Creating a Lunch Policy allows users to set up automatic time deductions for meal(s), allocate paid lunches and breaks, and generate Meal Premiums. Lunch Policy is configured on the Lunch Policy page in the Settings section of the client portal.
This article explains how to configure each Lunch Policy feature.
Restrict time paid for each break taken
Restrict total time paid for breaks per day
Configuration and timecard example
Automatic time deduction
Time for Lunch/Meal can be automatically deducted from a timecard. This feature allows for a first and second deduction of a specified number of minutes after a specified number of hours.
Marking the checkbox Auto deduct lunch if no lunch punch done by employee on clock ensures that the deduction(s) will only occur if the employee does not enter lunch punches.
Meal Premium
The law in some states requires that for each workday that an employer fails to provide an employee a meal break as required, the employer owes the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of pay. This hour of pay is called a Meal Premium. The Lunch Policy feature in Timerack allows for a Meal Premium(s) to be automatically added to a timecard if the required meal break is not taken.
Activate Meal Premium by selecting Yes for Enable Meal Premium.
There are two Meal Premiums that can be configured: short lunch and late lunch. Both can be used simultaneously.
Pay Category for each Meal Premium is set by default to the hard-coded Lunch Paid, but can be mapped to a different one using the Pay Category dropdown menu.
Short Lunch
Required time for lunch(In Minutes) is the minimum amount of time for employees are required to punch out for lunch. If the employee punches back in from lunch before the specified number of minutes has elapsed, the Meal Premium for short lunch will be triggered.
Premium time for short lunch(In hours) is the number of hours of pay that will be added to the employee's timecard when the required length of time for lunch is not met.
Late Lunch
Employee must take lunch before (In hours) is the maximum number of consecutive worked hours allowed before the employee is required to take a lunch. A premium will be added to the Timecard if the employee works more than 5 hours and has not started a Lunch.
Premium time for late lunch (In hours) is the number of hours of pay that will be added to the employee's timecard when the maximum allowed number of hours worked before taking a lunch is exceeded.
SECOND LUNCH: When Meal Premium is enabled for Late Lunch, a premium will also be added to the Timecard if the employee works more than 12 hours and has not started a second Lunch.
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Timecard Example with Meal Premiums
Breaks
There are two periods defined as a "Break" in Timerack. One is the time between a punch Out and a punch In on the same Reporting Date, and the other is the time between a punch Break Start and a punch Break End. By default, Break time is unpaid.
It is only necessary to implement Break Rules if breaks are to be paid. |  |
There are two rules that can be configured for breaks: restrict paid time per break and restrict total paid break time per day. Both can be used simultaneously.
Restrict time paid for each break taken
| When configuring this rule, always select the Over option and enter the same value as Paid Up to (In Minutes). |  |
Restrict total time paid for breaks per day
| In Max Paid Break (In Minutes), enter the total amount of paid time allowed for breaks in one whole day. |  |
Configuration and timecard example
Company pays for two 10-minute breaks to be taken each day. If an individual break exceeds 10 minutes, any break time past the tenth minute will not be paid. Furthermore, if total break time for the day exceeds 20 minutes, the break time past the twentieth minute will not be paid. |  |
