Overtime During Break Function Explained

Modified on Fri, 25 Jul at 11:03 AM

When setting up a shift pattern, you'll notice "Overtime During Break" toggle.

Purpose
How It Works
Best Practices
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Refer: Creating Shift Template to set up shift pattern.

1. Purpose

The Overtime During Break feature is designed to help you accurately track and pay for time an employee works during their scheduled break.

This feature is especially valuable for companies and roles that have fixed shift schedules and defined break times.

2. How It Works

When you enable this feature, the system follows a clear process to identify and record overtime during breaks:

1. Fixed Break Required

For this feature to work, a fixed break time must be clearly defined in the employee's shift settings. This means you need to set a specific start and end time for the break (e.g., 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM). This defined break period will be automatically deducted from the total scheduled working hours. The system will look for any clocking activity only within this predefined fixed break window.

Setting > Attendance > Shift

If no fixed break time is defined in the shift settings, the system cannot identify a specific "break duration" to monitor. In such cases, any clock-out and clock-in during the shift will be flagged as an "Early Out" or "Unauthorized Time Off", and will not trigger overtime calculation for that break.

Attendance > Individual Attendance > Select employee > click on shift on specific date

2. Clock-Out & Clock-In for Break

The employee must clock out and then clock back in within that specific break window.
If there are no clock-out and clock-in records during the break, the system will not register any overtime, even if work occurred. Please remind your employees that accurate clocking is essential for this feature.

3. Best Practices

Only for Normal Shift: You'll find the "Overtime During Break" option when you set up a normal shift only.
Recommended for Fixed Breaks: This feature works best with fixed break times. It doesn't work with flexible breaks. The system needs a set break window to detect any work that happens during it.
Important: This feature is meant to capture overtime within the scheduled break. Any overtime worked outside the scheduled shift (e.g., early or late OT) does not require this specific feature.

We know some of you need more flexible break options, especially for long shifts. We're actively looking into ways to make this possible in the future!

4. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. If an employee works through their break but doesn't clock out/in, will OT be calculated?

Answer: No. Worksy requires clock-out and clock-in data within the break window. Without clocking, it cannot verify that the break was skipped or worked through, so no OT will be detected and calculated.

2. What if no break time is set in the shift, but the employee clocks out during the shift day?

Answer: That clock data will be treated as "Early Out" or "Unauthorized Time Off", not a break - and won't be captured for OT. Therefore, always ensure break time is defined in the shift if you intend to track overtime during breaks.

3. Does clocking out alone trigger OT?

Answer: No. OT is not triggered just by clocking out. Worksy calculates worked time between a complete clock-out and clock-in during the break window. Both entries are required.

4. Why does the Individual Attendance record the break-time OT in "Actual Overtimes Hours" but not in "Approved Overtime Hours"?

Answer: "Actual Overtime" reflects overtime clocked during a shift. However, to determine the final payable overtime, the system applies the following conditions:

Full Shift Duration Completed: You must complete your full scheduled shift (clock out at or after the scheduled shift end time).
If you clock out early, the system flags it as an "Early Out," and any Overtime During Break won't be counted. This happens even if your total accumulated hours (including break OT) seem to meet your daily schedule. The system prioritizes adhering to the entire shift duration.

Example: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM shift (8 scheduled working hours with a 1-hour break).
If you clock 30 minutes of work during break but leave at 4:30 PM, the system still considers your working hours as 7.5 hours (8:00 AM - 4:30 PM minus the 1-hour scheduled break).
Approval Method Aligned: Your company's Overtime Approval Method must be satisfied. Refer to question #6, #7, and #8 for details.
Overtime Rate: The Approved OT Hours will follow the schedule's Overtime Rate to calculate the Rounded OT Hours = the final payable overtime. (Overtime Rate can be configured in Setting > Attendance > Overtime Pattern)

How to set up an Overtime Rate? Refer this guide: Creating Overtime Pattern Template

These conditions are to ensure employees are only paid for true excess hours, not just visible activity during break time.

5. Does "Overtime During Break" automatically mean the employee gets paid overtime?

Answer: No. This feature captures time worked during breaks, but the final payable amount is determined by your organization's Overtime Approval Method and Overtime Rate. This feature identifies the time, but it doesn't override your Overtime setup under Schedule settings.

You can find this Overtime setup in Schedule Template. Refer to this guide: Creating Work Schedule Template

6. How does "Overtime During Break" work with an "Intersect Actual and Pre-Approved" approval method?

Answer: Only the overlap period between actual work during a break and pre-approved OT will be considered as "Approved OT Hour(s)"

Example A (Actual within Pre-Approved): 20 mins Actual Overtimes + 30 mins Pre-Approved = 20 mins Approved & Rounded OT Hours. (subject to Overtime Rate)

Example B (No Pre-Approved): 20 mins Actual Overtimes + no Pre-Approved = 0 Approved & Rounded OT Hours.

7. How does "Overtime During Break" work with a "Pre-Approved Hours" approval method?

Answer: Pre-Approved is authorized OT. It can originate from:

Approved overtime requests.
Shifts assigned on Off Days, Rest Days, or Public Holidays.
Pre-Approved Early/Late OT in the shift schedule.

So, if your approval method is Pre-Approved Hours, any break OT captured will not be paid unless that specific time worked during the break was already pre-approved.

One of the ways to solve this is by instructing the employee to submit a self-overtime request for the overtime break. This request would then need to be approved by the relevant approvers.

8. How does "Overtime During Break" work with an "Actual Hours" approval method?

Answer: Captured Overtime During Break that is clocked (employee clocks out and back in during their fixed break) will generally be approved as payable overtime.

This method disregards the conditions of completing the full scheduled shift duration or having worked beyond total daily scheduled hours for the approval of the break OT itself. It approves based purely on the actual time clocked during the break.

We do not recommend this auto approval method if your organization prioritizes accurate overtime calculation, aims to prevent employee shift manipulation, or wishes to avoid potential overpayment.

We hope this explanation clarifies the matter. If you require additional assistance, do not hesitate to contact our support team.