Everhour tracks work hours and breaks, but lunch deductions still need the right paid-versus-unpaid rule.
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A lunch break deduction answers one practical payroll question: how many paid hours remain after an unpaid meal period comes out of the shift. The calculation starts with clock-in and clock-out times, subtracts the unpaid lunch duration, and produces decimal hours for payroll, job costing, or a weekly timesheet total.
Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks for adult employees. When an employer provides short breaks, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, federal law treats them as compensable hours worked. A bona fide meal period is generally unpaid only when the employee is completely relieved from duty.
The key decision is whether the lunch period is unpaid at all. A 30-minute or longer meal period generally comes out of paid time only when the employee is completely relieved from duty. An employee who answers calls, watches a desk, handles customers, or keeps working while eating is still recording hours worked.
Employer policy and state law can add stricter break requirements, premium-pay rules, or documentation standards. Federal arithmetic stays separate: short paid breaks remain in the total, bona fide unpaid meal periods come out, and hours worked include required duty time plus additional work the employer allows or permits.
Use this formula for one shift: paid hours = clock span minus unpaid lunch hours. Convert lunch minutes to decimal hours before subtracting. Minutes become decimal hours by dividing by 60, so 45 minutes equals 0.75 hours, and 30 minutes equals 0.50 hours.
For example, an employee is on site from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM, a 9-hour span, and takes a 45-minute unpaid lunch. The paid total is 9 minus 0.75, or 8.25 hours. At $38 per hour, straight-time pay for that shift is $313.50.
A single lunch deduction is enough when you need to check one shift, correct one timesheet line, or explain a payroll adjustment. A durable workflow becomes necessary when employees clock in and out daily, managers approve breaks, and payroll needs the same totals every pay period.
Everhour timecards support daily, weekly, and monthly work-hour totals, including clock-in, clock-out, breaks, and exports for payroll review. That workflow gives managers a repeatable record instead of rebuilding each lunch deduction from scattered timesheet notes.
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Subtract only the unpaid lunch duration from the total clock span. A 9-hour span with a 30-minute unpaid lunch becomes 8.50 paid hours. Short breaks provided by an employer, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, stay in paid hours under federal law.
A 30-minute lunch is generally unpaid only when the employee is completely relieved from duty. Work performed while eating still counts as hours worked. State law, employer policy, or a contract can require additional treatment, but the federal unpaid meal test focuses on relief from duty.
Lunch deductions affect overtime when they change the paid hours in the fixed workweek. Covered, nonexempt employees in the United States must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed workweek, at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate.
A timesheet should not deduct lunch time that included work. Hours worked include required duty time and additional work the employer allows or permits, including unscheduled work before or after a shift. A worked-through lunch remains compensable under the federal hours-worked rule.
Payroll math usually needs decimal hours. Convert minutes by dividing by 60, so 15 minutes equals 0.25, 30 minutes equals 0.50, and 45 minutes equals 0.75. Treating 45 minutes as 0.45 undercounts paid time because clock minutes use base 60.
Everhour timecards record clock-in, clock-out, breaks, and daily, weekly, or monthly work-hour totals for payroll review. Managers can compare working hours with project hours, review Team Hours reporting, and export approved timecard data in PDF, CSV, or XLSX formats.
Use Everhour timecards to capture clock-in, clock-out, and break records, then review daily and weekly totals before payroll with Everhour timecard exports.
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