Round vs Exact Time Exposure Calculator
Enter a sample week of clock-in and clock-out times (or daily exact minutes), pick a rounding interval, and see how much the policy underpays or overpays versus exact time — per week and annualized.
Try a scenario
Sample week
Policy & scale-up
Annual underpay exposure
$37,916.67
Rounded paid time is short of exact time by 35 this sample week ($14.58 per employee). Scaled across 50 employees × 52 weeks/year.
- Exact minutes (sample week)
- 2285
- Rounded minutes (nearest 15 min)
- 2250
- Difference (rounded − exact)
- -35
- Sample-week $ gap (1 employee)
- −$14.58
- Annual exposure (magnitude)
- $37,916.67
Federal 29 CFR §785.48(b) permits neutral rounding to 5, 6, or 15 minutes. Ten-minute rounding is a payroll convention, not a regulation-named interval. A formula that looks even on paper can still underpay when real punch patterns cluster on one side of the midpoint — audit actual data, not just the written policy. Quarter-hour rounding is often called the "7-minute rule" (half of 15, with the midpoint rounding away from zero under Math.round).
Nothing typed here is sent or saved — close the tab and your inputs are gone. This calculator estimates the dollar gap between exact and rounded paid minutes for a sample week, then scales that gap. It does not decide whether a policy is lawful in your state, does not model meal-period rounding (barred in California by Donohue), and does not compute liquidated damages or class-action exposure. For the legal background, see the time clock rounding rules research. For single-timesheet totals, use the time card calculator. Read the full methodology →
Frequently asked questions
What does this calculator show?
It compares exact worked minutes to rounded paid minutes for a sample week, then multiplies the minute gap by your hourly rate, employee count, and sample weeks per year. Negative gaps (rounded short of exact) are underpay exposure; positive gaps are overpay. The result is a scale-up estimate from your sample pattern — not a legal determination that the policy is unlawful.
Is rounding allowed under federal law?
Yes, with conditions. 29 CFR §785.48(b) permits rounding start and stop times to the nearest 5 minutes, one-tenth of an hour (6 minutes), or quarter hour (15 minutes), provided the practice does not, over time, fail to pay employees for all time actually worked. The calculator also offers a 10-minute option as a common payroll convention; 10-minute rounding is not one of the intervals named in the regulation.
Source: 29 CFR §785.48
What is the 7-minute rule?
It is the colloquial name for quarter-hour rounding under the half-interval method. Minutes 1–7 past a quarter-hour boundary usually round down; minutes 8–14 round up (the exact midpoint at 7.5 rounds away from zero under standard Math.round). The "7-minute rule" is a convention for applying the federal quarter-hour interval — not a separate statute.
Can California employers still round time?
It is increasingly hard to defend. See's Candy (2012) allowed facially neutral rounding that did not undercompensate employees over time. Donohue v. AMN Services (2021) bars rounding California meal periods. Camp v. Home Depot (2022 Court of Appeal) held that when an employer captures exact time, it must pay exact time; the California Supreme Court granted review (S277518), so Camp is persuasive while review is pending, not final Supreme Court law. Woodworth v. Loma Linda (2023) followed the same direction. The practical setup for California nonexempt employees is exact-time pay unless counsel approves another policy.
Source: See's Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court, 210 Cal. App. 4th 889 (2012) · Donohue v. AMN Services, 11 Cal. 5th 58 (2021) · Camp v. Home Depot, 84 Cal. App. 5th 638 (2022) — Court of Appeal (under Supreme Court review) · Woodworth v. Loma Linda University Medical Center, 93 Cal. App. 5th 1038 (2023)
What about Oregon?
In Eisele v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. (D. Or. 2022), a federal district court held that Home Depot's rounding policy was not permitted under Oregon wage law. It is a district-court decision, not an Oregon Supreme Court holding, but it is a real warning that the federal rounding tolerance may not be enough for Oregon workers.
Source: Eisele v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 643 F. Supp. 3d 1166 (D. Or. 2022)
Why does the default example show underpayment?
Because that is the risk employers usually need to quantify. The default week uses early clock-ins (8:53 AM) with on-time outs (5:00 PM) under 15-minute span rounding — a common real-world pattern when employees arrive early to start work and the gross shift rounds down. A neutral 9:00–5:00 preset and an overpay late-out preset are one click away so you can compare patterns.
Does a non-zero gap mean the policy is illegal?
No. Federal law looks at whether the practice fails to pay for all time worked over a longer period — not whether one sample week is short. A one-week underpay pattern is a signal to audit more data (by location, shift, and employee). California and Oregon risk analysis goes further when exact time is already captured. Use this number to size the issue; use counsel and a real punch audit to decide policy.
Does the calculator save my entries?
No. Inputs live only in your browser tab's memory. Closing the tab clears the data. Nothing is sent to a server.
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About Clockspot
Clockspot helps small businesses track employee time and keep payroll-ready records. Used in all 50 states since 2007, we focus on getting time and pay right — including the wage-and-hour rules that shape both.
Rounding exposure shrinks when you capture exact punches and pay from those records. Clockspot keeps raw clock-ins, breaks, and payroll-ready totals so you are not relying on rounded summaries alone. See how Clockspot tracks exact time.