Automatic Breaks and Worked Break Payment Requests

Required breaks are automatically added to timesheets to match your facility's break policy. Any break time adjustments must be requested by the professional and approved by you.

How it works

If you require mandatory 30-minute breaks at your facility, all shifts worked more than six hours will have a 30-minute break automatically added to professionals' timesheets. You will also see this automatic break time reflected in your itemized invoice. 

In the rare circumstance that a professional must work through a mandatory 30-minute unpaid break, they have the option to submit a Worked Break Payment Request to be compensated.

To request a break payment, professionals will need to edit their timesheet during the clock-out process and submit an explanation for why they had to work through their break. You will then have the ability to approve or decline this request from the Upcoming Charges page in Clipboard Health. 

How much time will I have to approve or decline a Worked Break Payment Request? 

After a professional submits a Worked Break Payment Request, you have three business days or until 12pm PT on the following Monday (whichever comes first) to review it, if the shift started on or before a Saturday.

Let’s make this concrete with some examples

• A shift starts on a Monday and ends at 2pm PT with a submitted Break Payment Request. You will have until Thursday at 2pm PT (three business days later) to approve or decline this request.
• A shift starts on a Wednesday and ends at 5pm with a submitted Worked Break Payment Request. This break payment request will require review by the following Monday at 12pm PT (less than three business days).
• A shift starts on a Sunday and ends at 8am with a submitted break payment request. Because this shift started after Saturday, the break payment request will not require review by Monday; instead, it will require review in three business days at Wednesday at 8am.

What happens if I don't approve or decline a Worked Break Payment Request within the review window?

If you don't approve or decline a break payment request within the review window, we will automatically approve or decline the request, per your facility's setting.

To find more information about automatic approval vs. declination, see "How can I turn on auto-decline for Worked Break Payment Requests?" below. 

How can I share my break policy with professionals?

You have the ability to edit your ‘Mandatory Break Policy’ which will be shown to Clipboard professionals working shifts at your facility. 

To edit your facility’s mandatory break policy, follow these steps:

1. Turn on mandatory breaks, go to ‘Management’ > ‘Settings’ and turn the toggle on for “Require healthcare professionals to take a break?”
2. Go to ‘Management’ > ‘Facility information’ and update your mandatory break policy.

Here’s how we’ll display your mandatory break policy to Clipboard professionals:

1. When professionals book shifts at your facility for the first time
2. When professionals clock in to their first shift at your facility
3. In your facility’s profile page in the Clipboard Health mobile app.

Additionally, we’ll re-display your break policy to professionals in above cases (1) and (2) any time you update your policy.

What are the specific steps a professional takes to submit a Worked Break Payment Request, and how will I be notified? 

If your facility has mandatory breaks turned on (see below), Worked Break Payment Requests are requests from Clipboard professionals to be paid for worked-through break time.

Here's how Worked Break Payment Requests are submitted:

1. After every shift where worked time is more than 6:00 hrs, we’ll automatically include a 30-minute unpaid break on professionals’ timesheets.
2. In the rare circumstance that a professional has to work through their mandatory unpaid break (or take an incomplete break), they can adjust their timesheet during the clock-out flow in the Clipboard Health mobile app.
3. When professionals attempt to ‘save’ an adjusted timesheet with an incomplete break (duration less than 30 minutes), we’ll ask them to provide an in-depth explanation for why they had to work through their break.
4. During the facility signature portion of the clock-out flow (when an authorized staff member at your facility digitally sign Clipboard professionals’ timesheets on the mobile app), we’ll display a disclaimer message to the signatory that the professional reported a skipped or incomplete break and the explanation they provided for this in step (3) above.
5. If the authorized staff member signs the Clipboard professional’s timesheet, the Worked Break Payment Request will be submitted. We’ll send you an email and an in-app notification.
6. To review a request, go to ‘Billing’ > ‘Upcoming Charges’. You’ll see a summary of the Worked Break Payment Request at the top of the Upcoming Charges page. Click on ‘Review’ to see the details of the request, and accept or decline the Request. If you accept, we will pay the Clipboard professional and charge your facility. If you decline, we will ask you to provide a reason for your declination and will automatically share this reason with the Clipboard professional.
7. After three business days, we will automatically accept or decline the pending Request per your facility settings.

How are 30-minute breaks automatically added to timesheets?

If your facility has mandatory breaks required, we will automatically include a 30-minute unpaid break in professionals’ timesheets if their worked time is greater than 6:00 hours.

For example, if a professional clocks in at 10:00am and clocks out at 4:01pm and your facility has mandatory breaks enabled, we will automatically include a 30-minute unpaid break in this professional’s timesheet. Their total paid time will be 6:01 hrs minus 0:30 hrs = 5:31 hrs. 

Professionals should never skip mandatory breaks at my facility. How can I ensure that professionals know this and that I am not charged for Worked Break Payment Requests?

Here are some tips to help you communicate your expectations around mandatory breaks to Clipboard professionals:

1. Firstly, ensure your facility has mandatory breaks turned on
2. Make sure your Mandatory Break Policy is up-to-date and accurate
3. Work with your authorized staff members to communicate with Clipboard professionals that mandatory breaks are expected. Additionally, inform your authorized staff members to scrutinize any timesheets that show skipped or incomplete breaks during the timesheet signature process - see step (4) here.
4. Respond to Worked Break Payment Requests within the three-business day window.
5. Turn on auto-decline for Worked Break Payment Requests. See here.

Of course—it may occasionally be the case that Clipboard professionals need to work through a break to provide adequate care. Please be cognizant of this and accept any accurate Worked Break Payment Requests! 

In general, professionals need to take mandatory unpaid breaks at my facility; however, there is a certain type of professional (e.g., RN Supervisors) who must never skip their break. How can I make sure they are compensated for this time?

If you want to require mandatory breaks for most, but not all professionals, we recommend you coordinate with the professionals whom you expect to work through breaks and instruct them to always submit Worked Break Payment Requests. You will then need to accept these requests per the instructions here.

Who can approve or decline break payment requests?

How can I turn on mandatory breaks? 

Go to ‘Management’ > ‘Settings’ and turn “Require healthcare professionals to take a break?” toggle on. 

When this setting is on, we will automatically include unpaid 30-minute breaks to all timesheets, as specified here.

How can I turn on auto-decline for Worked Break Payment Requests?

Go to ‘Management’ > ‘Settings’ and toggle ON the “Automatically decline expiring break payment requests” setting. 

Note this setting is disabled by default.