Working Hours Calculator for Switzerland 2026: including breaks and overtime

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With the free working hours calculator, you can calculate your working hours excluding breaks, and – if you wish – include overtime, end-of-shift hours and earnings. You can save your weekly overview as a CSV or PDF file.

Online working time calculator guide

Enter your start time under «Start time». You can also use an abbreviation, for example «830» for 08:30.
Wear at "End» Enter the time you finished. If you work past midnight, say from 22:00 to 06:00, the working hours calculator will automatically calculate the night shift correctly.
Under «Break», enter the total duration of your breaks in minutes. With a 15-minute morning break and a 45-minute lunch break, that makes 60 minutes. If you’re not taking enough breaks, the calculator will show you the minimum break time required under labour law.
Under "Total» You can see your daily working hours, once as a decimal (7.50 h) and once in hours and minutes (7:30 h).
Repeat this for the remaining days. If you also work on Saturdays or Sundays, show those days by selecting «+ weekend».
Your weekly working hours are shown under «Total hours».
Optional: Enter your hourly rate, and you’ll then see your salary for the week you’ve recorded under «Earnings».

Additional functions You switch it on at the bottom of the calculator:

Overtime: Enter your weekly target and your working hours. The calculator will show you your balance – in other words, how many hours of overtime or under-hours you have.
Calculate the end of the working day: If «Overtime» is enabled and you only enter the start time, the calculator will show you when your shift ends.
25 % Surcharge: Include the statutory overtime rate in your earnings, provided your contract does not exclude it.
CSV and PDF: Save your weekly overview as an Excel file or a PDF for your records.

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How should I use the working time calculator online?

The best way to do this is to use the online working hours calculator to work out the working hours for individual working days or a whole working week. It’s particularly useful if you’re on an hourly wage or work part-time, do shift work, or want to keep track of your overtime.

The calculator is designed to cover one week. If you want to keep a record for a whole month, export each week as a CSV file and merge the files in Excel. You can save your weekly overview directly as a PDF or send it to your employer.

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Tips: Record working time online with the Working Time Calculator Switzerland

In the morning: Enter your start time as soon as you start work. With the «Overtime» module enabled, you can see straight away when you finish work.

During the day: Add up the duration of your breaks in minutes. Your entries will be saved, so you can close the page at any time.

In the evening: Enter the end time. At the end of the week, save the summary as a CSV or PDF file.

With these tips on Time and attendance recording Not a single minute is wasted, and your time tracking remains free and straightforward.

Good to know: In Switzerland, it is generally the employer’s responsibility to record working hours (Art. 73 ArGV 1). For certain employees, there is a simplified recording procedure or an exemption. It is still worth keeping your own records, however: if there are any uncertainties regarding overtime, you will have your hours set out in black and white.

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Further information on the working hours calculator Switzerland

The working hours calculator allows you to track your working hours per week. However, you often need the figures for a month or a year, for example for your employment contract, payslip or to monitor overtime.

How many working hours are there in a month in Switzerland?

There are 52 weeks in a year, and a month averages 4.33 weeks. The formula is: hours per week × 52 ÷ 12 = hours worked per month.

Hours per week	Hours worked per month	Hours worked per year
40 hours	173.3 h	2,080 hours
41 hours	177.7 h	2,132 hours
42 hours	182.0 h	2,184 hours
42.5 hours	184.2 h	2,210 hours
45 hours	195.0 h	2,340 hours

These figures are before deduction of annual leave and public holidays. The number of hours you actually work depends on your annual leave entitlement and the public holidays in your canton.

Calculating working hours for part-time work

For part-time work, you multiply the full-time hours by your working hours. Example: For a 42-hour week and a 80 % workload, you work 33.6 hours per week, which is around 145.6 hours per month. In the working hours calculator, enter your weekly target and your workload in the «Overtime» module, and you’ll see your balance straight away.

Working hours in Switzerland: what the law says

The working hours calculator shows you how long you have worked. Whether this is permitted is governed by the Employment Act (ArG) and the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR). Here is an overview of the key rules.

How much break time are you entitled to?

The minimum breaks depend on your daily working hours (Art. 15 of the Working Hours Act):

Daily working hours	Minimum break
more than 5.5 hours	15 minutes
more than 7 hours	30 minutes
more than 9 hours	1 hour

So, for exactly 9 hours’ work, a 30-minute break is sufficient; if you work more than 9 hours, a 1-hour break is compulsory. The break should be taken roughly halfway through your working hours. If you are not allowed to leave your workstation during the break, it counts as working time. The working time calculator automatically checks the minimum break duration and alerts you if it is too short.

What is the maximum number of hours you’re allowed to work?

The maximum weekly working time is 45 hours for office staff, technical staff, industrial workers and sales staff in large companies. For all others, the limit is 50 hours (Art. 9 of the Working Hours Act).

The law does not specify a fixed daily limit. However, day and evening work – including breaks and overtime – must be completed within a 14-hour period, after which you are entitled to at least 11 hours’ rest.

Overtime or extra hours: what’s the difference?

Overtime (Überstunden) is the time worked in excess of your contractual working hours, up to the statutory maximum working hours. It is compensated with time off of equal duration or paid at a rate of 25 %. This premium may be excluded in writing in the contract (Art. 321c OR).
Excess hours (Überzeit) are any hours worked beyond the statutory maximum of 45 or 50 hours per week. They are limited to 2 hours per day and 170 or 140 hours per year. The 25 % premium is mandatory here, but for office staff and technical employees it only applies after 60 excess hours per year (Articles 12 and 13 of the Employment Act).

The «Overtime» module allows you to view your weekly balance. With the «25 % allowance», you can factor the allowance directly into your earnings.

Important: The Employment Act does not apply to everyone. Exceptions include, for example, senior executives, the public sector and the agricultural sector. Your employment contract or a collective agreement (GAV) may also contain more favourable terms. In case of doubt, the terms set out in those documents take precedence.

Conclusion

With the free Swiss working hours calculator, you can calculate your working hours, excluding breaks, in just a few seconds. You can see your weekly working hours, your overtime and when you finish work, and thanks to the break check in line with labour law, you’ll know whether your breaks are sufficient. Your figures are saved, and you can access them at any time as a CSV or PDF file.

Do you want to know how much your hours are worth? With the hourly wage calculator, you can convert your monthly wage into an hourly wage, and the gross-to-net calculator shows you how much of that actually ends up in your bank account. You can find all the calculators here.

Is there a feature missing from the calculator? Let us know in the comments. And if it helps you, send it to your team using the button on the calculator.

FAQ

How do I calculate my working hours?

You work out the end of the working day minus the start of the working day minus breaks. For example: 08:00 to 17:15 with a 45-minute break equals 8 hours 30 minutes, or 8.5 hours. The working hours calculator above does this automatically for the whole week.

How long a break do I need to take when working a 9-hour shift?

In Switzerland, a break of at least 30 minutes is compulsory after exactly 9 hours of work. If you work for more than 9 hours, a 1-hour break is compulsory. A 15-minute break is required after more than 5.5 hours, and a 30-minute break after more than 7 hours (Art. 15 ArG).

How do I convert minutes into decimal hours?

Divide the minutes by 60. 30 minutes is 0.5 hours, 45 minutes is 0.75 hours and 20 minutes is approximately 0.33 hours. 7 hours 45 minutes is therefore 7.75 hours. The working hours calculator shows you both figures straight away.

When do I finish work?

Add your daily target hours and your break to your start time. For a 42-hour week, that’s 8.4 hours per day: if you start at 08:00 and take a 30-minute break, you’ll finish work at 16:54. To do this in the working hours calculator, select the «Overtime» module and simply enter your start time.

Is overtime paid in Switzerland?

Overtime is either compensated with time off of equal duration, if you agree, or paid at a rate of 25 % (Art. 321c OR). This premium may be excluded in writing in the employment contract. A separate, mandatory premium applies to overtime worked in excess of the statutory maximum working hours.

Does the journey to work count as working time?

No, in Switzerland, the journey from home to work and back does not count as working time. However, if you have to work at a different location to usual and your journey is consequently longer, the extra journey time counts as working time.

Can I also use the working hours calculator in Germany or Austria?

Yes, the calculation of working hours, breaks, overtime and pay works the same way everywhere. Only the guidance on breaks is based on Swiss labour law. In Germany and Austria, the rules on breaks are slightly different.

Will my entries be saved?

Yes, but only in your own browser. Nothing is transferred to Schwiizerfranke. If you open the page again later, your values will still be there. Clicking «Reset» will delete everything.

How do I work out my working hours if I take several breaks?

Add up all your breaks for the day and enter the total in minutes. For example, if you take a 15-minute morning break, a 45-minute lunch break and a 10-minute afternoon break, that makes 70 minutes. The working time calculator automatically deducts these and checks whether the statutory minimum break time has been met.

Does the working hours calculator also work out night shifts correctly?

Yes. If you work past midnight – for example, from 10.00 pm to 6.00 am – the system recognises this automatically and calculates 8 hours minus your break. You don’t need to change anything, not even at the weekend.

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