Use scheduled time formula to calculate break impact on the utilization without needing to adjust the scheduled shift duration beyond its real length and without employees needing to clock in their breaks.
This feature is available across all plans and is defined at the scheduled shift level. Expected Break Time can be added directly through the Add/Edit Shift window or imported as an optional column using the Shifts CSV template.
Feature permissions
Admin can edit the utlliization formula and chose the Expected Break Time option from the utilization page.
Admin or Manager with existing “can schedule and delete shifts” permission can add or edit Expected Break Time on the UI or via CSV import.
Utilization Impact: Scheduled Time Formula
When calculating utilization, Expected Break Time is subtracted from the Scheduled Time of every shift. If Expected Break Time is used, break times clocked in by employees will not be included in the calculation.
When the "include hours outside the scheduled shift" option is enabled, productive time outside scheduled shifts is added to the total productive time. This total is then divided by the Scheduled Shift Length - Expected Break Time.
For overnight shifts, Expected Break Time is applied proportionally to the duration of each day within the shift.
Example:
A 6-hour overnight shift spans 5 hours on Day 1 and 1 hour on Day 2, with an Expected Break Time of 60 minutes.
On Day 1, 50 minutes (5/6 of the EBT) is subtracted.
On Day 2, 10 minutes (1/6 of the EBT) is subtracted.
Adding or Editing Expected Break Time
The Expected Break Time field is available in the Create and Edit Shift window when the EBT option is enabled on the Utilization page. It is visible on both the Attendance and Employee Schedules tabs but hidden if the Expected Break Time checkbox is not selected.
Users can modify Expected Break Time duration for future shifts but cannot edit it for ongoing or past shifts. The default suggested Expected Break Time value is 30 minutes, which can be customized on the Utilization page but is not automatically applied to shifts.
Expected Break Time values must be at least 0 minutes and cannot equal or exceed the shift duration.
Importing Scheduled Shifts with Expected Break Time
A Expected Break Time column is included in the CSV template for importing scheduled shifts. The required columns are:
Employee_Name
Start_Date_Time
End_Date_Time
Expected_Break_Time
Employee_Time_Zone
If the Expected Break Time option is enabled, the Expected Break Time column becomes mandatory, and missing values will trigger the error: "Expected Break Time duration values are missing."
If the Expected Break Time option is disabled, the column is optional and not required for import.
Expected Break Time values provided through the import are saved directly to the corresponding shifts, regardless of the current utilization settings.
If the Expected Break Time option is enabled, the Expected Break Time value is displayed within the summary, even if it is set to 0 minutes.
Expected Break Time is shown alongside regular break time if the Expected Break Time option is enabled on the Utilization page. Pages where you can find this feature are Time and Attendance-Timesheets, Employees-Timesheets and Time and Attendance-Attendance.