What the break policy settings do#
For: Admin You’ll need: A break policy open — see How to manage break policies.
A break policy’s page asks six questions. The answers apply to every rule in the policy and to everyone whose work policy picks it. This article explains each setting, so you can match it to the law or agreement you implement.
How work is grouped#
‘Group work by’ decides what a break rule is measured against:
‘Each shift’ — every shift is checked on its own. The default.
‘Calendar day, split at its start’ — a person’s work adds up per calendar day from ‘Day starts at’. Work crossing that time is cut in two.
‘Calendar day, whole stretches’ — a stretch of work crossing the day’s start counts whole on the day holding most of it, so a night shift’s meal clock never restarts at midnight.
‘Continuous work’ — each stretch of work that a long enough gap ends is its own period, whatever the date.
‘Day starts at’ sets the start of the calendar day, on the clock of each shift’s location. ‘Gap that ends a stretch (minutes)’ and ‘Gap rule’ decide when one stretch of work ends and the next begins: with ‘at least’, a gap of exactly that length ends a stretch; with ‘more than’, it doesn’t. Whole stretches can’t be saved without a gap; continuous work can, but then each of its days goes to review. A gap of at least 0 minutes is refused, because it would end every stretch.
‘Gaps between shifts count as meals’ lets a gap between two shifts of the same day or stretch count as an unpaid meal break when it is long enough for the rule. A gap never counts as a rest break, and it is never working time.
‘Thresholds count’ chooses what a rule’s hours measure: ‘Hours worked’ — the time at work minus the unpaid breaks the person may leave for — or ‘The whole shift’, unpaid breaks included.
Breaks with restrictions#
‘A break on standby counts’ — turn it off where a break the person must stay available for (standby, on call) is working time. The warning then reads “break on standby does not count”.
‘A break the person can’t leave counts’ — turn it off where a break the person is kept on the premises for is not a break.
Break records#
‘Breaks must be punched’ — off, hours recorded without punches — confirmed from the schedule, typed in, or recorded by the automatic sweep — get the expected breaks filled in, so the same hours pay the same however they were recorded. On, nothing is filled in, and a missing break shows up in the check.
‘Strict break records’ — a break’s pay follows the rules, a meal the person can’t leave or must stay available for is paid, a meal lasts its punched time, and no break is marked waived. A save that contradicts this is refused.
Check recorded breaks#
‘Check recorded breaks, tolerance (minutes)’ switches the check of recorded breaks on. Leave it blank to keep it off. With a number, a break that many minutes too short, too early or too late isn’t flagged; enter 0 to flag every difference. A missing break is always flagged. See Record and review breaks.
Pay for missed breaks#
‘Missed-break pay’ decides whether a missed break owes extra pay, and how much. Any choice except ‘No extra pay’ also asks the break questions at clock-out. It needs an ‘Amount’ above zero and the recorded-break check switched on. See How missed-break pay works.
What a new company starts with#
The country policies of Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy and the UK use ‘Continuous work’: a workday ends after a rest of 8 hours for Swiss adults, 10 hours for German adults and 11 hours elsewhere, and 12 hours for young workers (11 in Italy). Gaps between shifts count as meals in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy, and breaks on standby count in Switzerland and France. Recorded breaks aren’t checked until you enter a tolerance, and no extra pay is owed. Review these defaults against your own policy.
Verify it worked#
Click ‘Save’. Back on the list, the policy’s row shows its grouping, check tolerance and missed-break pay as you set them.