Set Automatic Breaks and Reminders for Your Staff

There are many different ways to use OnTheClock’s web-based software. While your employees can clock-in and out without any set hours, you can also create schedules for your team members that include breaks and lunch hours. These automatic breaks and reminders are two of the more advanced features of OnTheClock, which we will walk you through with this guide. 

Build Breaks Into Your Fixed Schedules

If your employees are legally required to take breaks every few hours, you can build them into their schedules. Under the Fixed Schedules tab, select the number of breaks that your employees get. (These can range from one to three breaks per shift.) Then, fill out their schedules with the clock in and out times that they will need, breaks included. 

OnTheClock offers a few additional features within the Fixed Schedules tab that you can set for employee breaks:

• You can decide whether employees manually punch in to take their breaks or if their breaks are automatically clocked. 
• You can determine whether the break is paid or unpaid. This is particularly important if employees have a paid lunch hour. 

These features can be added to all of your employees or just specific team members that need breaks within their normal work hours. Employees can also clearly see when their breaks are throughout the day.

Set Up Employee Break Reminders 

The second OnTheClock feature that makes employee schedule management easier is a break reminder. Break reminders are alerts that tell employees when it’s time to clock out and step away from their work. You can set these up in the form of text messages or email alerts. 

It’s one thing to schedule breaks for employees, it’s another thing for employees to actually take them. Break notifications help ensure employees step away from work so they can return well-rested and continue to work productively. In fact, 90% of American employees feel that taking a lunch break helps them feel refreshed when they get back to work. A study published by Forbes found that breaks improve mental health while boosting creativity and productivity. Our notifications also decrease the chances that your company accidentally pays overtime for employees who decide to work through their breaks. 

Setting up employee alerts is as simple as updating the fixed schedules of your team members. At the bottom of the page, toggle the icon to enroll your employees in alerts. You can apply the alerts to all of your employees or select specific employees that need them.

Along with following the federal regulations for employee hours, setting employee breaks and alert reminders can make it easier for your team members to know when to take some time to themselves. Your management team will spend less time checking on staff members to see if they’re taking breaks, and your employees will return rested and ready to work. These two simple time tracking features can have a significant impact on your employee engagement and overall operations.