Working Hours Calculator
How long did you actually work today, and what does that add up to over a week? Enter your start time, end time and break: the calculator shows your net working time in hours and minutes, as a decimal for your timesheet and projected to a week and a month. It also checks whether breaks, maximum hours and rest periods fit the German Working Hours Act.
Net working time per day
h
Example calculation with default valuesView sources
This working time fits the German Working Hours Act: at most eight hours a day and a sufficient break. Whether a collective agreement or works agreement says otherwise is beyond what the calculator can check.
Next step:Convert an hourly rate into a monthly salaryCalculate your statutory vacation entitlement in days
Your times
The time you started work.
If the end is before the start, the calculator assumes a night shift into the next day.
Enter each break separately: under §4 ArbZG only blocks of at least 15 minutes in one go count as rest breaks. Several breaks of 15 minutes or more may share one field.
Optional, 0 if there was no further break. Please enter short interruptions under 15 minutes one by one.
Optional, 0 if there was no further break.
For the weekly and monthly projection, with the same times every day.
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Your working time at a glance
- Time present from start to end
- 8:30 h
- Breaks and interruptions in total
- 30 min
- Net working time in decimal hours
- 8 hours (decimal)
- Statutory minimum break for this working time
- 30 min
- Working time per week
- 40:00 h
- Weekly hours in decimal
- 40 hours (decimal)
- Monthly hours on average
- 173.33 hours (decimal)
- Rest until the next start
- 15:30 h
Good to know
Timesheets and time tracking often convert minutes into decimal hours: minutes divided by 60. So 7 hours and 45 minutes become 7.75 hours, not 7.45.
The check against the Working Hours Act is information, not legal advice. Collective agreements, works agreements, exceptions under §§7, 10 and 18 ArbZG and the Youth Employment Protection Act can set different limits. The calculation assumes the same times on every working day and 52 divided by 12 weeks a month.
The link carries your inputs, not the result: whoever opens it calculates with the current figures.
How do I calculate my working hours?
Under §2 of the German Working Hours Act, working time is the time from the start to the end of work without rest breaks: end time minus start time minus rest breaks, so 8:00 to 16:30 with a 30 minute break is 8 hours, and anyone working more than six hours must take at least 30 minutes of break.
The formula
Net working time = end time minus start time minus rest breaks, meaning break blocks of 15 minutes or more. Decimal hours = hours plus minutes divided by 60, so 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours. Weekly hours = net working time times working days. Monthly hours = weekly hours times 52 divided by 12.
Worked example
Example: someone present for 8 hours and 30 minutes who takes 30 minutes of rest break works 8 hours and 0 minutes, or 8 decimal hours. On 5 days a week that is 40 hours a week and 173.33 hours a month on average.
Key figures for 2026
| Working time | start to end of work without rest breaks (§2 ArbZG) |
|---|---|
| Break | 30 minutes above 6 hours, 45 minutes above 9 hours (§4 ArbZG) |
| Break blocks | at least 15 minutes, never more than 6 hours in a row without a break |
| Maximum hours | 8 hours a day, up to 10 with compensation (§3 ArbZG) |
| Rest period | at least 11 hours between two working days (§5 ArbZG) |
| Decimal hours | 15 minutes = 0.25, 30 minutes = 0.5, 45 minutes = 0.75 |
Figures verified:
How the working hours calculator works
The calculation itself is simple: end time minus start time gives the time present, and the break comes off that. The result is working time in the sense of §2 ArbZG, which the law explicitly defines as the time from the start to the end of work without rest breaks. If your shift ends after midnight, the calculator automatically counts into the next day.
Timesheets, payroll and time tracking often need working time as a decimal. For that the minutes are divided by 60: 15 minutes are 0.25 hours, 30 minutes 0.5 and 45 minutes 0.75. A common mistake is to enter 7 hours 45 minutes as 7.45. The correct figure is 7.75 hours, otherwise 18 minutes go missing.
For breaks, §4 ArbZG applies: anyone working more than six hours must take at least 30 minutes, anyone working more than nine hours at least 45 minutes. The break may be split into blocks of at least 15 minutes, and nobody may work more than six hours in a row without one. What counts is the working time without the break.
The daily maximum under §3 ArbZG is eight hours on each working day, and working days are Monday to Saturday. Up to ten hours are allowed if the average over six months or 24 weeks comes back to eight hours. That gives 48 hours as the regular and 60 hours as the absolute weekly limit.
After work at least eleven hours of uninterrupted rest must follow (§5 ArbZG). If you work the same times on several days, your rest is 24 hours minus the time present. With more than 13 hours present that is no longer enough, and the calculator points it out.
The checks are deliberately worded as notes. Collective agreements may deviate under §7 ArbZG, senior executives are excluded under §18, and young people are covered by the stricter Youth Employment Protection Act. The calculator shows where the law draws the line in the normal case and does not replace a review of your contract.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I convert minutes into decimal hours?
- Divide the minutes by 60 and add the result to the full hours. 7 hours and 45 minutes are 7 plus 45 divided by 60, i.e. 7.75 hours. 20 minutes give 0.33 hours, 40 minutes 0.67 hours.
- How much break am I entitled to in Germany?
- At least 30 minutes for more than six and up to nine hours of work, at least 45 minutes for more than nine hours (§4 ArbZG). The break can be split into blocks of at least 15 minutes. Up to six hours the law requires no break.
- Does the break count as working time?
- No. Under §2 ArbZG working time is the time from the start to the end of work without rest breaks. Rest breaks are therefore usually unpaid, unless your contract or collective agreement says otherwise.
- How many hours may I work per day in Germany?
- In principle eight hours per working day. Up to ten hours are allowed if you average no more than eight hours over six months or 24 weeks (§3 ArbZG). Collective agreements may deviate.
- How many hours may I work per week?
- Because Saturday is a working day, 48 hours a week are allowed on average, i.e. six days of eight hours. Up to 60 hours are possible temporarily if the average over six months comes back to 48 hours.
- How long must the rest between two shifts be?
- At least eleven hours without interruption (§5 ArbZG). In hospitals, care, hospitality, transport, broadcasting and agriculture it may be shortened by one hour if a rest of at least twelve hours makes up for it within a month.
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As of (tax year 2026) · last verified:
Sources:
Scope of review: formulas and reference values were checked against the sources listed above, by the Nomado24 editorial team. What is verified is the calculation logic, not your personal situation. Not tax or legal advice.