Work Hours & Overtime
Work Hours Calculator
Calculate shift loadings, overtime and gross pay.
Work Hours
What hourly rate do you have?
Does this hourly rate already include casual loading?
Use the first day of the work week in your award, agreement or payroll.
Enter the ordinary rate shown in your agreement or payslip.
Shifts this week
Reviewed by Ashma Ghimire, ASA, CPA AustraliaLast reviewed 4 August 2026
How this work hours calculator works
Each shift is calculated individually
For every day you enter, the calculator measures the time between start and finish, deducts the unpaid break, and stores both gross and net hours. All shifts are then summed in roster order, with any configured Loading 1 or Loading 2 rate added to the ordinary hours on the tagged shift. The daily breakdown then reconciles to the period total.
Overnight shifts are handled automatically
If a shift ends after midnight, simply enter the next-day finish time. When the end time is earlier than the start time, the tool treats it as an overnight shift and adds 24 hours before calculating the duration.
Overtime is a planning estimate
The overtime result is based on the weekly threshold and multiplier you choose. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, maximum weekly hours include ordinary hours plus reasonable additional hours. Your award or enterprise agreement may set daily overtime triggers, penalty rates for weekends and public holidays, or different multiplier stacking rules. Enter the applicable threshold and confirm the specifics with your award or payroll system before relying on this result for pay decisions.
Australian standard work hours
In Australia, the National Employment Standards (NES) set maximum weekly hours for full-time employees and allow reasonable additional hours. Your award, agreement or employment terms may define how ordinary hours are arranged, so enter the threshold that applies to you. Ordinary hours also drive your paid leave — the annual leave calculator works out how much leave your working week accrues, in hours, days and weeks.
"Reasonable additional hours" is not a fixed number — it depends on the employee's role, the needs of the business, and any relevant Modern Award or enterprise agreement. Many awards also set daily overtime thresholds rather than relying solely on the weekly total. Use this calculator as a quick hours-worked and overtime estimator, then confirm the exact pay rules in your award or via the Fair Work Ombudsman before relying on the figures for payroll or dispute resolution.
Penalty rates, casual loading, and public holidays
Australian Modern Awards can pay higher rates for work at particular times or on particular days, or for extra hours. The loadings and penalties below vary by award, so confirm yours via Fair Work Ombudsman penalty rates or the relevant Modern Award.
Casual loading
Casual employees may receive a loading on top of the minimum hourly rate in place of some paid entitlements. Enter the rate you are paid, or choose the base-plus-casual input and provide the percentage from your award or agreement. No casual percentage is assumed.
Overtime rates
Overtime thresholds, multipliers and stepped rates vary between awards and agreements. Use the multiplier selector only when one rate applies to all overtime in the roster, and confirm it against your source.
Public holiday work
Public holiday rates vary by award and employment type. This calculator does not infer or preset those rates. Use a published rate or the Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay tools when a public-holiday rule is involved.
User-entered shift loading rules
Tag a row only after identifying the applicable rule, then enter an additional percentage, additional amount per hour, or final ordinary hourly rate. Percentage rules require an explicit payable, entered-base, or separate rate basis. Split a time-window shift at each boundary and enter an unpaid break in only the segment where it occurred.
This calculator applies shift loadings to ordinary hours only. A tagged row that also contains overtime is held for review unless you confirm that the loading stops on overtime minutes. Fixed per-shift, per-day and per-week amounts, stepped shift-loading rates, and successive/non-successive shift rules are not supported. Weekend and public-holiday rates are not automatically combined with shift loadings. Confirm mixed-penalty rosters with the Fair Work Ombudsman or your payroll team.
Converting hours to decimal time
Payroll systems typically express time in decimal hours rather than hours and minutes. To convert, divide the minutes by 60. For example, 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.5 decimal hours; 8 hours 45 minutes is 8.75 hours. This calculator displays results in both formats — the daily breakdown shows hours and minutes, while the summary and gross pay figures use decimal hours for easy payroll entry.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours is full-time in Australia?
The National Employment Standards set maximum weekly hours for full-time employees and allow reasonable additional hours. The exact ordinary-hours pattern can also depend on an award or enterprise agreement, so use the threshold stated in your employment terms rather than treating the calculator's starting value as an award rule.
How do I calculate hours worked from start and end times?
Subtract the start time from the end time, then deduct any unpaid meal or rest break. For example, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM with a 30-minute unpaid break equals 8.0 net hours worked. In decimal form that same shift is 8.0 hours — if the break were 45 minutes, the result would be 7.75 hours. This calculator does that arithmetic automatically for every shift you enter and sums them into a weekly total, so you can check an entire roster in one pass.
What is the standard overtime rate in Australia?
There is no single national overtime rate. The applicable threshold, multiplier, and treatment of weekday, weekend or public-holiday work depend on your award or enterprise agreement. Enter the rule from that source and confirm the result with your employer or the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Does this calculator handle overnight shifts?
Yes. If your shift ends after midnight, enter the next-day finish time exactly as it appears on your roster — for example, 2:00 AM for a shift that started at 10:00 PM the evening before. When the calculator detects that the end time is earlier than the start time, it adds 24 hours to the duration before computing net hours. Multi-night shifts spanning more than 24 hours should be split into separate day entries for accurate results.
How is weekly overtime calculated?
The calculator sums net hours across every shift entered for the week. Hours above the weekly threshold you enter are counted as overtime and priced at your chosen multiplier. Because award rules, roster patterns, daily triggers, and paid-break arrangements vary, treat the result as a planning estimate and confirm the specifics with your payroll team or award before using it for pay decisions.
What is casual loading and does it affect my hours calculation?
Casual loading is an addition to an underlying hourly rate that compensates for some entitlements casual employees do not receive. If you know your quoted ordinary rate, choose ‘Ordinary rate I’m paid’. If you know the base rate and casual percentage, enter both and the calculator will show the casual component separately. Percentage shift rules still need their own explicit rate basis because awards combine these payments differently.
Can I calculate shift loadings and penalty rates?
The calculator supports a user-entered additional percentage, additional amount per hour, or final ordinary hourly rate. Loading 1 and Loading 2 are your labels, not award classifications. Split time-window shifts at each boundary and allocate an unpaid break to only one segment. Weekend and public-holiday rates are not inferred. If a tagged row contains overtime, pay remains hidden unless you confirm that the loading stops on overtime minutes.
How do I convert hours and minutes to decimal hours?
Divide the minutes portion by 60 and add it to the hours. For example, 7 hours 30 minutes is 7 + (30 ÷ 60) = 7.5 decimal hours; 8 hours 45 minutes is 8.75 hours; 6 hours 15 minutes is 6.25 hours. Decimal hours are the standard input format for most Australian payroll systems and award-rate calculations because they let you multiply directly by an hourly rate without converting minutes separately. This calculator displays the weekly summary in decimal hours and the per-shift breakdown in both formats so you can copy whichever your payroll team needs.
Can I save or print my weekly timesheet?
This calculator runs entirely in your browser — no data is sent to a server. Your shift entries and settings are automatically saved to your browser's local storage and will reload the next time you visit on the same device. To clear saved data, use the 'Clear saved data' link below the input form. To save your timesheet as a document, use your browser's Print menu (Ctrl+P on Windows, ⌘+P on Mac) and choose 'Save as PDF' or send it directly to a printer. For shared timesheets or payroll submission, copy the weekly total and daily breakdown into the timesheet your employer requires.