Time Card Calculator with Lunch Break

Use this time card calculator with lunch break deductions to total employee hours after unpaid meal breaks. Enter clock-in time, clock-out time, lunch minutes, and optional hourly pay. The calculator shows paid hours, gross hours, break time, regular hours, overtime hours, and estimated gross pay.

This page is for the common payroll problem where the clock record shows the full shift, but lunch or meal time should be unpaid. If you do not need break detail, use the hours calculator. For a broader employee time card workflow, use the time card calculator.

How to Use the Lunch Break Calculator

Lunch Break Formula

Gross shift time = Clock out - Clock in
Paid shift time = Gross shift time - Unpaid lunch break
Weekly paid hours = Sum of paid shift time

For example, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM is 8.5 gross hours. With a 30-minute unpaid lunch, paid time is 8.0 hours.

Example Time Card with Lunch

If the employee earns $22 per hour, gross pay for this example is 38.5 x $22 = $847 before deductions.

Lunch Break Payroll Notes

Meal and rest break rules vary by location, industry, age, union agreement, and workplace policy. This calculator only performs the math. It does not decide whether a break should be paid, whether a meal penalty applies, or whether a time record satisfies local wage rules.

For payroll review, a useful sequence is: collect clock records, subtract unpaid lunches here, review overtime with the overtime calculator, then enter approved hours into payroll.