Use case: Mandatory Break Configuration for Germany

Objective

This page describes the base configuration of Mandatory Breaks according to German law.

Process

HR Manager
Sets up Mandatory Breaks
Automated process
Uses those settings to properly calculate the mandatory breaks
Employee
Can use the system to track their attendances

Click Through

  • Start in HR HUB
  • In the lower left corner, switch from Overview to Settings
  • Click on Attendance Calculation Configuration
  • Open your Default Calculation Configuration template
  • If the status reason of the template is Valid
    • Deactivate the record
    • Activate again
    • The status reason is now Draft
  • Open the tab Mandatory Break Configuration
  • Set the calculation Mode for Total
  • Set the Hour Base to Net
  • Skip Break Block Smaller than 15 min
  • Set Mandatory Break Block Size to 1 (recommended)
  • First, you now create the rule that minors need to take a 30 minute break after 4.5 hours of work. Adults don't have to take a break after 4.5 hours yet.
    • Click on + New Mandatory Break Rule
    • In General, check the box for Age Related Rule
    • Click on Tab Rule
    • Set the Rule Type to Total Work Time
    • Set the Operator to Greater Than
    • Set the Work Time to 270 minutes (4.5 hours equals 270 minutes)
    • Set the Mandatory Break to 0 minutes
    • Click on the Tab Age Related Rule
    • For Age Operator add Less Than
    • Age 18 years
    • Mandatory Break 30 minutes
    • Click on Save & Close
  • Now repeat the process for working hours bigger than 6 hours: Minors need to take a 60 minute break, adults have to take 30 minutes.
    • Click on + New Mandatory Break Rule
    • In General, check the box for Age Related Rule
    • Click on Tab Rule
    • Set the Rule Type to Total Work Time
    • Set the Operator to Greater Than
    • Set the Work Time to 360 minutes (6 hours equals 360 minutes)
    • Set the Mandatory Break to 30 minutes
    • Click on the Tab Age Related Rule
    • For Age Operator add Less Than
    • Age 18 years
    • Mandatory Break 60 minutes
    • Click on Save & Close
  • Now repeat the process for working hours bigger than 9 hours: Minors need to take a 60 minute break, adults have to take 45 minutes.
    • Click on + New Mandatory Break Rule
    • In General, check the box for Age Related Rule
    • Click on Tab Rule
    • Set the Rule Type to Total Work Time
    • Set the Operator to Greater Than
    • Set the Work Time to 540 minutes (9 hours equals 540 minutes)
    • Set the Mandatory Break to 45 minutes
    • Click on the Tab Age Related Rule
    • For Age Operator add Less Than
    • Age 18 years
    • Mandatory Break 60 minutes
    • Click on Save & Close
  • Set the status reason to Valid (upper right corner)
  • Save & Close

Hint

  • Calculation mode: Determine whether the mandatory breaks are calculated at the end of each work block or only at the end of the total working time.
  • Hour basis: Determines if the time calculation is based on gross or net time.
  • Skip Break Blocks Smaller Than [min]: The number of minutes before a break is considered as such. According to German law, only breaks of at least 15 minutes are to be considered as such. If this value is not specified, every single minute is counted as a break.
  • Mandatory Break Block Size: Specify the mandatory break blocks size used to fill missing break times.
    • Example 1: An employee only takes a 20-minute break instead of the fixed 30-minute break. If the mandatory break block size is 1, the missing 10 minutes are filled exactly (using 10 blocks of 1 minute each). However, if the mandatory break block size is 15, the missing 10 minutes are filled with one block of the size 15 minutes. This results in a total break time of 20 + 15 = 35 minutes.
    •  Example 2: Same situation as example 1, but the employee only takes a 10-minute break. With a block size of 1, the block is filled exactly to 30 minutes, so the missing 20 minutes are filled by 20 1-minute mandatory break blocks. However, if the mandatory break block size is 15, one block is not sufficient (10 min + 1 block = 25 min). This means that 2 blocks are filled. This results in a total break time of 10 + 15 + 15 = 40 minutes.
    • For maximum flexibility, we recommend setting the Mandatory Break Block Size to 1.

Result

After following all the steps as described above, your Mandatory Break Configuration looks like this:
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HR