What this page sets up
The calculator opens with each workday starting at 6:00 PM instead of midnight, the setup many night crews use. A shift from 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM then stays in one workday, on the row of the night it started, instead of being split across two dates. That matters for daily overtime rules like California’s and for seeing your nights as nights.
The same setting also starts the workweek at 6:00 PM on Sunday, because a workweek begins with its first workday. That changes weekly overtime. Six nights, Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM with a 30-minute break are 48 hours and 8 of overtime in a workweek that starts Sunday at 6 PM. With a midnight start, Saturday’s hours after midnight belong to the next workweek, so the same week is 42 hours and 2 of overtime. A day shift on Sunday before 6 PM would count in the previous workweek. Your employer’s workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring 168 hours (29 CFR 778.105): keep 6:00 PM only if that’s when yours starts, and otherwise switch the workday start back to 12:00 AM under More settings.
Type the shift on the day it starts with its real times. An Out earlier than the In ends the next morning, and a warning appears only if a shift would run longer than 16 hours, which usually means AM and PM are swapped. The example card has five nights of eight hours after a 30-minute break and a longer Friday night: 48 hours, 8 of them overtime.
When the clocks change
With US daylight saving time on, the calculator counts elapsed time. A shift across the November change includes the repeated hour, and one across the March change loses an hour. The table below lists the next changes. If you work in Arizona or Hawaii, where the clocks don’t change, set daylight saving to None.
If your workday starts at midnight
Many employers never set a workday or workweek start, and then both usually begin at midnight. Switch the workday start back to 12:00 AM to match. The hours after midnight then count on the next date, and a Saturday night’s hours after midnight go to the next workweek and the next card. Each card starts with the day before it, so nothing is counted twice or lost.
The example card, worked out
This is what the example button above fills in on the card for Sep 20 – 26, 2026, calculated by the tool and workdays starting at 6:00 PM.
| Day | In – Out | Unpaid break | Hours | Overtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 10:00 PM – 6:30 AM | 30 min | 8:00 | |
| Mon | 10:00 PM – 6:30 AM | 30 min | 8:00 | |
| Tue | 10:00 PM – 6:30 AM | 30 min | 8:00 | |
| Wed | 10:00 PM – 6:30 AM | 30 min | 8:00 | |
| Thu | 10:00 PM – 6:30 AM | 30 min | 8:00 | |
| Fri | 10:00 PM – 6:00 AM | 8:00 | 8:00 |
Pay period total: 48:00 (48.00 hours): 40:00 regular, 8:00 overtime.
Daylight saving changes ahead
A 10 PM to 6 AM shift over each change, as the calculator counts it with US daylight saving time on:
| Night of | Change at 2:00 AM | 10 PM – 6 AM |
|---|---|---|
| Sat, Oct 31, 2026 | Clocks fall back (Sunday morning) | 9:00 hours |
| Sat, Mar 13, 2027 | Clocks spring forward (Sunday morning) | 7:00 hours |
| Sat, Nov 6, 2027 | Clocks fall back (Sunday morning) | 9:00 hours |
| Sat, Mar 11, 2028 | Clocks spring forward (Sunday morning) | 7:00 hours |
| Sat, Nov 4, 2028 | Clocks fall back (Sunday morning) | 9:00 hours |
| Sat, Mar 10, 2029 | Clocks spring forward (Sunday morning) | 7:00 hours |