Can you track breaks using Square Timecards?

[square_marc]

Hey guys,

We are thiking about using the Timecards feature. However just realizing that I don't see a way for employees to take a lunch break? This is a pretty fundamental feature of a timeclock service. Pretty surprised it is not there. Am I missing something?

[#2]

Break tracking is now live!

[RHatch]

You just clock out for lunch and then clock in  when you return to work.  Was there something else you are looking for?

[square_marc]

Unfortunately it is not that simple.

Meal breaks are required by some state labor laws. One of the features of a timeclocking service is to alert the employer which employees did or did not take required meal breaks. They also track the lenght of that break which is also important. 

We have used a number of clock in/out services and they all incorporate a break feature. Without it, this service is somewhat incomplete.

[Sean]

Thanks for the help here @RHatch. 

Hi @square_marc! While we don't currently offer a break tracking system, but this is definitely a feature that is top of mind for our team. I don't have a timeline to share just yet, but if you'd like, I can have our team reach out to you directly once we start testing this feature out in the future. Thanks for taking the time to post! 

[square_marc]

Yes, please do let me know. Then we will gladly switch over and use this service. 

[Chris_C]

Break tracking is now live!

[workshop]

Is anyone else having real issues with the paid breaks feature? For example, I set our lunch break to be 30 minutes paid, but if my employee accidentally is late and takes a 45 minute break, it will still pay out for the full 45 minutes instead of marking 15 of those minutes as unpaid... Am I missing something?

[Cosgrove]

Hi @workshop, we actually do not support automatic adjustments right now if the break runs over. Good to know this is something you were expecting, and we'll see when we can get it scheduled. Appreciate your feedback. Anything else you think could be improved about breaks or timecards in general?

[workshop]

Hi @Cosgrove, 

From a user experience, I don’t understand the purpose of specifying a time limit if the timecard does not take that into account? I also have an email thread with square customer service expressing concern that this wasn’t working for me and they have engineers troubleshooting the issue... so it appears even the square staff also expected this functionality. It’s very disappointing as this was the #1 draw bringing me to switch over to your payroll service, and I was led on to believe it was just a glitch!

[Cosgrove]

Not a glitch, but your feedback is well taken. This is something we cut from our initial release but have always planned to add. We're working on it!

[PetGroomer]

Was this problem fixed?  I just started using the time cards and an employee forgot to clock back in after lunch and it will not let me edit her hours.  I also have problems when trying to edit the break that is set to 30 minutes.  I can't changed it if they took more or less than the 30 minutes, which happens frequently at my business.  Any help would be appreciated. 

[seiderman]

Hey @PetGroomer ,

Thanks for reaching out.

While we still don't automatically convert paid break overages to unpaid, it sounds like you may be experiencing a separate issue. You should definitely be able to edit the start and end time of breaks. I'd recommend contacting Square Support for further troubleshooting. You can reach our Support by entering in your customer code at [Redacted]. 

Definitely let me know if you run into any issues getting this resolved!

[PetGroomer]

I got it figured out.  Thank you.

[macharya]

I'm facing the same problem where the overage on the break is not automatically adjusted as being unpaid. Currently, the overage on the break is being considered as paid time. It seems like this was on the pipeline to be fixed 2 years ago and is still not done. Why? This is a critical feature and without it, makes the whole time keeping product useless in my opinion. Fix it!! 

[seiderman]

Hi @macharya,

Thanks for reaching out. Totally hear you on the importance of this functionality. The good news is that the team is currently working on adding this functionality to our timecards product. Happy to keep you updated, as well as include you in any early access program we rollout for this feature, if interested.

[Valentina · Accepted solution]

Hi there @PetGroomer and @macharya 👋

I stumbled upon your comments and wanted to let you know that it's now possible to convert paid break overages to unpaid breaks. To learn more about this feature, head to this page and scroll down to the Convert Paid Break Overages to Unpaid section.