Everhour tracks time off and timesheet totals, but lunch deductions still need the right paid-versus-unpaid treatment.
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A lunch deduction answers one narrow payroll question: how many hours remain after an unpaid meal period comes out of the gross shift span. Start with clock-in and clock-out times, subtract the lunch duration, then use the net paid hours for pay, billing, or weekly totals. The calculation does not decide whether the meal period was legally unpaid. That decision comes from the relieved-of-duty facts, state law, and employer policy.
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. If the employee answers calls, covers a desk, drives between jobs, or performs duties while eating, that time stays in paid hours.
Use this formula for a same-day shift: paid hours = clock-out time minus clock-in time minus unpaid lunch. A 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM shift has a 10-hour gross span. Subtract a 1-hour unpaid lunch, and the paid total is 9 hours. At $30.50 per hour, straight-time pay for that day is $274.50 before taxes, deductions, overtime, or premiums.
Overnight shifts use the same rule after you account for the date change. A 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM shift has an 8-hour gross span, not a negative number. Subtract only the unpaid meal period after the span is correct. For payroll, convert minutes by dividing by 60. A 45-minute unpaid lunch equals 0.75 hours, so an 8-hour span with that lunch becomes 7.75 paid hours.
The common mistake is treating every pause as lunch. Short rest breaks stay paid under the federal baseline when the employer provides them and they usually last about 5 to 20 minutes. A 15-minute coffee break does not reduce paid hours. A 30-minute meal period can reduce paid hours only when the employee is completely relieved from duty for that meal period.
State law or employer policy can add stricter meal-break rules, premium pay, or required documentation. Keep the arithmetic separate from the rule source. The calculator can subtract a 30-minute meal from a 9-hour span, but the timesheet reviewer must know whether that meal was actually unpaid. Covered, nonexempt employees still need the weekly overtime check after lunch deductions are applied to each workweek.
A one-off calculation is enough when you need to fix one shift, verify a single time card, or estimate daily paid hours before sending a correction. The required inputs are simple: start time, end time, unpaid lunch length, and any paid breaks that should remain in the total. After that, roll the net hours into the fixed workweek if overtime is relevant.
A managed workflow fits recurring payroll review better. Everhour Time Off keeps vacation, sick leave, holidays, and custom leave types next to tracked work time, and time-off hours can flow into team timesheet gross totals. For lunch deductions, pair that context with timecards, approvals, locked periods, and payroll exports so managers review work hours, leave, and corrections before payroll uses the totals.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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Subtract lunch after calculating the gross span from clock-in to clock-out. A 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM shift has an 8-hour gross span. A 30-minute unpaid lunch reduces that to 7.5 paid hours. Paid short breaks stay in the total, so only the unpaid meal period comes out.
A working lunch counts as paid time under the federal baseline when the employee performs duties while eating. A bona fide meal period is generally unpaid only when the employee is completely relieved from duty. Answering phones, monitoring a counter, driving, or continuing job tasks means the time remains hours worked.
Lunch deductions affect overtime only through the weekly paid-hours total. 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. Hours cannot be averaged across multiple workweeks to avoid overtime.
Short rest breaks usually about 5 to 20 minutes stay paid when an employer provides them under the federal baseline. They count as compensable hours worked and count toward weekly overtime. Lunch and meal periods use a different test: the employee must be completely relieved from duty for the time to be unpaid.
Federal time-clock rounding can use the nearest 5 minutes, tenth, or quarter-hour only when it averages out over time and does not underpay employees for actual hours worked. Apply a neutral rounding policy consistently, then subtract the unpaid lunch. A rounding practice that repeatedly removes paid time creates payroll risk.
Everhour Time Off tracks vacations, sick leave, holidays, and custom leave types with partial-day options, accrual, carryover, and per-employee balances. Time-off hours can flow into team timesheet gross totals, giving payroll reviewers a clearer split between worked time, approved leave, and unpaid meal deductions.
Everhour timecards can record clock-in, clock-out, breaks, and auto clock-out behavior for daily, weekly, and monthly work-hour review. Managers can review and approve weekly timecards, then export team timesheet data in PDF, CSV, or XLSX for payroll or archive workflows.
Track approved time off and reviewed work hours in Everhour, then send cleaner timesheet totals into payroll review with fewer manual corrections and clearer paid-time context.
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