Most hourly employees in the US are paid every two weeks, so the number on the paycheck comes from fourteen days of punches, not seven. This bi-weekly time card takes clock-in, lunch-out, lunch-in and clock-out times for both weeks, subtracts the unpaid lunch, splits the period into its two workweeks and applies overtime to each week on its own — the way federal law requires.
How to use the bi-weekly time card
- Set Pay period starting to the first day of the period so every row shows its date and weekday.
- Enter your hourly rate, choose the overtime pay multiplier and the overtime rule your employer uses.
- If your employer rounds punches, pick the same rounding interval (5, 6 or 15 minutes).
- For each day you worked, enter time in, lunch out, lunch in and time out. Leave days off blank.
- Read the tape: regular hours, overtime hours, decimal total and gross pay, plus a line for each week. Print gives a clean paper copy and Copy as CSV pastes into a spreadsheet.
How the hours are calculated
Each day is the time between your first and last punch, minus the lunch gap:
If time out is earlier than time in, 24 hours are added because the shift ended after midnight. Days are added up within each 7-day week, and overtime is applied to each week before the two weeks are combined:
Overtime is counted one week at a time
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines overtime as hours over 40 in a workweek — a fixed, recurring block of 168 hours. A bi-weekly paycheck simply covers two of those workweeks. That has a practical consequence many people miss:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Two-week total | Overtime owed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 h | 40 h | 80 h | 0 h |
| 30 h | 50 h | 80 h | 10 h |
| 44 h | 36 h | 80 h | 4 h |
| 42.5 h | 32 h | 74.5 h | 2.5 h |
The total can be under 80 hours and still include overtime. This calculator shows a per-week line on the tape so you can see exactly where overtime came from. Some states, such as California, also count daily overtime; choose Over 8 per day and 40 per week to approximate that rule.
Worked example
You earn $24 an hour. In week one you work Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with lunch from 11:30 to 12:00. In week two you work Monday to Thursday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, with the same lunch.
| Daily hours | Days | Week total | Overtime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 9:00 − 0:30 = 8.5 | 5 | 42.5 h | 2.5 h |
| Week 2 | 8:30 − 0:30 = 8.0 | 4 | 32.0 h | 0 h |
- Regular pay: (40 + 32) × $24 = $1,728.00
- Overtime pay: 2.5 × $24 × 1.5 = $90.00
- Gross pay for the period: $1,818.00
Averaging the two weeks (74.5 hours, under 80) would wrongly suggest no overtime at all.
Lunch breaks and short breaks
Federal rules treat a genuine meal period — usually 30 minutes or more, completely relieved of duty — as unpaid time, which is why the lunch gap is subtracted. Short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes are paid work time, so do not punch out for them on this card. Several states require meal breaks after a certain number of hours; check your state’s labor department rules if a lunch was missed or cut short.
Bi-weekly versus semi-monthly pay
Bi-weekly means every other week: 26 paychecks a year, and two months each year contain three paydays. Semi-monthly means twice a month, usually on the 15th and the last day, for 24 paychecks. Semi-monthly periods do not line up with workweeks, so overtime still has to be worked out week by week. If your period is semi-monthly or monthly, the printable timesheet can generate those layouts, and the payroll calculator estimates take-home pay from the gross figure here.
This tool estimates gross pay before taxes and deductions. Your employer's payroll records and your state's labor rules are the final word.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours are in a bi-weekly pay period?
A full-time schedule of 40 hours a week gives 80 regular hours per bi-weekly pay period. Anything you work beyond 40 hours in either of the two workweeks is overtime, even if the two-week total is 80 hours or less.
Is overtime calculated over two weeks or one?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime is figured separately for each fixed 7-day workweek. An employer cannot average two weeks together, so 30 hours in week one and 50 in week two means 10 overtime hours, not zero.
How do I enter a lunch break?
Type the time you clocked out for lunch and the time you clocked back in. The calculator subtracts that gap from the day. Leave both lunch boxes empty on days with no unpaid meal break.
What if my shift goes past midnight?
Enter the real clock times. When the time out is earlier than the time in, the shift is treated as ending the next day, and a lunch taken after midnight is handled the same way.
Can I save the time card and finish it later?
Yes. Entries are stored in your own browser's local storage, separately from the weekly time card. Nothing is uploaded. Use Clear times when the next pay period starts.