Teamsly supports two types of breaks — manual breaks that employees start and stop themselves, and automatic breaks that are deducted from worked hours based on rules you define. Both are configured in Settings and tracked on each employee's timecard.
Getting There
Click the gear icon at the bottom of the left navigation to open Settings, then select Overtime & Breaks under the Timesheets group.
Manual Breaks
Manual breaks allow employees to track their own break times during a shift. Enable Manual Breaks and configure as many break rules as you need using Add new break. Each break rule has three settings:
Optional or Mandatory — Optional breaks can be taken at the employee's discretion. Mandatory breaks are required and the employee will receive a push notification when they are due back.
Duration — The length of the break in minutes.
Paid or Unpaid — Whether the break time counts toward paid hours.
Frequency — How often the break applies, set as "every X hours worked."
🔔 Employees receive a push notification when they're due back from a mandatory break. Employees can manage their break notifications under Notifications & Alerts in their account settings.
Automatic Breaks
Automatic breaks are deducted from an employee's worked hours without requiring them to manually start or end a break. Enable Automatic Breaks and set:
Break duration — how many minutes to deduct
Hours worked threshold — the minimum number of hours worked in a day before the deduction is applied
Automatic breaks are always unpaid and are applied at the end of the shift when calculating total hours.
How Employees Take Breaks
Employees can start and end breaks from:
The mobile app — tap "Take a Break" from the Home tab while clocked in, then choose paid or unpaid
The personal web time clock — reopen the time clock and select the break option
The shared web time clock (kiosk) — re-enter PIN or credentials to access break options
Breaks on Timecards
All breaks — both manual and automatic — appear on each employee's timecard in the Timesheets section. You can view the full break detail for any timecard entry, including the break type (paid or unpaid), start and end time, and duration.
If a required break is missing from a timecard, a warning icon appears in the Issues column of the Timesheets view. Each timecard shows Total Paid Breaks and Total Unpaid Breaks separately, and you can add new breaks directly from the edit view using Add a break.
⚠️ A missed break warning in the timesheet doesn't automatically change the employee's hours — a manager needs to review and manually add the break if needed before approving the timecard for payroll.
What to Read Next
Time Clock Options — Configure payroll cycle, mobile clock-in, geo-fencing, and more
Overtime Settings — Set daily and weekly overtime thresholds alongside break rules
Creating and Editing Time Cards — How to manually add or correct timecard entries
Need help? Click Book a Call in the top right of the app to talk with the Teamsly team.