What Happens to a Time Card Shift During a Daylight Saving Change?
October 23, 2026
A shift that spans the moment clocks change for daylight saving time is a genuine edge case: the shift is either 23 hours long (in spring, when clocks move forward and an hour is skipped) or 25 hours long (in fall, when clocks move back and an hour repeats) rather than the straightforward duration a simple clock-out-minus-clock-in calculation would suggest.
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Open the Time Card Calculator →Spring Forward Example
An overnight shift starting at 11:00 PM and ending at 7:00 AM would normally be 8 hours — but if clocks spring forward by 1 hour during that shift, the actual elapsed time is only 7 hours, since one clock hour was skipped entirely.
Fall Back Example
The same 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM shift, if it spans the fall-back transition, would actually be 9 hours, since one clock hour (typically between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM in the US) repeats.
Why This Matters for Payroll
An employee working the specific overnight shift when clocks change deserves to be paid for actual hours worked (7 or 9, depending on direction), not a naive calculation based on clock-reading alone — this is a recognized payroll edge case that a time tracking system should handle correctly, and it's worth confirming for anyone who regularly works overnight shifts around these transition dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is an overnight shift during a spring-forward transition?
One hour shorter than the clock-reading would suggest, since a clock hour is skipped — an apparent 8-hour shift would actually be 7 hours.
How long is an overnight shift during a fall-back transition?
One hour longer than the clock-reading would suggest, since a clock hour repeats — an apparent 8-hour shift would actually be 9 hours.
Should employees be paid for actual hours worked during this transition?
Yes — pay should reflect actual elapsed time (7 or 9 hours in these examples), not a naive clock-reading calculation.
Is this a common issue to check for?
It's a real, if infrequent, edge case worth confirming a time tracking system handles correctly for anyone working overnight shifts around the transition dates.