There are 60 minutes in an hour, so each minute equals 1/60 ≈ 0.0167 of a decimal hour. Each second equals 1/3600 ≈ 0.000278 of a decimal hour.
Most payroll platforms store time as decimal numbers because adding 8.5 + 7.75 is simpler arithmetic than adding 8:30 + 7:45. The decimal format eliminates the need to carry minutes across the 60-minute boundary when summing a week or pay period. QuickBooks Payroll, ADP Workforce Now, Gusto, and most other platforms accept or require decimal input when recording hours, making this conversion a basic literacy requirement for any hourly employee filing timesheets.
The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to round time to the nearest 5-minute mark, the nearest one-tenth of an hour (6 minutes), or the nearest quarter-hour (15 minutes), provided the policy is neutral over time and does not systematically underpay employees. When tracking project deadlines alongside time entries, a deadline date calculator helps determine the last day in a contract window. For overtime calculations, converting total hours to decimal first, then applying a time and a half calculator, ensures the 1.5× rate applies to correctly computed base hours. In states with specific payroll rules, the Illinois paycheck calculator uses decimal hours as its input for both regular and overtime wage computations.
| Minutes | Decimal |
|---|---|
| 5 min | 0.083 |
| 6 min | 0.100 |
| 10 min | 0.167 |
| 12 min | 0.200 |
| 15 min | 0.250 |
| 20 min | 0.333 |
| 24 min | 0.400 |
| 25 min | 0.417 |
| 30 min | 0.500 |
| 36 min | 0.600 |
| 45 min | 0.750 |
| 48 min | 0.800 |
| 50 min | 0.833 |
| 54 min | 0.900 |
The FLSA allows rounding to the nearest 5-minute increment, one-tenth of an hour (6 min), or quarter-hour (15 min), but rounding must be neutral over time and not consistently favor the employer.