How to calculate overnight shift hours
Split the shift at midnight, add the two durations, then subtract unpaid breaks. Keep the next-day date visible so the end time is not mistaken for an earlier time on the same day.
Example: 10:15 PM to 6:45 AM with a 30-minute break
10:15 PM to midnight is 1 hour 45 minutes. Midnight to 6:45 AM is 6 hours 45 minutes. Together they make 8 hours 30 minutes. Subtract the 30-minute unpaid break to get 8 hours worked.
Calculate your overnight shift
Enter both times in the calculator, select Ends next day, and enter the unpaid break in minutes.
Calculate it using minutes
For one continuous period that starts today and ends tomorrow, convert each clock time to minutes after midnight. In 24-hour time, 10:15 PM is 22:15, or 1,335 minutes. 6:45 AM is 405 minutes.
Elapsed minutes = (1,440 − start minutes) + end minutes Worked minutes = elapsed minutes − unpaid break minutes Example: (1,440 − 1,335) + 405 − 30 = 480 minutes 480 ÷ 60 = 8.00 hours
The extra 1,440 minutes represents crossing into the next day. Do not add it for a shift that starts and ends on the same date.
Night-shift examples
| Shift | Unpaid break | Hours worked | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 PM–5:45 AM | 45 min | 7h 30m | 7.50 |
| 10:15 PM–6:45 AM | 30 min | 8h 00m | 8.00 |
| 11:40 PM–7:10 AM | 20 min | 7h 10m | 7.17* |
| 7:00 PM–7:00 AM | 60 min | 11h 00m | 11.00 |
*7.17 is rounded to two decimal places. The exact duration is 430 minutes. Keep minutes for adding several shifts.
Which day should the shift go on?
In HourSprout's time card calculator, enter a continuous overnight period on the day it started and select Ends next day. A Monday 10:00 PM–Tuesday 6:00 AM period belongs in Monday's row for this tool.
If a separate work period starts after midnight, put that period on the following day's row. For example, Monday 10:00 PM–Tuesday 2:00 AM plus Tuesday 2:30 AM–6:00 AM gives 4 hours + 3 hours 30 minutes = 7 hours 30 minutes. The 30-minute gap has already been excluded; do not deduct it again.
HourSprout assigns each period to its start-day row; it does not split a continuous overnight period at a workweek boundary. If your records require that split, enter the two dated portions separately and check each weekly total.
Four things to check before using the total
- AM/PM: 12:00 AM is midnight; 12:00 PM is noon. Use the 24-hour time chart if the labels are confusing.
- Breaks: subtract only the duration you intend to treat as unpaid. See the lunch-break guide for the two entry methods.
- Dates: an earlier end time alone does not prove a shift is overnight. Check the record before selecting the next-day option.
- Clock changes: these tools use the clock times entered. They do not account for daylight-saving transitions or travel between time zones; use dated, timezone-aware records for those shifts.
Planning a night shift instead?
If you know the start time and required working duration, use the clock-out calculator. Starting at 10:15 PM and working 8 hours with a 30-minute unpaid break gives a planned clock-out of 6:45 AM next day.
For paper records, download a weekly or biweekly timesheet and write the next-day date beside each overnight end time.
Prepared by HourSprout · Updated September 15, 2026. See our calculation methodology.