Meal and break allocations define how many meals or breaks, and their durations, shifts of varying lengths receive. For example, you could configure a 4 hour shift to receive one 15 minute break, while an 8 hour shift receives two 15 minute breaks and one 30 minute meal. You can create as many meal or break allocations as required, as long as each has a different Qualifying Shift Length value.
To create a meal or break allocation, click Add in the appropriate section and then provide setting values. The settings in the Meal Allocation and Break Allocation sections are described, with examples, below. Although there are two versions of the following settings, one for meals and one for breaks, they function in the same manner. Provide values for the appropriate set of settings, or both, depending on your organization's needs.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Qualifying Shift Length | Enter the minimum duration, in hours, that a shift must be before it qualifies for meals or breaks. When managers create schedules, Dayforce uses this value to validate the schedule's shifts. Any qualifying shifts that don't have a scheduled meal or break are marked with a problem icon. Dayforce also automatically schedules a meal or break to qualifying shifts as they’re added. |
| Duration | Enter the duration in minutes of the meal or break that qualifying shifts receive. |
| Min Time Before | Enter the number of minutes employees must work before their meal or break. For example, enter 60 and employees don't receive their meal or break within the first hour of the shift. This value also influences when meals or breaks are either automatically inserted or scheduled to shifts as they’re added in Schedules. Dayforce doesn't add or inject meals or breaks within this time. |
| Min Time After |
Enter the number of minutes that employees must work after their meal or break. For example, enter 120 and employees don't receive their meal or break within the last two hours of the shift. This value also influences when meals or breaks are either automatically inserted or scheduled to shifts as they’re added in Schedules. Dayforce doesn't add or inject meals/breaks within this time. |
| Occurrences | Enter the number of meals or breaks that qualifying shifts receive. |
| Shift Starts On Or After | Set the time when shifts must start on or after to be eligible for the corresponding meal or break. |
| Shift Starts Before | Set the time when shifts must start before to be eligible for the corresponding meal or break. |