Breaks and Automatic Break Deduction

Breaks directly affect pay: they are deducted from worked time before the hours become salary. In Vendion a break can come from three places, and it is always one of them that applies.

Three sources, one clear order

At clock-out the system decides how much break to deduct, in this order:

1. Registered break – someone pressed the Break button on the time clock. Then the actual time is deducted, even if it was only a few minutes. Measured time weighs more than an estimate, and we never deduct more than the person was actually away.
2. Scheduled break – if there is no registered break but the shift has a break in the schedule, that is what is deducted.
3. Automatic break deduction – if neither exists, the system deducts according to your own rules.

So if you see short breaks on long shifts in Time, it is point 1 that applied, and that is where you correct them.

Registering a break on the time clock

1. Press Break in the toggle above the keypad.
2. Enter your code.
3. Press Start break when you leave and End break when you are back.

After the break the screen shows how long it was and how much break you have taken in total today.

Putting a break in the schedule

When you create a shift under Staff ▸ Schedule there is a Break (minutes) field, pre-filled with 30. That break is deducted automatically at clock-out if nobody pressed the Break button.

Use a scheduled break when you have a fixed routine – for example that the kitchen always takes 30 minutes mid-shift. Then staff do not have to remember to punch the break, and you do not have to rely on the general rule.

Setting up automatic break deduction

Go to Staff ▸ Settings ▸ Schedule and time and find Automatic break deduction.

Each rule is a pair: after X hours of work → Y minutes of break. You can add up to three rules. Add rule gives a new row, the bin removes one.

The rule applies only when someone clocks out without a break – neither scheduled on the shift nor registered with the Break button.

The highest threshold the person passed wins. If you have both a 4-hour rule and a 6-hour rule, a seven-hour shift gets the six-hour rule deduction, not both.

Seeing what was deducted

In Staff ▸ Time ▸ Reported time, entries where the rule applied are marked Auto break. The "Worked" column already shows net time.

Staff see the same thing at clock-out: "Worked time: 7h 30min (after 30 min automatic break deduction)". If that differs from what they expected they come to you that same evening instead of on the payslip.

If the deduction is wrong, correct the time with Adjust or Status ▸ Adjust clock-out – the break rules are then recalculated.

The warning when there was no break at all

If someone worked more than five hours without any break registered or deducted, the clock-out receipt says: "Note: no break registered (>5h)".

It is a reminder, not a block – nobody is prevented from clocking out. Swedish working hours law requires that employees get a break after at most five hours of work; how you arrange that in practice is for you and your collective agreement partner or accounting adviser.

A simple way to avoid the warning entirely is to add a break rule matching how you actually work, for example after 5 hours deduct 30 minutes.

Common questions

Does the break count as working time? No. The break is deducted from worked time, and it is the net time that reaches payroll, tip distribution, Time ▸ Summary and the employee own monthly total in the staff portal. Every surface counts the same thing, so a break can never give you two different figures.

What if the shift is not published? A draft is your sketch – its break is not used. The automatic rule then applies, unless someone pressed Break.

What if someone forgets to press End break? The break continues until it is ended. Correct the time under Staff ▸ Time – it shows up as an unusually long break on the shift.

Can staff take several breaks in one shift? Yes. The receipt shows the latest break and the total break minutes for the day.

Can I edit a break afterwards? Not directly – you adjust the clock-in or clock-out instead, and the break rules are then recalculated on the entry.