Shift Calculator

Subtract the start from the end time and remove unpaid breaks. A 10:00 PM–6:00 AM shift with a 30-minute lunch is 7.5 paid hours — overnight shifts are detected automatically when the end time is earlier than the start.

A shift differential is extra pay for less desirable hours — typically evenings, nights or weekends — expressed as a percentage (commonly 5–15%) or a flat dollar amount per hour. It is employer policy, not law. A $20 base with a 10% night differential pays $22/hour for those shifts.

The differential is part of your “regular rate” for overtime: overtime must be 1.5× the rate including the differential, not the base rate alone. At $20 + $2 differential, overtime hours pay $33, not $30 — a frequent payroll mistake worth checking.

Panama schedules use 12-hour shifts in a 2 days on, 2 off, 3 on rotation, averaging 42 hours/week over a two-week cycle. Enter a 12-hour shift above and multiply by your shifts per period to price the cycle.

No — federal law has no night-work premium; nights earn overtime only when they push you past 40 hours in the workweek (or a state daily threshold). Night premiums beyond that come from the employer’s differential policy.