Guide / monthly totals

How to review a month of work hours

A calendar month is useful for budgeting and record review, but it is a poor shortcut for weekly overtime. Months have different lengths and their first and last dates usually cut across a fixed workweek. You can still find a useful monthly hours total by adding the exact minutes of the shifts whose work dates fall inside the month.

Add hours and minutes, not displayed decimals

Suppose your date-filtered records total 38:45 in one batch, 42:30 in another and 39:15 in a third. Add minutes first: 45 + 30 + 15 = 90 minutes, or 1:30. Add the hour figures 38 + 42 + 39 = 119, then carry the extra hour. The result is 120:30, displayed as 120.50 decimal hours. Adding two-decimal numbers from individual shifts can create a small rounding difference.

Keep two ledgers when a week crosses month end

For a monthly hours report, include only the shifts assigned to dates in that month. For overtime, keep the full fixed workweek even when some of its dates lie in the previous or next month. For example, a Wednesday month start does not reset a workweek that began on Sunday. A 160-hour monthly threshold could miss a 45-hour week offset by a quieter week.

Use this calculator in batches

Enter one or two complete workweeks, copy or download the summary, then clear and enter the next batch. Save the source dates beside each export because this tool labels days of the week rather than calendar dates. If a shift crosses midnight or the workweek boundary, see the overnight guide before assigning it to a week.

Under the basic US federal overtime framework, the workweek is a fixed recurring 168-hour period and separate weeks are not averaged. The Department of Labor overview explains that rule. Different jurisdictions and contracts may use other requirements.