How to Set Up Break Waivers

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What are Break Waivers?

Break waivers are agreements between an employer and an employee that allow the employee to waive their right to a meal or rest break.

Homebase has the ability for employees, who acknowledge they will not take an unpaid break, to record that the break is officially “waived”. Employees will enter in their mandatory break times or document that they will not take them.

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Which states might need to use break waivers? 

It’s important to note that a majority of states within the U.S. will benefit from using Break Waivers and those that are more highly regulated may require them in certain circumstances.

Highly regulated states are:

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Dakota
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• Vermont
• Washington

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For Businesses in California

California merchants can also allow break waivers since California regulations require offering the waivers conditionally based on shift duration.

On shifts 6-10 hours long or longer than 12 hours, employees cannot waive a break according to California law.

Breaks can be waived in California if they worked 5-6 hours or 10-12.

Because of this, Homebase will now alert the employee when they are not eligible to waive a break. To help employers in high-regulation areas compliantly track their employees' breaks on every shift.

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How Do I Turn Break Waivers On?

1. Click on Settings in the bottom left of the menu.
2. Click on Breaks & Compliance.
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3. Scroll down to Break Settings.
4. Select Missed break corrections.
5. Select Break waivers. 
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   2. Note: Individual team members must be opted in to waive and report missed breaks on clock out. Turn this on or off per person on the Team roster.
   3. Note: Break waivers can only be applied to Mandatory Breaks, breaks that are set as optional will not show when the employee is prompted.
6. Select when you would like this rule to start and apply changes.
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   2. Note: Click 'Apply changes to all locations' to apply the same break settings to multiple locations, if applicable.
7. Save Changes.

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Turning On Break Waivers for Individual Team Members

If you would like to select specific team members to apply this setting to: 

1. Select Team in the left menu.
2. Find the name of the team member you would like to edit, and open their profile.
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3. Select the Edit button next to Access, Roles, and Wages.
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4. Check the box next to Employee can waive breaks.
5. Save Changes in the bottom right
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Settings Affected by Break Waivers

The following settings must be turned OFF when break waivers are enabled:

• Auto clock out
• Allowing employees to add breaks after clocking out
• Notifying employees and allowing them to add forgotten clock-out times via messaging

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Employee view of break waivers

If the Break Waivers are enabled, employees will be prompted at clock out.

1. Employee clocks out.
2. The employee will be prompted to edit or waive breaks that were missed.
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3. The employee will select the relevant settings and add notes if necessary.
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4. After they confirm, they will be clocked out as normal.