How do I use the biweekly time card calculator?
- Pick the first day of the pay period. Rows run Monday to Sunday for week 1, then week 2. If your workweek starts on another day, enter days in workweek order.
- Enter clock-in and clock-out times for each day worked, plus unpaid break minutes. Overnight shifts go on the day they start.
- Add your hourly rate and check the overtime threshold (40 hours per week under federal law).
- Read the week 1 and week 2 subtotals, then the pay period total, overtime and gross pay. Export CSV or print for payroll.
Why does each week get its own overtime?
Most U.S. employers pay every two weeks, but the Fair Labor Standards Act measures overtime by the workweek: a fixed, recurring 168-hour period the employer chooses. Hours over 40 in that week earn at least 1.5 times the regular rate, and a short week cannot cancel out a long one. That is the most common mistake on two-week timesheets: adding all 14 days, seeing 80 hours and assuming there is no overtime. This calculator keeps a separate overtime count for each 7-day block and adds them together, so the pay matches the federal rule.
One narrow exception: hospitals and residential care facilities may use the "8 and 80" system, which pays overtime after 8 hours in a day or 80 hours in a 14-day period (29 CFR 778.601). It requires an agreement with the employee before the work is done, so if you are not sure which rule applies, ask payroll. California and a few other states also add daily overtime; use the overtime calculator in daily mode for those rules.
Worked examples
Example 1: 45 hours, then 35 hours
Week 1: five 9-hour days = 45:00. Week 2: five 7-hour days = 35:00. The pay period totals 80:00, but week 1 alone has 5:00 overtime. At $20/hour: 75 regular hours = $1,500.00, 5 overtime hours × $30 = $150.00, gross $1,650.00. Treating the 80 hours as one block would pay $1,600.00, which shortchanges the worker by $50.00.
Example 2: a standard 80-hour pay period
Ten days of 8:00 AM–4:30 PM with a 30-minute lunch. Each day is 8:00, each week is 40:00 and the period is 80:00 with no overtime. At $18/hour gross pay is $1,440.00.
Example 3: 8.5-hour days in week 1 only
Week 1: five days of 8:30 = 42:30 (2:30 overtime). Week 2: five days of 8:00 = 40:00. At $22/hour: $1,760.00 regular + $82.50 overtime = $1,842.50.
How do I fill out a two-week timesheet correctly?
- Record actual punch times, not rounded estimates. If your employer rounds, see the time clock rounding calculator.
- Write each overnight shift on the day it started so it is counted in the right workweek.
- Payroll usually wants decimal hours. 7:45 is 7.75, not 7.45. See the time to decimal converter.
- Prefer paper? Download a printable biweekly timesheet with your dates filled in.
For a single week, use the main time card calculator. To see what a biweekly paycheck adds up to over a year, try the hourly to salary calculator.