Everhour tracks mobile time entries and breaks, while this page explains the arithmetic behind paid hours.
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A mobile break calculation answers one practical question: how many hours should be paid after break time is handled correctly. Start with the gross span from clock-in to clock-out, then subtract only unpaid break time. Short breaks provided by an employer, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, are compensable hours worked under federal law and count toward weekly overtime.
The break label matters less than the work status during the break. A bona fide meal period is generally unpaid only when it lasts 30 minutes or more and the employee is completely relieved from duty. An employee who answers calls, watches a counter, drives, or performs duties while eating is still working, so that time stays in paid hours.
Use this formula for a single shift: gross shift hours minus unpaid break hours equals paid hours. Gross shift hours come from the clock-out time minus the clock-in time. Unpaid break hours come from break minutes divided by 60. Paid short breaks stay inside the gross span because federal law treats them as compensable hours worked when an employer provides them.
For example, an employee works from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, takes two paid 15-minute rest breaks, takes one unpaid 30-minute relieved-of-duty meal period, and earns $22.80 per hour. The gross span is 9 hours. Only the unpaid meal period is deducted, so paid time is 8.50 hours. Straight-time pay equals $193.80 before taxes, deductions, overtime premiums, or state-specific premium pay.
Mobile time entries usually arrive as short date and time fields, such as 6/6/26 and 8:30 AM. The AM/PM marker controls the result, especially for afternoon starts, evening ends, and shifts that cross midnight. A break entered as 30 minutes must become 0.50 hours, since payroll decimal time uses minutes divided by 60.
Rounding creates another common mobile-entry mistake. Federal time-clock rounding may 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. A phone screen that rounds every punch downward creates a pay problem. Keep original punches available before applying any neutral rounding rule.
A one-off calculator is enough when you need to check one shift, correct one mobile entry, or explain one break deduction. It gives the paid-hour total quickly, but it does not prove who entered the time, whether a manager approved it, or whether the same rule was applied across the workweek.
A managed workflow matters when mobile punches feed payroll, client billing, or overtime review. Everhour Time Tracking captures task and project hours through timers or manual entries, works inside common project tools, and feeds timesheets, reporting, budgeting, invoicing, and payroll review. Admin controls also support approvals, locked periods, reminders, and automatic timer stop rules.
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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A break entry should be deducted only when it is unpaid under the applicable rule or policy. Under federal law, short breaks provided by an employer, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, are paid hours worked. A meal period is generally unpaid only when it lasts 30 minutes or more and the employee is completely relieved from duty.
Phone-based AM and PM entries control the gross span before breaks are deducted. An entry of 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM equals 9 hours, while 8:30 PM to 5:30 AM crosses midnight and still needs a correct elapsed-time calculation. Break deductions should be applied after the gross span is calculated.
Short rest breaks generally should not be removed from paid time under the federal baseline when an employer provides them and they last about 5 to 20 minutes. Those breaks are compensable hours worked and count toward weekly overtime. State law or employer policy can add stricter requirements, but it cannot erase covered federal pay protections.
The fastest payroll mistake is treating minutes as decimals. A 30-minute break equals 0.50 hours, not 0.30 hours. A 45-minute break equals 0.75 hours. Decimal time uses minutes divided by 60, so every mobile break entry should be converted before subtracting it from gross shift hours.
Break deductions can change the weekly total used for overtime, but only unpaid nonworking break time should be removed. 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 of pay.
Everhour Time Tracking lets users log time with live timers or manual entries, including through web, browser extension, iOS, Android, and macOS options. Those entries feed timesheets, reports, budgets, invoices, and payroll review so managers can review tracked work time before using it downstream.
Everhour supports approval and locked-period controls for submitted time. Managers can approve, reject, or partially approve timesheets, and admins can lock completed periods or approved time so regular members cannot change entries after payroll, billing, or reporting review.
Track mobile time entries, review break deductions, and lock approved periods before payroll or billing. Everhour turns recurring break calculations into controlled time records.
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