Paid vs unpaid breaks: how Kloqk counts them

Whether a break is paid is set by your rules in Settings > Payroll > Breaks & lunch. Rest breaks are paid up to the minutes in their row and only the extra is unpaid. A lunch follows its row: unpaid means deducted, paid means paid up to the row's minutes.

Rest breaks

• Each rest break is paid up to the minutes in the row that applies to that shift. With "2 x 10 min, paid", a 14-minute break pays 10 minutes and 4 are unpaid.
• With no rest break row for the shift, a break of up to 20 minutes is paid, because federal law treats short breaks as paid time.
• An extra break beyond what the row allows is still paid up to the row's minutes, and the day is marked so you can see it.

Lunch and meal breaks

• When a lunch row applies and says unpaid, the whole lunch is deducted, whatever its length.
• When it says paid, the lunch is paid up to the row's minutes and anything longer is unpaid.
• With no lunch row for that shift length, a lunch of 30 minutes or more is unpaid and a shorter one is paid, which is the federal line.

Set a break to paid or unpaid

1. Go to Settings > Payroll > Breaks & lunch.
2. On the row, change the last dropdown to paid or unpaid.
3. Click Save beside the section heading.

The editor warns you if you mark a lunch under 30 minutes, or a rest break of 20 minutes or less, as unpaid, because federal law treats those as paid time.

See the split on timesheets

1. Open Timesheets.
2. Tick Paid / unpaid in the toolbar.

Under each Break and Lunch total you now see how much was paid and how much unpaid. The choice is saved for your business. It only changes what is shown: hours and pay are the same either way. The same option is in the Summary report's Fields panel.

Examples with the common policy

The common policy is one paid 10-minute break from 4 hours, two from 8 hours, and an unpaid 30-minute lunch from 6 hours.

• 8.5 hour shift, two 10-minute breaks, 30-minute lunch: both breaks paid, the 30-minute lunch deducted.
• 8.5 hour shift, one 18-minute break: 10 minutes paid, 8 minutes unpaid.
• 5 hour shift with a 30-minute lunch: no lunch row applies below 6 hours, so the 30-minute lunch is unpaid and the day is marked.

Good to know

• Breaks only count if they are punched (Start Break and End Break on the clock) or entered on the timesheet. Kloqk does not deduct a lunch nobody punched.
• Each location follows your company rules unless it is set to its own state's law in Settings > Locations.
• State laws differ on meal and rest breaks. Use your state's button under Start from: to see what it requires.