Overnight shifts and daylight saving time
A shift that ends after midnight is clock out plus 24 hours minus clock in, and on a time card it belongs to the day it started. On the two nights a year when clocks change, that clock arithmetic is off by an hour: a night worker puts in one hour more when clocks go back and one hour less when they go forward. Shiftpad counts clock time, tells you on the row when your time zone changes clocks that night, and leaves the adjustment to you.
Open the fall-back example in the calculator Spring-forward example
Counting a shift that crosses midnight
Type the times as they appear on the clock. When clock out is earlier than clock in, the card adds a day to clock out and marks the row +1 day:
22:00 → 06:15 = 24:00 − 22:00 + 06:15 = 8:15; minus a 45 min break = 7:30 = 7.50 h
A break can be typed as minutes (45) or as out and in times on either side of midnight (2-2:45 means 02:00–02:45). The card checks that the break falls inside the shift. A shift has to be shorter than 24 hours; clock in and clock out at the same time is flagged instead of read as a full day.
Which day the hours count on
The whole shift counts on the day it started. A Saturday 22:00 to Sunday 06:15 shift goes on Saturday’s row, and a daily overtime limit is checked against Saturday. That is the usual way to keep a time card, but it is a choice, not a law. Two cases to check with your payroll:
- The end of the workweek. If your workweek ends at midnight between Sunday and Monday, the hours after midnight of a Sunday-night shift fall in the next workweek. Some employers split such a shift; Shiftpad does not. Enter the part after midnight on the next row by hand if yours does.
- Daily overtime. Where a daily limit applies, the workday may be defined as a fixed 24-hour period rather than the calendar day. The card applies your daily limit to each row as entered.
The two nights clocks change
In the United States, clocks go forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and back one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. In 2026 that is Sunday 8 March and Sunday 1 November. The European Union changes at 01:00 UTC on the last Sundays of March and October (29 March and 25 October 2026), and many countries do not change at all.
| Saturday night shift | On the clock | Time that actually passed |
|---|---|---|
| 22:00 → 07:00, ordinary night | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| 22:00 → 07:00, 7–8 March 2026 (forward) | 9:00 | 8:00 (02:00–03:00 never happens) |
| 22:00 → 07:00, 31 Oct – 1 Nov 2026 (back) | 9:00 | 10:00 (01:00–02:00 happens twice) |
The U.S. Department of Labor’s FLSA Hours Worked Advisor describes the same thing: employees on the graveyard shift work an extra hour when daylight saving time ends and one hour less when it begins. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, pay is owed for the hours actually worked, so the extra hour in November counts, and it counts toward the 40-hour weekly overtime limit. Whether the hour that never happened in March is paid anyway is up to the employer’s policy, contract or state law.
Worked example: a week of night shifts that includes 1 November
Night shifts Tuesday to Saturday, 22:00 to 07:00 with a 30-minute unpaid break, in the week starting Monday 26 October 2026. Pay rule: $20 an hour, overtime after 40 hours a week at 1.5×.
| Day | In | Out | Break | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Oct 26 | — | — | — | off |
| Tue Oct 27 | 22:00 | 07:00 | 30 | 8:30 |
| Wed Oct 28 | 22:00 | 07:00 | 30 | 8:30 |
| Thu Oct 29 | 22:00 | 07:00 | 30 | 8:30 |
| Fri Oct 30 | 22:00 | 07:00 | 30 | 8:30 |
| Sat Oct 31 | 22:00 | 07:00 (Sun Nov 1) | 30 | 8:30 by the clock 9:30 actually worked |
| Sun Nov 1 | — | — | — | off |
| Hours | Overtime | Pay | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock time (what the card counts) | 42:30 = 42.50 h | 2:30 | 40 × $20 + 2.5 × $30 = $875.00 |
| Time actually worked | 43:30 = 43.50 h | 3:30 | 40 × $20 + 3.5 × $30 = $905.00 |
The difference is the extra hour, and because the week is already past 40 hours it is an overtime hour: $30.00, not $20.00.
What the calculator shows. The card totals 42.50 hours and $875.00. If this browser’s time zone is one that falls back on 1 November (U.S. Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific time, for example), Saturday’s row adds a note: 10:00 actually passed, the card counts 9:00 of clock time. In a time zone without a change that night, there is no note, because the card cannot know where the shift was worked.
How to adjust by hand. To count the hour actually worked, type Saturday’s clock out one hour later, 08:00 instead of 07:00. The row becomes 9:30 and the card shows 43.50 hours and $905.00. Keep a note on the printed card or in your records that 08:00 stands for 07:00 after the clocks went back; the CSV will show the time you typed.
The spring night: one hour less
The same five nights in the week starting Monday 2 March 2026, with Saturday’s shift running into Sunday 8 March: the card counts 42:30 and $875.00, but 41:30 was actually worked (Saturday 7:30 instead of 8:30), which is 1:30 of overtime and $845.00. To record elapsed time, type Saturday’s clock out one hour earlier, 06:00. If your employer pays the full scheduled shift anyway, leave the times as they are.
Open the spring-forward example in the calculator
What Shiftpad does and does not do
- It counts clock time, always. Totals, overtime and pay never change because of a clock change.
- It flags a row when the shift’s date is a clock-change night in this browser’s time zone, with the time that actually passed.
- It does not know where the work happened, which rules apply to you or whether your employer pays scheduled or elapsed hours.
This is arithmetic for estimating hours and pay. It is not payroll or wage-compliance software for any country or state, and it does not give legal advice. Check your employer’s policy and the rules where you work before using a figure for payroll.
More: biweekly overtime, week by week · minutes to decimal hours chart · time card calculator