Meal breaks are where timesheets quietly go wrong. This version shows the lunch deduction on every single day, in the open.
Enter any break you actually took in the Break column. If a day's break is 0 and the shift is longer than the threshold, the automatic lunch is deducted instead — exactly how many payroll systems do it. The "Lunch deducted" column shows what came off each day.
| Day | Clock in | Clock out | Break taken (min) | Lunch deducted | Paid hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | ||||
| — | — | ||||
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Federal law does not require meal breaks, but when an employer gives an unpaid meal break of 30 minutes or more — with the employee fully relieved of duty — that time is not paid, and most payroll systems deduct it automatically once a shift passes a set length (commonly 6 hours). If you forget to clock out for lunch, the auto-deduction is what saves your timesheet from overstating hours; if you did work through lunch, the auto-deduction is what you need to get corrected with your supervisor.
This calculator mirrors that logic transparently: a manual break always wins; the automatic lunch only applies when the day's break is 0 and the shift reaches your threshold. The per-day "Lunch deducted" column means nothing is hidden. Several states (California most strictly) have their own meal-break rules and premiums — those premiums are a separate legal topic and are not included in this estimate.
The flagship weekly time card: clock in/out and breaks for 7 days, overtime split at 40 hours, gross pay, print and CSV — plus Save My Week on your device.
Free — try itOne shift, two breaks, zero confusion: which break minutes are paid, which come off, and the exact paid time that remains.
Free — try itOne shift in, one exact answer out: hours and minutes, decimal hours, break handling, rounding and the gross pay for that shift.
Free — try itA full two-week pay period on one card — but overtime is still scored week by week, exactly as the FLSA requires. Combined gross pay included.
Free — try itUnder federal law, meal breaks of 30 minutes or more are unpaid if you are completely relieved of duty. Short breaks (about 5–20 minutes) must be paid. Some states add their own meal-break requirements on top.
Many time clocks automatically subtract a standard lunch (often 30 minutes) from shifts longer than a set threshold, whether or not you punched out. It is legal when it reflects reality and employees can report exceptions — but if you worked through lunch, tell your employer so the deduction can be reversed.
Report it to your supervisor or payroll promptly, ideally in writing, and keep your own record (this page's per-day deduction column is a good start). Time you actually worked must be paid, including any overtime it creates.
Short shifts usually have no meal break to deduct. Employers typically set the trigger at 5–6 hours. You can change both the threshold and the lunch length here to match your workplace policy.
Each day starts as the raw span from clock-in to clock-out. A break is then removed, and this page has a strict order for deciding how much: the break minutes you typed for that day win; the automatic lunch deduction steps in only when a day has no manual break and the shift runs at least as long as the threshold you set (6 hours by default). The week’s net minutes are then split at 40 hours the federal way and priced at your rate.
You work Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:45 PM, enter no manual breaks, and leave the automatic lunch on — 30 minutes on shifts of 6 hours or more — at $20/hour. Each raw shift is 8:45, which passes the 6-hour threshold, so 0:30 comes off and each day nets 8:15 (the page shows deduction 0:30, net 8:15 on every row). The week totals 41:15: 40:00 regular ($800.00) plus 1:15 of overtime on Friday at $30.00 ($37.50) — gross pay $837.50.
No. A manual break always wins for that day: the automatic deduction is used only on days where the break box is 0. So a day where you took a 45-minute lunch and typed 45 keeps 45, even with the automatic rule switched on.
No automatic deduction is made. A 5-hour shift with the default 6-hour threshold keeps all 5 hours, unless you type a break for that day yourself. The page’s deduction column shows 0:00 for such a day.
Yes. The break box is per day, so Monday can deduct 30 minutes and Wednesday 60. Only the automatic amount and its threshold are shared across the week — and remember the automatic amount fills in only for days where you entered nothing.
Yes. Overtime is worked out on the week’s net minutes after every day’s deduction. In the worked example the raw week is 43:45, but it is the net 41:15 that splits into 40 regular hours and 1:15 of overtime.
Switch the automatic lunch deduction off. Entering 0 in a day’s break box is not enough on its own: with the automatic rule on, a 0 entry is read as “no manual break” and the automatic minutes are deducted instead on any shift that reaches the threshold.
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