8 Hour Shift Calculator

This 8 hour shift calculator works out exactly when your shift finishes from the time you start, the paid hours you are rostered for, and the length of your unpaid break. It also shows the total time you spend at work each day, which is longer than your paid hours whenever the meal break is unpaid, and your paid hours across the week based on how many shifts you work. The classic example is the 9 to 5:30 day: an 8 hour paid shift starting at 9:00 am with a 30 minute unpaid lunch has you clocking off at 5:30 pm, not 5:00 pm, and that half hour catches plenty of people out when they plan childcare, transport or a second job. The calculator is not locked to 8 hours either. Change the shift length to 7.5, 10 or 12 hours to model compressed weeks, healthcare rosters or trade site hours, and adjust the break to match your workplace: set it to zero if your breaks are paid or included in the rostered hours. Shift workers, new starters comparing job offers, and anyone writing a roster can use it to sense-check start and finish times before committing to them.

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hours
minutes
shifts
5:30 pm
your shift finish time
Paid hours per shift8 h
Time at work per shift8 h 30 m
Paid hours per week40 h

Your 8 hour paid shift starting at 9:00 am with a 30 minute unpaid break finishes at 5:30 pm. Over 5 shifts that is 40 h of paid time a week.

Set the break to 0 if your breaks are paid or already included in the shift length. Check your employment agreement for your break entitlements.

How it works

The finish time is your start time plus the paid shift length plus the unpaid break, because unpaid break time extends the day without adding to your pay. The calculator converts everything to minutes, adds it up, and converts back to a clock time, rolling past midnight where needed for night shifts and flagging the finish as the next day. Time at work per shift is the paid hours plus the unpaid break, which is the door to door figure that matters for planning travel and childcare. Paid hours per week multiplies the paid shift length by the number of shifts you work, and ignores breaks entirely because they are unpaid. If your workplace pays your breaks, or quotes shift lengths door to door with breaks inside them, set the unpaid break to zero and the finish time becomes simply start time plus shift length. The calculator accepts decimal hours, so 7.5 means 7 hours 30 minutes and 8.25 means 8 hours 15 minutes.

Worked example

Take the default shift: you start at 9:00 am, you are rostered for 8 paid hours, and you take a 30 minute unpaid lunch. Your time at work is 8 hours plus 30 minutes, which is 8 h 30 m door to door, so the finish time is 9:00 am plus 8.5 hours, which is 5:30 pm. Working 5 of those shifts gives 8 x 5, which is 40 paid hours a week, the standard NZ full-time week. Now change the start to 10:00 pm for a night shift: the same 8.5 hours at work means you clock off at 6:30 am the next day, and the calculator labels the finish accordingly. Shorten the break to 0 minutes and the 9:00 am start finishes at 5:00 pm instead, an easy way to see what a paid lunch is worth in time.

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Frequently asked questions

What time does an 8 hour shift finish if it starts at 9am?

With a 30 minute unpaid meal break, an 8 hour paid shift starting at 9:00 am finishes at 5:30 pm, because you are at work for 8 and a half hours in total. If the break is paid, or there is no break, the same shift finishes at 5:00 pm.

Does an 8 hour shift include the lunch break?

Usually not. In most workplaces an 8 hour shift means 8 paid working hours, with an unpaid meal break added on top, so you are on site for longer than 8 hours. Some employers instead roster 8 hours door to door and pay 7.5 hours. Your employment agreement or roster should say which applies, and this calculator handles either: set the break to zero if your break is paid or included.

Are breaks paid in New Zealand?

New Zealand employment law entitles workers to rest breaks and meal breaks based on hours worked. Short rest breaks are commonly paid, while the longer meal break is commonly unpaid, but the law leaves the detail to your employment agreement, so check what yours says about the number, length and payment of breaks on your shift.