Updated · Built and checked by the PlinzoTools team, formulas tested against published sources
Find paid hours and gross pay after deducting an unpaid lunch break.
$150.00
This calculator finds a shift's paid hours (and resulting gross pay) after deducting an unpaid lunch break -- the payroll-focused counterpart to the plain-hours Break Time Calculator, taking a shift's start and end time directly rather than a pre-computed gross duration.
Enter your shift's start and end time, your unpaid lunch length in minutes, and your hourly rate. The result shows gross shift hours and gross pay for the paid portion.
Paid minutes = (shift end - shift start) - lunch minutes. Gross pay = (paid minutes / 60) x hourly rate. An overnight shift (end time earlier than start time) is handled by rolling the end time into the next day.
9:00 AM-5:00 PM shift with a 30-minute unpaid lunch, at $20/hr: 7.5 paid hours, $150 gross pay.
For the same deduction expressed in hours only, without a pay figure, see the Break Time Calculator.
A shift from 7:30 to 16:00 is 8.5 hours gross. With a 45-minute unpaid lunch, paid time is 7 hours 45 minutes, or 7.75 hours; at a hypothetical $18 per hour that is $139.50. For an overnight shift from 22:00 to 06:00, the end time is earlier than the start time so the tool adds 24 hours, giving 8 gross hours; with a 30-minute lunch that leaves 7.5 paid hours. The tool reports gross shift hours and pay for the paid portion, so compare the two to see how much the deduction changes the outcome.
The calculator only knows two clock times and rolls the second into the next day when it is earlier than the first. That has one edge case worth knowing: if the start and end times are identical, the gross duration is zero, not 24 hours. If you truly worked a full day, adjust the times so they differ. Also remember that it does not know about dates, so a shift that crosses midnight is handled but a shift longer than 24 hours cannot be represented.
Only enter a break that is genuinely unpaid. A short rest break of about 5 to 20 minutes is commonly treated as paid working time, while a bona fide meal period during which you are fully relieved of duties is commonly unpaid. Whether a break must be provided, how long it must be, and whether it is paid are set by a mix of state law, federal rules and your employer's policy. The rules differ by state, so confirm details with your state labor agency or the US Department of Labor rather than relying on this page.
If you were called back to work during a meal break, that time is generally worked time and should not be deducted in full. Estimate how many minutes you were actually off duty and enter only those as the unpaid lunch. This is a common source of small underpayments where an automatic deduction is applied every day regardless of what happened.
The pay figure uses a single hourly rate and no premiums, so overtime, shift differentials and holiday pay are not modeled. It also ignores rounding rules used by time clocks. Results are gross, before tax withholding and other deductions. If the lunch is longer than the shift, the paid time is floored at zero rather than going negative.
An 8 hour day with a 60-minute lunch pays for 7 hours, while a 30-minute lunch pays for 7.5. Over a five-day week that is 2.5 extra paid hours for the shorter break, which can matter when deciding between two similar jobs or negotiating a schedule. Run both cases here to see the dollar difference at your own rate.
Don't enter it here -- only unpaid breaks should be deducted from paid hours; a paid lunch stays part of your paid shift time.
Yes -- if the shift end time is earlier in the clock than the start time, it's treated as ending the next day.
Enter the combined total of all unpaid break minutes for the shift as a single figure.
The gross duration is treated as zero, not 24 hours. Enter times that differ if you worked a full-day span.
Usually not, since short rest breaks are typically paid. Only enter unpaid time. Check your employer's policy or state rules to confirm how your breaks are classified.
Paid minutes are floored at zero, so the result shows no paid hours and no pay rather than a negative number.
No. Pay is calculated at your single entered hourly rate. Overtime and premiums would need to be worked out separately.
Reference: U.S. Department of Labor