China timesheets need clean meal deductions and overtime separation. Everhour turns scheduled work into reviewable time records.
Enter your daily hours and rate to instantly calculate total hours, regular pay, and any overtime — no spreadsheet needed.
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
A meal-break calculation answers one payroll question: after subtracting unpaid meal or rest time, how many payable working hours remain for the day, week, or pay period? In China, that answer sits inside a standard working-time framework of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week under the State Council regulation and official workforce guidance.
China's national Labor Law and State Council working-hours regulation do not set one universal meal-break duration for ordinary adult employees. An ILO working-time review describes rest and meal breaks as generally starting after about 4 hours of work, lasting 1 to 2 hours depending on the job, with at least 30 minutes excluded from working time.
Use this formula for a daily entry: end time minus start time minus unpaid meal or rest time equals paid working time. For a 09:00 to 18:00 shift with a 1-hour unpaid meal break, elapsed time is 9 hours. Paid working time is 8 hours. At ¥42 per hour, straight-time pay equals ¥336 before taxes, deductions, overtime premiums, or statutory-holiday premiums.
Keep the break category separate from the wage calculation. A 20-minute work break is different from a meal break if the worker remains on working time. The ILO review notes that some Chinese enterprises provide 20-minute morning and afternoon work breaks after about 2 hours of work, and those work breaks count as working time.
Meal-break math gets risky when one timesheet mixes ordinary hours, rest-day work, and statutory-holiday work. China's Labor Law requires at least 150% of normal wages for extended working hours, 200% for rest-day work when compensatory leave is not arranged, and 300% for work on statutory holidays. A single total hides which multiplier applies.
The common mistake is subtracting every break first, then applying one premium rate to the remaining total. Instead, assign each paid hour to its correct category after removing only unpaid meal or rest time. Ordinary work, extended working hours, rest-day work, and statutory-holiday work need separate lines before payroll review.
A one-off calculator is enough for checking a daily entry, correcting a missed meal deduction, or confirming that a 24-hour time entry converts cleanly into paid hours. It is also enough when the worker's schedule stays inside ordinary daily and weekly limits, with no rest-day or statutory-holiday work in the period.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when calendar events, submitted timesheets, approvals, and payroll handoff all need the same source record. Everhour's calendar integration can turn Google, Outlook, and iCloud calendar events into timesheet entries within a configurable time window, excluding all-day, recurring, and pre-connection events.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
China's national Labor Law and State Council working-hours regulation do not specify one universal meal-break or rest-break duration for ordinary adult employees. They set working-hour caps, weekly rest, holidays, and overtime rules. Workplace policy, contract terms, local practice, and approved working-hour systems still need review before treating a break as unpaid.
Short work breaks can stay in paid working time. The ILO review notes that some enterprises provide 20-minute morning and afternoon work breaks after about 2 hours of work, and those breaks count as working time. Meal or rest breaks are treated differently when at least 30 minutes are excluded from working time.
Yes. An unpaid meal or rest deduction reduces paid working time, which can change whether hours fall inside ordinary time or extended working hours. China also applies different premiums for extended working hours, rest-day work without compensatory leave, and statutory-holiday work, so the deduction must happen before assigning hours to those categories.
Rest-day work should sit on a separate line from ordinary work. China's Labor Law requires at least 200% of normal wages for rest-day work when compensatory leave is not arranged. A meal break taken during that rest-day shift still needs its own unpaid or paid treatment before the premium calculation.
China workplace records commonly use 24-hour time, so entries such as 09:00, 13:00, and 18:00 reduce conversion mistakes. A calculator can subtract start time, end time, and unpaid meal time directly. Mixed AM/PM notation creates avoidable errors when a shift crosses noon or runs into the evening.
Everhour integrates with Google, Outlook, and iCloud calendars. Each calendar event with a defined start and end can become a timesheet entry within a configurable 15-minute to 3-hour window, while all-day, recurring, and pre-connection events are excluded.
Everhour timecards can track clock-in, clock-out, breaks, and automatic clock-out behavior. Weekly timecards can be submitted and approved, and team timesheet data can be exported as PDF, CSV, or XLSX for payroll review.
Use calendar-backed entries, approved timecards, and payroll-ready exports when repeated China meal-break calculations need reviewable records. Everhour keeps the handoff organized for payroll review.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime
