Nearest five minutes
Punches recorded to the minute land on the closer five-minute mark: 0–2 minutes past a mark go back to it, 3–4 minutes go ahead to the next one.
Free time-card calculator
Time-Card Rounding: see what clock rounding adds or takes away.
Enter clock-in and clock-out times, pick a common rounding increment, and set exact worked time beside rounded time for the whole sample. You get the arithmetic only — never a ruling on legal compliance.
Runs in your browser. Clock punches, hourly rates, and the time differences it finds are not sent to a PayStubCheck server for calculation.
Set exact punches beside rounded punches
Enter each stretch of paid work on its own line. If an unpaid meal break has its own out and in punches, enter the work before and after the break as two lines so every punch is rounded on its own.
Exact time beside rounded time
Net difference for this sample—
Rounded total less exact total. A positive figure means the sample rounds up overall; a negative one means it rounds down overall.
Exact total—
Rounded total—
Increment used—
Pay difference (optional)—
Intervals rounded up—
Intervals rounded down—
Intervals unchanged—
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| Interval | Exact punches | Exact time | Rounded punches | Rounded time | Difference |
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Read one sample with caution
Federal guidance allows certain rounding practices only where, over time, they don’t leave employees underpaid for time actually worked. This calculator can show the arithmetic pattern in the intervals you enter, but a single sample can’t establish a policy’s long-run effect.
Stays in your browserNo clock punch or pay figure is sent to a PayStubCheck server for calculation.
Not a compliance verdictA policy is never called lawful, unlawful, compliant, or noncompliant.
Every punch shownEach interval lists the exact punches, the rounded punches, and the difference between them.
The federal rounding framework
Time-clock rounding, explained
Federal wage-and-hour guidance accepts that time clocks don’t always record pay time to the exact minute. Under 29 CFR 785.48(b), recording time to the nearest five minutes, tenth of an hour, or quarter hour has long been accepted where, over time, the practice doesn’t leave employees underpaid for all the time they actually worked.
The calculator’s modelRounded clock-in = exact clock-in rounded to the chosen increment
Rounded clock-out = exact clock-out rounded to the chosen increment
Interval difference = rounded elapsed time − exact elapsed time
Sample difference = total of every interval difference
Rounded clock-out = exact clock-out rounded to the chosen increment
Interval difference = rounded elapsed time − exact elapsed time
Sample difference = total of every interval difference
Why the whole sample matters
A rounding method can trim time from one interval and add it to another. The federal principle isn’t that each punch has to favor one side; it’s that, over the long run, employees aren’t left unpaid for time worked. So the tool adds up every interval instead of spotlighting one favorable or unfavorable punch.
Common increments
Rounding to 5 minutes, a tenth of an hour, or a quarter hour
The calculator covers the three increments federal guidance names. It doesn’t treat using one of them as proof that any particular policy is acceptable.
Nearest tenth of an hour
A tenth of an hour is six minutes, so each punch is rounded to the nearest six-minute mark.
Nearest quarter hour
With minute-level punches, 1–7 minutes past a quarter-hour mark round back, and 8–14 minutes round forward.
What official sources say
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Hours Worked Advisor explains that recording start and stop times to the nearest five minutes, tenth, or quarter hour can be acceptable when it averages out so employees are properly paid for all time worked. DOL Fact Sheet #53 also walks through quarter-hour rounding and cautions that always rounding down can breach minimum-wage and overtime requirements.
Sources last checked: August 30, 2026. Federal guidance isn’t the whole picture: how time is recorded and paid can also depend on state or local law, union agreements, employer policy, industry rules, and recent court rulings.
Reviewing time cards
How to look at a rounding pattern carefully
A single day shows how rounding works, but a longer sample tells you more about whether a practice drifts up, drifts down, or stays close to even.
Good uses for the calculator
- set exact and rounded elapsed time side by side, interval by interval;
- see whether the sample nets out up, down, or close to even;
- spot which intervals produced the biggest differences;
- estimate a simple pay difference at a single hourly rate;
- print the arithmetic for review or your records.
Don’t read the result as showing
- that all time between a pair of punches counts as work;
- that a single unfavorable sample amounts to a violation;
- that one favorable sample proves a policy complies;
- that federal guidance displaces a tougher state or local rule;
- that the optional pay estimate covers overtime or premiums.
How rounding interacts with overtime
Why a few minutes can matter near 40 hours
A few rounded minutes may look trivial on their own, but they add up and can change the hours recorded for a workweek. When someone is close to an overtime threshold, review the time total and the regular-rate calculation as two separate steps. This calculator deliberately stops at the time comparison; PayStubCheck’s Weighted Overtime Calculator handles the federal regular-rate math for multiple rates and includable pay.
Keep the two calculations apart
First settle the time total you’re reviewing. Then, if weekly hours pass 40 and federal overtime rules apply, use the right regular rate and premium calculation. Rolling rounding, overtime classification, shift premiums, bonuses, and state daily overtime into one automatic answer would take assumptions this tool is built to avoid.
Common questions
Time-Card Rounding: questions answered
How the calculation works, and how much one time-card comparison can tell you.
Where does the “7-minute rule” come from?
It’s shorthand for nearest-quarter-hour rounding with minute-level punches: 1–7 minutes past a quarter-hour mark round back, and 8–14 minutes past it round forward. The phrase doesn’t replace reading the full federal rule or any state law that applies.
How does a tenth of an hour become six minutes?
An hour has 60 minutes, so a tenth of it is 6. With that option chosen, each punch is rounded to the nearest six-minute mark.
Does it round each punch or the day’s total hours?
Each clock-in and clock-out is rounded separately, and then the rounded interval is measured. That way each punch’s effect is visible, rather than just rounding a total that’s already been added up.
What’s the right way to handle an unpaid lunch?
If lunch has its own clock-out and clock-in punches, enter the work before lunch and the work after lunch as two intervals. All four punches then take part in the comparison instead of an assumed break being subtracted.
Do overnight shifts work?
Yes. If the clock-out is earlier than or the same as the clock-in, it’s read as the next day. Each interval can run up to 24 hours.
If rounding comes out negative, has the employer violated the FLSA?
No. It only means the sample you entered has less rounded time than exact time. Federal guidance asks whether a rounding practice, over time, leaves employees underpaid for time actually worked, and other facts and laws can matter too.
Does the pay-difference estimate include overtime?
No. It multiplies the sample’s net difference in minutes by the one hourly rate you enter. It’s a simple arithmetic illustration that deliberately leaves out overtime premiums, shift premiums, bonuses, minimum-wage checks, and other pay rules.
Are my punches saved?
No. The math runs in your browser. Clock-in and clock-out times, hourly rates, and the differences found are not sent to a PayStubCheck server for calculation or kept in browser storage.