BREAK TRACKING GUIDE
Make every break
clear and accountable.
Choose how breaks are recorded, understand their effect on hours, and resolve exceptions without guessing at the totals.
Start with the three hour totals
Shift hours measure the time from clock-in to clock-out. Payable hours exclude unpaid breaks. Working hours exclude breaks that are not counted as work.
A break must be paid to use Count as work. A paid break does not automatically count as work.
WORKED EXAMPLE
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with one 30-minute break
Each row is a separate example for the same eight-hour shift. These totals describe recorded time before overtime or gross-pay calculations.
| Break rule | Shift hours | Working hours | Payable hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid | 8.00 | 7.50 | 7.50 |
| Paid, not counted as work | 8.00 | 7.50 | 8.00 |
| Paid and counted as work | 8.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 |
Managers: configure your break policy
Open Company Settings → Break tracking.
- Enable break tracking. Choose whether employees start and end breaks during the shift or request break records after it. Request-only recording requires Allow employee break correction requests.
- Choose the clock-out rule. Require employees to end an active break first, or end it with the shift and flag it. Review requirements depend on the configured review rules.
- Configure available types. Give each type a clear name and choose Available, Paid, Count as work and Qualifying. Keep between one and twelve types, with at least one available when tracking is enabled.
- Set reminders and review thresholds. Decide when a break is due, what counts as unusually long, and whether missing or interrupted breaks require review.
- Save break settings. Check the confirmation. Try the workflow on a new shift before rolling it out.
What does Qualifying mean?
A qualifying break counts toward the missing-break requirement and resets the working-time reminder. It is independent of whether the break is paid. If you enable missing-break checks or break reminders, at least one available break type must be qualifying.
How should I read the thresholds?
Working minutes since the last qualifying break controls the break-due reminder. Unusually long break flags durations over its threshold. The missing-break check applies once a shift reaches the configured working-minute threshold and compares recorded qualifying minutes with the expected total.
These are your company's configured rules. The reminder itself does not start a break or deduct time.
Do break reminders send email or text automatically?
The clock can show a break-due reminder. For inbox, email or text delivery, also configure break notices under Reminders. Recipient choices, quiet hours, repeats and personal delivery preferences still apply.
On a new employee shift, confirm the expected types and recording controls appear. End a break and compare the hour totals with the rules you chose.
Employees: record what happened
During the shift
- Open Time clock and confirm your shift is active.
- In Breaks, select the correct type and choose Start break.
- Choose End break when you return. Record an interruption if applicable.
- Check that the break has ended before starting another or transferring work sites.
Only one break may be active at a time. At clock-out, follow the company rule shown: end the break first, or review the break that ended with the shift.
After the shift
If your company uses request-only recording, open the completed shift's break details and choose Request a missing break. Enter the actual type and times. A manager must apply the request before it changes the recorded hours.
Open Break details and corrections from the clock or the shift's break link. The queue shows requests and reviews needing attention; an empty queue does not mean there are no recorded breaks.
Request a missing or corrected break
- Open the completed shift's break details.
- Choose Request a missing break for an unrecorded break, or Request change beside an existing completed record.
- Check the type, start and end. For a record that should not exist, use Remove this recorded break. Add a note if it will help your manager.
- Save the request and check its status. Do not submit a duplicate while an active request already exists.
- If returned for more information, use Revise and resubmit. If the request is no longer needed, use Withdraw request when available.
Employee requests require break tracking and break correction requests to be enabled. If the action is missing, ask your manager rather than adding another shift.
Managers: resolve records and review flags
Open Break review and choose Open shift.
- Read the issue. Check shift dates, break types, totals and the Needs attention information.
- Review proposed corrections. Compare Original, Current and Proposed values. If the shift changed after the request, compare the latest values and acknowledge the change before applying.
- Choose the outcome. Use Apply correction, Return for information or Decline. Returning or declining requires a reason.
- Correct records directly when appropriate. Managers can use Add a recorded break or Correct break. Check that the saved record reflects what actually happened.
- Complete any remaining review. Use Complete break review after checking the flagged issue. Another manager must review your own break issues.
- Review the time entry again. Applying a break correction returns the shift to pending approval. Recheck the totals before approving time or closing the period.
| Flag | Check |
|---|---|
| Unusually long break | Actual duration, recorded end time and the shift's long-break threshold. |
| Interrupted or unfinished break | Interruption details or a break automatically ended with clock-out. |
| Missing required break time | Actual breaks, qualifying types, recorded minutes and the shift's requirement. |
Required break reviews prevent entry approval and period locking until resolved. Completing a review does not invent a missing break or change hours by itself. A later change to the shift or breaks can require review again.
Understand what a setting change affects
- Recorded breaks retain their rules. Changing a type does not recalculate historical breaks. Review the recorded Paid and Count as work values when investigating a total.
- Tracked shifts retain review and clock-out rules. A policy change may not change the behavior of an already tracked shift.
- Retire types using Available. This stops new selections while preserving existing records.
- Turning tracking off preserves history. Recorded breaks, hour calculations, requests and locks remain. Active breaks can still end; new shifts stop receiving break rules.
- Locks still apply. An authorized manager must reopen locked time before changing its breaks. Turning tracking off does not remove locks.
Use the shift's Activity section to see recent changes and review notes. If time was already exported, review the affected report or provider handoff after correcting it; a previous export may need updating.
Common problems
Start break is missing.
Check for an active shift, enabled tracking and live recording mode. Request-only mode uses the completed-shift request workflow. Ask your manager to check the policy if the expected controls are unavailable.
Working hours are lower than payable hours.
Check for paid breaks that are not counted as work. This can be expected: in the example above, a 30-minute break produces 7.50 working hours and 8.00 payable hours.
A correction will not save.
Check that the end is after the start, both times are inside the shift, the break is not in the future, and it does not overlap another record. Check for a lock or an existing active request. If the page says the record or settings changed, refresh and compare the current values before retrying.
The missing-break flag is still present after recording a break.
Check whether the recorded type is qualifying and whether the total qualifying minutes meets the requirement. A request awaiting approval has not changed the break record. Managers should review the shift's saved rules and remaining review requirements.
I changed the policy but an old shift still looks the same.
Existing breaks retain their recorded rules, and tracked shifts retain review and clock-out rules. Open the shift details to inspect those values. Use a correction for an inaccurate record; changing today's policy does not rewrite history.