Go to the Employees tab, and the Breaks sub-tab.

Review the Break Rules, which specify the number of breaks, duration of break, recurrence, whether or not the break is required (or optional), whether the break is paid (or unpaid), a description for the break, the position the break applies to, and how long the employee must be at work for the break to apply.

To add a break rule, click on the Add a New Break Rule button [7]. Some information about this screen:

1 – Breaks applying to any position are listed under the “Any Position” section. Breaks for specific positions are listed under their respective position names. This flexibility allows management breaks, or FOH and BOH to have different break set ups.

2 – Select the number of breaks, and the duration of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing “2 breaks”, and each break lasts “5 minutes”.

3 – Choose the duration for repetition of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing breaks that occur once every 6 hours. If the breaks should be awarded every 2 hours, but the shift is 4 hours long, the staff member may be awarded 2 sets of breaks.

4 – Decide whether the breaks are paid, unpaid, required, or optional, and add a description for the break. For example, in the picture, we are describing a required, but unpaid break, with no description.

5 – Decide if the break applies to all positions, or only one type of position, and also decide which specific shifts will receive the break. For example, in the picture we are awarding breaks to staff members who work Bartender shifts that are at least 6 hours long, but no longer than 8 hours.

TimeForge will tie all of the Break Rules together and will apply / award the breaks to staff members working applicable shifts. Based on the picture for this step, TimeForge will provide (2) 5-minute breaks to bartenders who work at least 6 hours, but less than 8 hours. These breaks will both be required, but are unpaid.

When you’re done working with the breaks, make sure to click on the Save Break Rules button [6].

TimeForge provides management staff with the ability to test the break rules, to ensure that the break rules are configured exactly as you need them for your business.

To test the break rules, choose an applicable position, and then simulate the duration of a work shift, and click on Test Break Rules.

Navigate to the Attendance Options in the Attendance tab.

You can specify one or more IP addresses which employees must be at, for employees to clock in. To add an IP address for employees to clock in:
- You can type your IP address into the text box. If there is more than one allowed IP address, they should be separated by a space, comma, or on separate lines.
- Instead of typing in the IP address, you can click on the Add this computer to allowed IPs button, and TimeForge will add your current IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses.

Remember to click Save Company Settings.

If you have TimeForge Attendance, you can see employees who are currently on break, or have already taken a break for the day.

To start, navigate to the Attendance tab.

After clicking the Attendance tab choose View Clocked-In Employees.

The Clocked-In Employees Page shows employees that are clocked-in or on break, and the hours worked so far during their shift.

If you have TimeForge Attendance, you can edit breaks for staff members. To start, navigate to the Attendance tab.

After clicking the Attendance tab choose the Edit Attendance tab.

Choose a date that you would like to edit.

Choose the employee and begin editing attendance entries and breaks.

Remember to click the save button once you finished editing.

After clicking the Attendance tab navigate to the Edit Attendance by Employee.

Choose the employee and desired date range to begin editing breaks or attendance.

After choosing an employee, you can begin editing the attendance and breaks.

Please note: Remember to save your changes when you are done.

If you have TimeForge Attendance, it is really easy to configure employees breaks. To begin, navigate to the Attendance tab.

To start working with breaks, make sure to turn on break tracking, by setting the option to Yes.

After turning on break tracking, TimeForge will display a number of new configuration options to control meal periods and breaks.

If set to “No“, staff must take their breaks based on the scheduled break times and the posted schedule. If no breaks are scheduled, staff cannot take a break.

If set to “Yes“, staff are allowed to take a break at any time, regardless of the scheduled break times or types.

If set to “No“, staff must take their breaks based on the order of their scheduled breaks and the posted schedule. For example, if an unpaid/required break is scheduled first, and then a paid/optional break, employees may take either break, in any order.

If set to “Yes“, staff are allowed to take a break at any time, regardless of the scheduled break times or types. For example, if an unpaid/required break is scheduled first, and then a paid/optional break, employees must first take the unpaid/required break, and then they can take the paid/optional break.

If set to “No“, employees must take their breaks manually (by going to TimeForge and starting their break).

If set to “Yes“, TimeForge will automatically take scheduled breaks for any staff member who forgets to take their scheduled break. For example, if an unpaid/required break is scheduled at 10:00am, but the employee forgets to take the break, TimeForge will automatically take the break for the staff member.

If set to “No“, employees must end their breaks manually (by going to TimeForge and ending their break).

If set to “Yes“, TimeForge will automatically end scheduled breaks for any staff member who forgets to end their scheduled break. For example, if an employee starts a 15 minute unpaid/required break at 10:00am, but forgets to end the break at 10:15am, TimeForge will automatically end the break for the staff member.

If set to “No“, employees are allowed to take their scheduled breaks at any time, regardless of the scheduled start times for the breaks. For example, if a break is scheduled at 11:15am, the employee can click on “Take a Break” at 11:00am, and will be allowed to start the break at 11:00am.

If set to “Yes“, employees must take their breaks no earlier than the scheduled start time of the break. For example, if a break is scheduled at 11:15am, the employee can not click on “Take a Break” until 11:15am.

If set to “No“, employees are allowed to take breaks that are of any duration, regardless of the scheduled break times. For example, if an employee ends a scheduled 30 minute break after 20 minutes, they will be allowed to do so.

If set to “Yes“, employees must take a break that is at least as long as the scheduled break time. For example, if an employee attempts to end a scheduled 20 minute break after 15 minutes, TimeForge will not allow them to do so. They must be on break at least 20 minutes, if this option is set.

If set to “No“, breaks that are unpaid will never convert to any other type of break. For example, if an employee ends a scheduled 15 minute unpaid break, it will continue to remain as an unpaid break.

If set to “Yes“, any break that is unpaid, but ends prior to the scheduled duration, will be converted from an unpaid break to a paid break. For example, if an employee ends an unpaid 30 minute lunch break after 28 minutes, then the 28 minute unpaid lunch break will convert to a 28 minute paid break.

If you are on a computer which allows employee clock ins with TimeForge Attendance, go to the Today Page and you will see a button to clock in.

If you are scheduled or allowed to take a break, and you have already clocked in, you can go to the Today Page and you will see a Take a Break button.

Click on the Take a Break button to actually take your break.

Depending on your employer’s TimeForge settings, you may be allowed to choose the type of break, and those options might include:
paid required
paid optional
unpaid required
unpaid optional

Click on the Break Type drop-down and choose the type of break you would like to take.

Please note: You may not be prompted to choose a break type, depending on how the breaks are configured at your location.

Click Take a Break or Cancel.

When you are ready to end your break, go to the Today Page and you will see an End Break button.

Click on the End Break button to finish your break.

If you are using TimeForge Scheduling, you can add new schedules and breaks for staff members. To start, navigate to the Schedules tab.

Pick a schedule that you would like to edit. Or you can add a new schedule to begin adding shifts and breaks for your staff.

Then pick an employee, and then a shift. if there is not a shift available already, you may add a new shift.

At the top of the add-edit shift screen, there is a Shift tab and a Breaks tab. Choose the Breaks tab to display scheduled breaks, or schedule new breaks.

Please Note: If you do not see the Breaks tab, there are no configured Break Rules. TimeForge requires that Break Rules be configured before individual breaks can be laid out for shifts. Setting up Break Rules will allow the TimeForge software to automatically schedule and stagger breaks for staff members.

To schedule breaks for the shift, click on Add More Breaks.

Configure the time, the duration, and the type of break that you want for this shift. When you are finished adding breaks for this shift, click on the Shift tab and click on Save to save the shift.

To change a staff members security permissions within TimeForge, first navigate to the list of employees, and then choose Edit.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, and choose an appropriate Employee Type. Then, choose Save. Employee permissions default based on the settings in Dinerware, but you can override these settings inside TimeForge.

If an employee forgets their password, does not receive the welcome email, or accidentally deletes the welcome email, a manager (or supervisor) with access capabilities can login to TimeForge as that user, without knowing their username or password.

To do this, click on “Switch User“. TimeForge will immediately log you into the software the employee you chose, without prompting for either the username or the password. You can then interact with TimeForge as you would normally – set up alerts, change your password, or check the schedule.

When you’re all done, click on “Switch Back to Your Account” in the top right hand corner, and TimeForge will return you to your management account.

Add your user to the Dinerware POS software. Some of the key fields include:

1. The employee must be active in Dinerware to appear inside of TimeForge. If you make the employee inactive, TimeForge will assume they are terminated, and will remove them from your employee list (they can later be re-activated).
2. The SSN / Tax ID is not required, but if provided, it must be unique to employees within your company. For example, two employees cannot share the same social security number.
3. Each Dinerware employee must have a unique name, which must include a first and last name. For example, only one employee can be name “John Smith”.

Additionally, you need to enter:

1. The staff member must have an email address. TimeForge will automatically send the staff member an email address to allow them to set up a username and password to log into TimeForge. Email addresses must be unique to each staff member, ie, employees cannot share email addresses.
2. To receive cell phone and text message alerts about upcoming schedules, enter the staff members cell phone number in the phone field.

TimeForge requires that each staff member work at least one job.

TimeForge regularly syncs with Dinerware to ensure that the data is current and accurate.

After adding your staff members, you can manually synchronize the databases, or you can wait for TimeForge to automatically sync the databases.

TimeForge will automatically add staff members to the appropriate departments and locations if you are using TimeForge at multiple locations or with department-level scheduling.