Finance Calc Kit

How to estimate 12-hour shift earnings

Twelve-hour shifts are common in healthcare, manufacturing, security, and logistics. This calculator estimates daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pay from your hourly rate, how many shifts you work each week, unpaid break time, and overtime rules. All math runs in your browser.

Enter your hourly pay rate, shifts per week, and break minutes. Choose whether overtime is counted per shift, per week, or not at all. The tool subtracts unpaid breaks from the 12-hour block, splits regular and overtime hours, and annualizes the weekly total. Managers tracking staffing reliability can pair pay estimates with the absence percentage calculator to see what share of scheduled shifts were missed.

Paid hours per shift

H = 12 - \frac{\text{break minutes}}{60}

A 12-hour shift with a 30-minute unpaid break leaves 11.5 paid hours. Only paid hours count toward regular and overtime pay.

Overtime pay

\text{OT pay} = \text{OT hours} \times \text{hourly rate} \times \text{multiplier}

With daily overtime, hours above your per-shift threshold earn the multiplier on top of the regular rate. With weekly overtime, all paid hours in the week are added first, then hours above the weekly threshold earn the multiplier. A multiplier of 1.5 is time-and-a-half; 2.0 is double time. For employees working in California subject to statutory daily overtime and double time thresholds, use the California overtime calculator.

Annual and monthly estimates

\text{Annual pay} = \text{Weekly pay} \times 52

Bi-weekly pay is twice the weekly amount. Monthly pay spreads 52 weeks evenly across 12 months. If you receive standard salary or hourly wages without rotating shifts, use the biweekly pay calculator to compare annual and monthly equivalents across all 26 pay periods.

Frequently asked questions

How are unpaid breaks handled?

Break minutes are subtracted from the 12-hour shift before pay is calculated. A 30-minute unpaid break on a 12-hour shift leaves 11.5 paid hours.

What is the difference between daily and weekly overtime?

Daily overtime applies the threshold to each shift separately. Weekly overtime adds all paid hours across the week first, then pays the multiplier only on hours above the weekly threshold.

What overtime multiplier should I use?

Time-and-a-half is 1.5× the regular hourly rate. Double time is 2.0×. Enter the multiplier your employer or local rules require; this tool does not enforce a specific law.

How is monthly pay estimated?

Monthly pay equals weekly pay multiplied by 52 weeks, divided by 12 months. That assumes you work the same schedule every week of the year.

Are the results stored?

No. Changing the fields only updates the page URL so you can copy and share your inputs.

Resources and references

The formulas and methods in this calculator were checked against these independent sources.