Recording breaks correctly

How to record a break

In Zeitflex, a break is not a separate button but a gap between two clock entries:

1. At the start of the break, click Clock out.
2. At the end of the break, click Clock in again.

The timesheet then shows two time blocks with the break in between. Zeitflex calculates the total working time from this.

The result: The actual break is in the record — with start and end, not as a flat rate.

If nobody clocks the break

Zeitflex deducts the statutory minimum break anyway. This is the most important rule in this article, and it regularly comes as a surprise:

So anyone who clocks straight through from 8:00 to 17:00 is credited with 8.5 hours and not 9 — because the ArbZG (German Working Hours Act) prescribes a 30-minute break for nine hours of presence.

Why we built it this way

It could be done differently: simply pay out the clocked time. That would be friendlier in the short term and a problem in the long term — because the record would then show a working time that must not exist under the law. In an audit by customs (FKS, German financial control of undeclared work), that is exactly the point where things get uncomfortable.

Zeitflex therefore records what happened and settles what is permissible. Both appear side by side in the timesheet.

Splitting breaks

Two breaks of 15 minutes each are permissible and meet the 30-minute requirement. Shorter segments do not count — five minutes fetching coffee is not a rest break.

Adding breaks later

If someone forgot to clock out for a break, management adds it later:

1. Open the person’s Timesheet.
2. For the day concerned, click Correct.
3. Adjust the times, enter a reason (required), save.

The original entry remains visible as an earlier version. More details under Correcting a forgotten clock entry.

Still stuck?

The legal basis — including the rest period between two working days — is explained under Break and rest period rules.