How time clock rounding works (the 7-minute rule)

Updated November 15, 2026 · Worked examples use whole minutes

Many US employers round clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour. With quarter-hour rounding, known as the 7-minute rule, a punch 1 to 7 minutes past a quarter hour rounds down and 8 to 14 minutes past rounds up.

Calculate it step by step

1. Find the rounding interval your employer uses: 5, 6 or 15 minutes.
2. Write down your raw clock-in and clock-out times for each shift.
3. Round each punch to the nearest interval and total the rounded and actual times separately.
4. Compare the two totals over several pay periods. A steady gap in one direction is worth raising with payroll.

Worked example

You clock in at 8:53 am and out at 5:07 pm, 8 hours 14 minutes. Under the 7-minute rule 8:53 rounds up to 9:00 and 5:07 rounds down to 5:00, so the rounded shift is 8 hours: 14 minutes shorter than the time you were on the clock.

Check your own shifts in the time card calculator

When does rounding stop evening out?

Rounding is meant to even out. The federal rule accepts it on the presumption that, over time, employees are paid for all the time they actually work. Our study of every start minute and shift length found that nearest rounding lengthens exactly as many shifts as it shortens.

It stops evening out when punches cluster. Clocking in a few minutes early and out a few minutes late loses that time almost every day under the 7-minute rule: about 8 minutes a shift in our study. Compare your raw punches with your paid hours over several periods to see which way your rounding falls.

Further reading

• 29 CFR 785.48: use of time clocks and rounding (eCFR)
• US Department of Labor Fact Sheet 22: hours worked under the FLSA