favor, such as rounding late clock-ins up and early clock-outs down but never the reverse, is the kind of practice that can fail the test.
Nearest quarter hour (15 minutes)
| Minutes past the hour | Rounds to |
|---|---|
| 0 to 7 | :00 |
| 8 to 22 | :15 |
| 23 to 37 | :30 |
| 38 to 52 | :45 |
| 53 to 59 | Next hour |
So a clock-in at 8:07 a.m. records as 8:00, and 8:08 records as 8:15. A clock-out at 5:22 p.m. records as 5:15, and 5:23 records as 5:30.
Nearest tenth of an hour (6 minutes)
| Minutes past the hour | Rounds to |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | .0 |
| 3 to 8 | .1 |
| 9 to 14 | .2 |
| 15 to 20 | .3 |
| 21 to 26 | .4 |
| 27 to 32 | .5 |
| 33 to 38 | .6 |
| 39 to 44 | .7 |
| 45 to 50 | .8 |
| 51 to 56 | .9 |
| 57 to 59 | Next hour |
This chart rounds exact halfway points, such as 3 or 9 minutes, up. What matters most is that the same rule applies in both directions.
What about clocking in early?
Section 785.48(a) says employees who voluntarily punch in before their start time or stay after their end time do not have to be paid for that time, as long as they do no work. If you start working when you clock in early, that time counts.
This section covers the federal rule. If something looks off on your time records, your state labor office can explain what applies where you work.
Common payroll mistakes with decimal time
- Typing minutes as decimals. 7:30 is 7.50 hours, not 7.30. 8:45 is 8.75, not 8.45.
- Rounding each day, then adding. Convert the weekly total once instead.
- Rounding only one way. Neutral rounding must go both up and down.
- Deducting short breaks. Federal rules say rest periods of about 5 to 20 minutes are hours worked and must be paid. Bona fide meal periods, ordinarily 30 minutes or more with the employee completely relieved of duty, are generally the breaks that can be unpaid.
- Missing off-the-clock work. Work your employer knows about or allows, such as finishing a task after the shift ends, is work time even if no one asked for it.
- Miscounting overnight shifts. A shift from 10:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. is 8.5 hours. The calculator above handles shifts that cross midnight and counts them toward the day the shift starts. Our shift hours guide covers common schedules.
- Losing the records. Under the FLSA, employers must record hours worked each day and total hours each workweek for nonexempt workers, and keep time cards for two years.
Once your weekly hours are in decimal form, you can compare them with a standard full-time schedule, see how much paid time off you earn per hour worked, or estimate take-home pay with the paycheck calculator.
This guide covers federal rules and general math. If your pay is in dispute, the Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243 or your state labor department can review your records.