Break Policies allow an administrator to schedule when employees are expected to take breaks or lunches. Breaks can be either paid or unpaid, or be automatically docked even if an employee does not punch out for the break.
A Break Policy consists of:
- A Break Policy Name
- A Break Type, paid, unpaid, or unpaid docked
- Start Offset Period – The amount of time worked before break starts
- Break Duration
- Grace Period – The Grace Period which an employee can start this break early or late
- Minimum Shift Period - The amount of time worked before the break is allowed
To Add a new Break Policy, select Scheduling->Break Policies', and then tap the + icon.
To View a list of Break Policies, select Scheduling->Break Policies'.
Break Types
- Paid Breaks - The employee is paid for taking the break, but docked for any time over and above the schedule break duration.
- Unpaid Breaks - The employee is not paid for taking the break, but not docked if the break is not taken.
- Unpaid Docked Breaks - The employee is not paid for taking the break, and the full scheduled break is docked even if it is not taken.
Breaks may appear as:
- Missed Breaks - A break which was not taken.
- Orphaned Breaks - A scheduled break which lands after the scheduled end of the shift. For example, a Shift Policy with 3 breaks may be selected for a short 2 hour shift, making the lunch and afternoon breaks 'orphaned'.
Break Settings
Start Offset Period - The Start Offset Period represents how much time passes after the start of a shift before this break is scheduled to start. For example, a lunch break typically starts 3 hours after the start of a shift. The start offset period in this case would be 3 Hrs 0 Mins.
Minimum Shift Period - The Minimum Shift Period represents the amount of time an employee must work before this break is allowed. For example, if an employee starts a shift late, clocking in at 11:30AM, they would not have eraned their 12:00PM scheduled break if the Mimimum Shift Period is set to 1 Hour, but would have if the Minimum Shift Period is set to 15 Minutes.
Break Duration - The Break Duration represents how long a break will last.
Grace Period - The Grace Period represents how early or late an employee can start a break early or late. Breaks taken outside of the Grace Period are classified as Unscheduled Breaks.
Break Policy Examples:
Example 1
If a Shift starts at 9:00AM and you need a 15 minute paid break at 10:00AM, the break policy would have:
- Break Policy Name: Morning Break
- Break Type: Paid
- Start Offset Period: 1 hour
- Break Duration: 15 minutes
- Grace Period: 5 minutes
- Minimum Shift Period: 30 minutes
Example 2
If a Shift starts at 9:00AM and you need a 1 hour unpaid lunch at 12:00PM, the break policy would have:
- Break Policy Name: Lunch Break
- Break Type: Unpaid
- Start Offset Period: 3 hours
- Break Duration: 1 hour
- Grace Period: 15 minutes
- Minimum Shift Period: 2 hours
Example 3
If a Shift starts at 9:00AM and you need a 15 minute paid break at 2:00PM, the break policy would have:
- Break Policy Name: Afternoon Break
- Break Type: Paid
- Start Offset Period: 5 hours
- Break Duration: 15 minutes
- Grace Period: 5 minutes
- Minimum Shift Period: 2 hours