Free template for UK employers
Time card calculator
A time card calculator works out paid hours from clock-in and clock-out times: subtract the start from the finish, take off unpaid breaks, then add up the days. This free Excel time card calculator does it for a full week, including shifts past midnight, overtime, pay and decimal hours for payroll.
How do you use the time card calculator?
Fill in the blue cells only. Everything else is calculated automatically. Each sheet covers one person for one week: enter the employee's name, employee number and the first day of the pay week at the top, and the dates fill in down the table. Set the hourly rate, overtime rate and weekly hours before overtime to match the employee's contract.
For each working day, type the clock-in and clock-out times on the 24-hour clock with a colon (for example, 21:00). If a shift ends after midnight, enter the real clock-out time: the sheet adds the 24 hours and marks the row Overnight. Enter unpaid breaks as hours and minutes (for example, 0:30 for 30 minutes). Paid breaks stay out of the break columns.
At the end of the week, a manager signs off in the "Approved by" field before the time card goes to payroll.
To make a time card for another employee or week, right-click the Time card tab, select Move or Copy, and tick Create a copy.
What's included?
This time card calculator covers one week, with a row for each day and two columns for unpaid breaks, so a lunch break and a tea break both come off. Shifts that cross midnight are calculated automatically and marked as overnight. Two more tabs sit alongside the time card: How to use it, with step-by-step instructions, and Decimal hours.
You set the hourly rate, the overtime multiplier (default 1.5) and the weekly hours before overtime starts (default 40). There's no statutory overtime rate in the UK, so set both to match the contract.
Two checks run as you type. Any shift over 6 hours with no break of 20 minutes or more in the break columns is flagged (if the break is paid, check it was taken), and average hourly pay is compared against the minimum wage rate you enter. From 1 April 2026, the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20, and £8.00 for 16 to 17 and apprentices. The Decimal hours tab converts hours and minutes to decimal, with a table for every minute from 0 to 59. The break check uses the adult rule: workers under 18 are entitled to a 30-minute break after 4.5 hours, so check those shifts yourself.
Need two weeks per sheet with a daily overtime limit? Our staff timesheet template does that.
Tired of chasing time cards? Timetastic Rota & Time Clock builds the timesheet as your team clocks in, matched against the rota and ready for payroll. Weighing up your options? Here's how the time tracking tools UK teams use compare.
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The policy wording
FAQ
How do I calculate hours worked from a time card?
For each day, subtract the clock-in time from the clock-out time, take off unpaid breaks, then add the days together. A 09:00 to 17:30 shift with a 30-minute unpaid break is 8 hours. Adding by hand? Total the minutes separately and carry every 60 into an hour.
How much is 30 minutes on a time card?
Thirty minutes is 0.5 hours in decimal, or 0:30 in hours and minutes. Use the decimal when you multiply by an hourly rate: at £12.71 an hour, 30 minutes is worth £6.36. Keep hours and minutes on the time card itself, so nobody mistakes 7.30 for seven and a half hours.
Should unpaid breaks be deducted on a time card?
Yes, unpaid breaks come off the hours worked, but paid breaks stay in. Under the rest break rules, anyone working more than 6 hours a day gets one uninterrupted 20-minute break, and whether it's paid depends on their contract. Our guide to rest break entitlements covers the other types of break.
How do I convert hours and minutes to decimal for payroll?
Divide the minutes by 60 and add the result to the whole hours, so 7 hours 55 minutes is 7.92. The common ones: 15 minutes is 0.25, 20 is 0.33, 30 is 0.50, 40 is 0.67 and 45 is 0.75. Watch for 7.30 on a timesheet. In decimal, that's 7 hours 18 minutes, not seven and a half.
How long do UK employers need to keep working time records?
Two years for working time records (the 48-hour and night work limits), three years after the end of the tax year for payroll records, and six years for minimum wage records. The two years comes from regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations, the three from HMRC's PAYE record rules, and the six from HMRC's minimum wage manual for records from 1 April 2021. Since 6 April 2026, holiday and holiday pay records also have to be kept for six years under regulation 16B. Time cards for hourly staff feed all of these, so six years is the safe bet.
What's the difference between a time card and a timesheet?
A time card records one person's clock-in and clock-out times, while a timesheet records the hours they worked, often summarised for approval and payroll. Oxford defines a time card as a card where hours worked "are recorded, usually by a machine", and a timesheet as a paper or electronic record of hours worked. It labels time card as especially North American English; in the UK you'll also hear clock card. Here's what a UK timesheet should include.
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