Unpaid Break Rules

A pay agreement can stipulate the unpaid breaks to which a payee is entitled under the conditions of the agreement. The primary interpretation process factors in unpaid breaks to split up the time on a timesheet into blocks of paid working time and unpaid break times respectively.

Therefore, one or more unpaid break rules can be configured for each primary interpretation header belonging to an agreement. For example, different unpaid break rules may be created for weekdays and weekends, for specific days of the week and specific types of shifts. Different unpaid break rules may also be created for days where a specific holiday type applies.

An unpaid break rule can define a break at a specific time of day or may define a break after a certain number of hours/minutes of continuous work.

An unpaid break rule is defined by specifying a name that uniquely identifies the rule, the break time or the number of hours/minutes after which the break is to occur, the break length, the variance and the shift day type(s) or holiday type(s).

The variance defines the threshold for determining if a break keyed against a timesheet clashes with the unpaid break defined by the agreement. If a break keyed against a timesheet is within the variance value it is considered to clash with the beak defined by the agreement. In such cases, Rates and Rules applies the break keyed against the timesheet rather than that defined by the agreement. If a break keyed against a timesheet is outside the variance value, it is not considered a clash and Rates and Rules applies both breaks. The variance value applies either side of the break start and end time.

For example, an agreement defines that for day shifts beginning at 9:00 and ending at 17:00, payees are entitled to a 30 minute break after 3.5 hours of work. That is, the break should occur from 12:30 until 13:00. The variance for the rule is 60 minutes. If a submitted timesheet records a break from 12:00 until 12:30, the break defined in the pay agreement is ignored because the timesheet break occurs within 60 minutes of the break defined by the agreement. However, if the timesheet defines a break from 12:30 until 13:00 and another break from 15:00 until 15:30, both breaks are applied. This is because the second break, which is not defined by the agreement, falls outside the 60 minute variance.

Note that the break cycle continues from the break end point, as defined within the agreement. For example, if the agreement rule defines a 30 minute break every three hours during a shift, the second break in the shift break sequence is applied three hours after the end of the first break, assuming the second break does not cause a clash, even if the first break defined by the agreement caused a clash and was not applied.

One or more shift day types must be selected within an unpaid break rule to determine the days of the week to which the rule applies. For example, if a shift day type of Monday is selected, the unpaid break rule applies to shifts that starts on a Monday.

One or more shift types must be selected on an unpaid break rule to determine the types of shifts to which the rule applies. For example, where the only shift type selected is Day Shift, the unpaid break rule is not applied to shifts other than those with a shift type of Day Shift.

One or more holiday types can be selected within an unpaid break rule if the rule is to dates that correspond to specific holidays rather than specific days of the week.

The following conditions apply to unpaid break rules:

• multiple unpaid break rules cannot be defined for the same shift day type or the same holiday type

• where an unpaid break rule exists for a given holiday type and another unpaid break rule exists for the shift type or shift day type on which the holiday occurs, the holiday type rule overrides the shift type or day type rule.

Break After X House Rules

Additional options apply to unpaid break rules that define a break after a certain number of hours/minutes of continuous work. Such rules are known as break after X hours rules.

A break after X hours rule can be configured to limit the number of break occurrences that can occur during a shift.

The example below shows the differences in how a break after X hours rule will be applied depending on whether the rule is occurrence limited. In this example, a shift begins at 7:00 and ends at 19:00 and the applicable break after X hours rule is configured to apply a break every 2 hours.

A break after X hours rule can also be configured to include or exclude unpaid break durations from the calculation of the hours worked for the purposes of determining when the next unpaid break occurs during a shift.

In the example shown in the table above, each consecutive unpaid break starts exactly two hours after the end of the previous unpaid break. This means the duration of the unpaid breaks has been excluded for the purposes of determining when the next unpaid break occurs. That is, the system has calculated from the point at which paid work has resumed to determine when to apply the next unpaid break.

However, if the applicable break after X hours rule was configured to include the duration of unpaid breaks when determining when the next unpaid break starts, the results would be as shown in the table below.

As shown in the example above, where the break after X hours rule is configured to include the break durations the system calculates from the start of the previous unpaid break to determine when the next unpaid break is to be applied.

Insufficient Shift Duration Condition

Break after X hours rules include an insufficient shift duration condition that determines if and how an unpaid break should be applied if the duration of a shift is insufficient to apply the break in its entirety. The table below lists and describes the insufficient shift duration conditions that can be selected.

The table below shows examples of the difference in outcomes that an unpaid break rule will achieve depending on the option selected. In each case, the unpaid break rule is configured to apply one 30-minute break after 5 hours.

An unpaid break rule can be configured to apply multiple breaks during a shift. The table below shows examples of the differences in outcomes depending on the option selected in the Insufficient Shift Duration Condition field when the unpaid break rule is configured to apply a maximum of two breaks during a shift. In each case, it is assumed the rule is configured to apply one 30-minute break after 3.5 hours. In each case, it is assumed that the unpaid break rule is configured such that the second break begins 3.5 hours after the end of the first break (i.e. the Exclude Break Duration option applies).

Note also that unpaid breaks can be applied based on the unpaid break rule, a break keyed on a timesheet or both. If there is no unpaid break keyed against the timesheet, the break is applied based on the unpaid break rule on the pay agreement. If there is a break keyed against the timesheet, the Interpreter checks if the timesheet break occurred within the variance (number of minutes) defined by the unpaid break rule. If the timesheet break occurred within the variance, the break is derived from the timesheet instead of from the unpaid break rule. If the timesheet break occurred outside of the variance, the unpaid break rule and the timesheet break are applied.

The option that is selected in the Insufficient Shift Duration Condition field on the unpaid break rule must be applied to the actual break that would be applied in each case, regardless of whether that break is derived from the unpaid break rule or the timesheet.

For example, consider a scenario where an unpaid break rule is configured to apply one 30-minute break after 4 hours and the variance is set to 15 minutes. The table below shows the difference in outcomes that an unpaid break rule will achieve depending on the option selected in the Insufficient Shift Duration Condition field and whether a break is applied from the unpaid break rule or the timesheet.