Field guide
How to Calculate an Overnight Shift
How to calculate overnight shift hours that cross midnight. Use explicit calendar dates to make overnight time unambiguous for U.S. hourly workers.
Attach dates to clock times
A 10:00 PM start on September 10 and 6:00 AM finish on September 11 spans midnight. The first portion is 2 hours; the second is 6 hours. Together they are 8 hours before unpaid breaks.
Account for overnight breaks
An unpaid break from 1:00 AM to 1:30 AM is 30 minutes, leaving 7 hours 30 minutes, or 7.50 decimal hours. A break from 11:50 PM to 12:10 AM lasts 20 minutes, not a negative duration. Enter the length of the break.
Resolve equal times explicitly
9:00 AM to 9:00 AM might mean zero hours or a full day. The calculator asks you to distinguish them: a full-day shift needs the following end date. Leave a timecard day empty when no time was worked.
Understand clock-change nights
A wall-clock calculation is not a timezone-aware elapsed-time calculation. During daylight-saving transitions, the repeated or skipped hour changes actual elapsed time. This site labels results as wall-clock duration; use verified punches with offsets for those nights.
Keep workweeks separate
When a shift runs over your workweek boundary, split it at the boundary and put each unpaid break in its actual week. A pay period covering two weeks does not combine those weeks for the simplified overtime rule. According to the BLS, approximately 16% of U.S. full-time workers have nonstandard schedules, including overnight shifts, with healthcare and hospitality being the largest employers of overnight workers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate overnight hours for a timecard?
Enter the start date and time, then the end date and time. The calculator handles midnight automatically. Use the overnight shift calculator for shifts crossing midnight.
Does daylight-saving time affect my overnight shift?
The calculator shows wall-clock duration. During daylight-saving transitions, your actual elapsed time may differ by one hour. Use verified punches with UTC offsets for precise calculations.
Open the Overnight Shift Calculator →
Related tools and guides
Found an issue? Contact the maintainer with the example and expected result. Please omit personal timecards.