Time Card Rounding Calculator
Rounding is allowed — if it evens out. Compare rounded hours with your exact punches and see which way it goes for you.
Your time card
Sep 13 – Sep 19What a 40-hour-only calculator would have told you
$0.00For these hours in California, the federal rule gives the same answer. The difference shows up on long days.
The rounding rules
Federal rules let employers round punches to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour, as long as the rounding averages out over time so employees are paid for the time they actually work.
Quarter hour (the 7-minute rule): 1 to 7 minutes past the quarter hour round down, 8 to 14 round up. Tenth of an hour (6 minutes): 1 or 2 minutes past a tenth round down, 3 to 5 round up.
An example week
With a 30-minute unpaid lunch each day, this week is 42.93 hours exact, 43.00 with the 7-minute rule (+0.07) and 42.90 with tenth-hour rounding (−0.03). Some days round in your favour and some against — that is what neutral rounding looks like. If it always goes one way, it is worth a question.
| Day | In | Out | Exact | Quarter hour | Tenth hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 7:53 | 17:07 | 8.73 | 8.50 | 8.70 |
| Tuesday | 8:06 | 17:04 | 8.47 | 8.50 | 8.50 |
| Wednesday | 7:58 | 17:09 | 8.68 | 8.75 | 8.70 |
| Thursday | 8:04 | 16:53 | 8.32 | 8.50 | 8.30 |
| Friday | 7:52 | 17:06 | 8.73 | 8.75 | 8.70 |
Time Card Rounding Calculator: common questions
Is the 7-minute rounding rule legal?
Under federal rules, yes, if it is neutral: rounding to the nearest quarter hour must sometimes favor the employee and sometimes the employer, so that over time you are paid for all the time you actually worked. A system that only ever rounds in the employer's favor is not neutral, and some states are stricter still.
What is the tenth-hour rounding rule?
It rounds each punch to the nearest 6 minutes, a tenth of an hour. Punches 1 or 2 minutes past a tenth round down and 3 to 5 minutes round up, so 8:02 becomes 8:00 and 8:03 becomes 8:06. Payroll systems like it because every rounded punch converts to a clean decimal.
Does rounding apply to my break?
In this calculator, rounding applies to the clock-in and clock-out punches, and an unpaid break in minutes is subtracted afterwards, unrounded. With lunch punches, all four punches are rounded. If your employer handles breaks differently, compare the rounded and exact totals and ask how the time clock is configured.