Break scheduler

Before you set up your scheduled breaks, you should review your platform's break settings, as they will interact with your break scheduler.

You can change these settings whenever necessary, but please remember that any changes will impact all rosters and operations on your platform.

Consider the abilities of the below Break settings:

• Set custom labels for your paid and unpaid breaks.
• Use rostered break times in Approve Shifts instead of clocked break times and durations. 
• Require employees to submit a response when no breaks are clocked. 
• When a paid break is not clocked, allow employees to submit details of their paid break instead. 

  Please note: If you do not wish to track paid breaks in your platform or for specific Operations, this can be disabled for the entire platform or on a per-operation basis. Refer to the bottom of this section for instructions on how to do so.

To update your break settings:

1. Navigate to the main menu > Platform Settings > Time & Attendance. Scroll to the relevant or select Breaks from the settings list on the left side. 
2. To customise your breaks, update from the relevant settings below:  

   • Unpaid break label - This applies a custom label that will be displayed to employees when they clock in for unpaid breaks. This custom label will not display on the roster or approve shifts.

     

     • To customise, add your label in the field. 
       
         Please note: You do not need to add the word 'break' in this field, as it will be applied automatically. If you do so, your label will display to employees as 'Meal break break'.
   • When a rostered unpaid break is not clocked, require break details on clock out - When an employee does not clock for a rostered unpaid break, they must provide a response when they clock out of their shift. 
     • To update this setting, you can select either:
       • No - No response is captured by employees. 
       • Yes - Once selected, you can further customise the response your employees will need to provide. You can choose from:
         • Confirmation (Yes/No)
         • Confirmation, break length
         • Confirmation, break start time
         • Confirmation, break length and start time. 
   • Paid break label - This applies a custom label that will be displayed to employees when they clock in for paid breaks. This custom label will not display on the roster or approve shifts. 
     • To customise, add your label in the field. 
       
         Please note: You do not need to add the word 'break' in this field, as it will be applied automatically. If you do so, your label will display to employees as 'label break break'.
   • When a rostered paid break is not clocked, require break details on clock out - When an employee does not clock for a rostered unpaid break, it is mandatory for them to provide a response when they clock out of their shift. 
     • To update this setting, you can select either:
       • No - No response is captured by employees. 
       • Yes - Once selected, you can further customise the response your employees will need to provide. You can choose from:
         • Confirmation (Yes/No)
         • Confirmation, break length
         • Confirmation, break start time
         • Confirmation, break length and start time.
   • Require a reason when rostered breaks were not taken - When an employee responds no to the 'When a rostered un/paid break is not clocked, require break details on clock out' settings, they need to provide a free-text response as to why they did not have a break. 
     • To update this setting, you can select either:
       • No - No response is captured by employees. 
       • Yes - This option is only available when 'Yes' is selected for either 'When a rostered un/paid break is not clocked, require break details on clock out' settings.
   • Default to rostered break details over clocked break details for shift approvals - When approving shifts, the break times in the approve column will apply the rostered break duration and start time is used instead of the clocked break start time and duration. 
     • To update this setting, you can select either:
       • No - Clocked break durations and start times will be used when approving shifts.
       • Yes - Rostered break durations and start times will be used when approving shifts.
3. To save your changes, select Save from the taskbar.

Disabling paid breaks for your platform or per Operation

If you don't want to track paid breaks, you can disable it in your Clock settings. Where you tailor this setting will depend on whether or not you'd like to disable it for:

• For your entire platform - Navigate to the main menu > Platform Settings > Clock Settings and disable 'Allow employees to clock unscheduled paid breaks', and Save.
• For a single Operation - Navigate to the cog icon (next to your Operation's name) >  From the Operations Settings list, select Clocking > and disable 'Allow employees to clock unscheduled paid breaks' and Save.

Your platform or relevant Operation will now only allow employees to clock unpaid breaks.

To assist with and speed up rostering, you can create a break schedule that automatically applies breaks to your draft shifts. Each schedule you create will be for a specified shift duration, in which you can use multiple paid and unpaid breaks to the shifts.

For example, you could set up a schedule in which shifts lasting 5 to 10 hours will apply 2 paid tea breaks and 1 unpaid lunch break.  

There are 2 areas where you can create a break schedule: 

• From a platform level within the Time & Attendance settings - This will apply to all rosters and operations.
• At an operation level within the operation overrides area - This will only apply to the specific rosters within the operation where the break scheduler is overridden. The steps for this are in the Override break schedules per operation section below. 

In this section, we'll discuss how to set up break schedules at the platform level. This approach is helpful for small or even larger businesses, especially when most of the rosters and operations follow a similar schedule. 

  Please note: Before you set up break schedules in your operations, you will first need to check your break settings; please see the Break settings section above for further information. 
 

To create a break schedule:

1. Navigate to the main menu > Platform Settings > Time & Attendance. Scroll to the relevant section or select Break scheduler from the settings list on the left side. 
2. To create a new break schedule, select + Shift time range, then specify the shift duration in the 'Shifts from' field. 
   • E.g. If this schedule applies to shifts with durations between 5 and 10 hours, add 5h and 10h in the corresponding fields. 
     
       Hot tip: When you're creating your break schedules, remember that they can't overlap.
     • E.g., if you have a schedule that runs from 0 hrs to 5 hrs, you can't set up another one that includes any hours between 0 hrs and 5 hrs.
     • However, you can have consecutive schedules (e.g., one that ends at 5 hrs and another that starts at 5 hrs). In this case, any shifts rostered with a duration at or before 5 hrs will follow the first schedule, while any shift durations greater than 5 hrs (even by just a minute) will follow the second schedule.

3. Now, add your breaks. To do so, select + Break. Repeat this step for any further breaks you wish to include. When adding additional breaks, it's best to do so in sequential order. 

   

4. Complete the details for each break:
   • In the 'add a' field' - Specify the break duration. 
   • From the dropdown list, select the type of break - Specify whether it is a paid or unpaid break. 
5. For additional options, select the ellipsis to:
   • Add/ remove a break start time - Once selected, the 'starting after' field will be available. In this field, specify at which point the break will start during the shift.  
      
     • E.g. if you need a tea break two hours into your shift, simply add 2h in the 'starting after' field. This means if an employee's shift begins at 10 a.m., you’ll take your tea break at 12 p.m., which is two hours later. 
   • Remove break - This will delete the specified break from your schedule. 
6. To save your changes, select Save from the taskbar.

The break scheduler can be edited anytime by updating the relevant field or deleted by selecting the red cross. 

  Please note: Changes to existing break schedules or the creation of new ones will not affect shifts that existed before setting up your break scheduler. For the changes to apply, existing shifts will need to be edited and re-saved.

You have the option to establish distinct break schedules for each individual operation, which will provide you with greater customisability.

This flexibility means you can implement different break times for some or even all of your operations as needed. This particular feature can be especially beneficial for various types of businesses, such as:

• Multi-site operations that would like different break schedules per site
• Franchises with different venues
• Labour hire businesses

When setting up a break schedule for an operation, the schedule established will override any schedules created in your Time & Attendance settings. 

  Please note: Before you set up break schedules in your operations, you must first check your break settings. Please see the Break settings section above for further information. 
 

To set up break schedules in an operation:

1. In your quick menu, navigate to Operations > Approved Operations and select the relevant operation for which you'd like to override the break schedule. 
2. To access the break schedule, you can either:
   • Select the cog icon (next to your operation's name) >  From the Operations Settings list, select Break scheduler. 

   • For direct navigation, select Break rules from the overrides section.
      

     

3. To create a new break schedule, select + Shift time range, then specify the shift duration in the 'Shifts from' field. 
   • E.g. If this schedule applies to shifts with durations between 5 and 10 hours, add 5h and 10h in the corresponding fields. 
     
       Hot tip: When you're creating your break schedules, remember that they can't overlap.
     • E.g., If you have a schedule that runs from 0 hrs to 5 hrs, you can't set up another one that includes any hours between 0 hrs and 5 hrs.
     • However, you can have consecutive schedules (e.g., one that ends at 5 hrs and another that starts at 5 hrs). In this case, any shifts rostered with a duration at or before 5 hrs will follow the first schedule, while any shift durations greater than 5 hrs (even by just a minute) will follow the second schedule.
4. Now, add your breaks, to do so, select + Break. Repeat this step for any further breaks you wish to include. When adding additional breaks, it's best to do so in sequential order.
5. Then complete the details for each break:
   • In the 'add a' field' - Specify the break duration. 
   • From the dropdown list, select the type of break - Specify whether it is a paid or unpaid break. 
6. For additional options, select the ellipsis to:
   • Add/ remove a break start time - Once selected, the 'starting after' field will be available. In this field, specify at which point in the shift's duration the break is to start.  
      
     • E.g. If you need a tea break two hours into your shift, simply add 2h in the 'starting after' field. This means if an employee's shift begins at 10 a.m., you’ll take your tea break at 12 p.m., which is two hours later. 
   • Remove break - This will delete the specified break from your schedule. 
7. To save your changes, select Save from the taskbar.

  Hot tip: Within your Operation Settings, you can visually see which settings are being overridden, as they are shown by amber icons. Any unsaved changes are shown by green icons.

When setting and adjusting your break schedules, it's helpful to test them to ensure they're working. The break schedule testing feature lets you see in real time how your settings will affect your rostering.

This is done by using the Break schedule test to the right of your Break scheduler in your Time & Attendance or Operation Override settings.
 

To use the Break schedule test:

1. After you've set up your break schedules, enter your test shift start and end time into the Break schedule test. 
2. The tester will determine the break duration and the starting time of each break. 

In the example below, we have established 2 break schedules for upcoming shifts. Using the Break schedule test, we can determine which schedule will be applied for a shift that begins at 9 am and finishes at 7 pm.

The tester has concluded that the second schedule should be applied, as the shift duration is 10 hours. The breaks for the shift will be: 

• 1 paid 10-minute break at 10:30 am
• 1 unpaid 30-minute break at 2:00 pm
• Another paid 10-minute break at 4:30 pm

Once you've set up break schedules for your platform or operation and run conducted testing with the Break schedule test, you can begin rostering your employees.

When creating your draft shifts and entering the shift's start and end times, the break schedule automatically applies the relevant breaks based on the shift's duration, making it easier and quicker to create the roster. 

A few things to remember when using the break schedules:

• You can manually adjust the breaks set by the break schedule when you add or edit a shift, if necessary. 
• Shifts with breaks applied by your break schedule will retain the breaks when copied or saved in a roster template. 
• Changes to existing break schedules or the creation of new ones will not affect shifts that existed before setting up your break scheduler. For the changes to apply, existing shifts will need to be edited and re-saved.

Let's look at some scenarios below on how the break scheduler applies to shifts.

  If you would like steps on how to create a shift, then please see our Roster Building & publishing article here!