In Quinyx, configuring breaks is simple. Breaks can either be paid, meaning they count as worked hours, or unpaid. Depending on your setup, employees may also punch out when they start a break and punch back in when they return. This is commonly used with the European break configuration.
If you want to configure breaks in line with US labor laws, read more about meal waiver configuration here.
What you need to know before configuring breaks:
Do employees punch out when they start a break and punch back in when they return to work?
Are breaks paid? For example, for an 8-hour shift with a 30-minute break, should employees be paid for 7.5 hours or the full 8 hours?
How many hours can employees work before a break is required?
What is the minimum break length?
What is the maximum break length?
How to steps
Start by navigating to Account settings > Agreement templates.
Under Time, you will find Rules for time punching > Type of time reporting.
Here, you choose whether employees should punch in and out for breaks. Select the option that best suits your setup:
Read more here.
Punching in/out but no breaks: If selected, employees punch in/out at the start and end of their shift, but not during breaks.
Punching in/out and breaks: If selected, employees punch in/out at the start and end of their shift, including when they are going on break.
Deviation reporting: If selected, a punch will automatically be added that is the same length as the shift, removing the need for punching in/out.
Punching without schedule: If selected, it will be possible to punch in/out without an associated shift schedule.
2. In the Agreement template, navigate to Rules for breaks.
Read more here.
Enable "Calculate breaks as working time" if you apply paid meal breaks (paid lunch breaks).
If it is not paid, leave it disabled.
Also choose the lengths of breaks:
Maximum work hours w/o breaks (h): Allows you to indicate the maximum number of work hours allowed without breaks.
Minimum break (minutes)/ Maximum break (minutes): Allows you to indicate the length of the shortest and longest break. A warning is generated if you staff a shift with a break time that is shorter or longer than the minimum or maximum.
3. In the Agreement Template, under Time, you can find > Punch deviations.
Read more here.
Round breaks: Enable this option if you want break time to be rounded for payroll purposes. The employee's actual punches remain unchanged, only the calculated paid time is affected.
For example, if a 30-minute break is scheduled and an employee punches out for 20 minutes, the system will calculate the break as 30 minutes for payroll purposes. The employee's punch will still show the actual 20-minute break.
This option only applies if you selected "Punching in/out and breaks" in Step 1.
Break calculation rule
Break calculation rules help you automatically determine the correct break duration based on the length of a shift. You can configure these rules in the Agreement template, Account settings, or Group settings.
For example, you can define that:
A 6-hour shift includes a 15-minute break.
An 8-hour shift includes a 30-minute break.
This makes it easier to ensure that the correct break is applied automatically based on the employee's scheduled working hours.
Read more about how to configure and use break calculation rules in the schedule here
If you configure break calculation rules in an Agreement template, the rules will only apply to employees who are assigned to that specific agreement template.
If you configure break calculation rules in Account settings, the rules will apply to all employees by default, unless different break calculation rules are configured in the employee's agreement template.
If you configure break calculation rules in Group settings, the rules will apply to all employees by default in the specific unit.
Read more about break calculation rules here.
5. Break rules for unassigned shifts
Navigate to Account settings > Group Management > Advanced unit settings > Rules for breaks.
Here, you can configure break rules for unassigned shifts.
Q&A
Q: How can employees clock out for lunch and record their break in the system?
A: Either on the mobile app or Webpunch. Below are examples of the punch button in Webpunch and the mobile app.
In Webpunch, there is no separate “Break” button. Employees use the same Punch In/Out button that they use to punch in and out of their shifts.
The employee simply punches out when they start their break and punches back in when they return.
In the schedule, the punch is split:
In the mobile app the employee will have an option to “Punch out for break” and “Punch in after break”.
