Break entries change paid hours for hourly workers. Everhour turns calendar events into timesheet entries for review.
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A break calculation answers one payroll question: how many hours in the shift count as paid hours worked. For adult hourly workers covered by the FLSA, federal law does not require lunch, coffee, meal, or rest breaks. Break rights can still come from state law, a contract, or employer policy, so the timesheet should identify the jurisdiction and the employer rule before deducting any time.
The federal pay rule focuses on the type of break. Short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes are compensable hours worked when the employer provides them. A meal period is generally unpaid only when it is a bona fide meal period, ordinarily at least 30 minutes, and the hourly worker is completely relieved from active or inactive duties while eating.
Use this formula for a single shift: paid hours equals shift length minus unpaid bona fide meal periods. Paid short breaks stay in the paid total. Convert minutes to decimal hours before payroll: 15 minutes is 0.25, 30 minutes is 0.50, and 45 minutes is 0.75.
For example, an adult hourly worker clocks in from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM at $26 per hour. The shift spans 9 hours. The worker takes one duty-free 30-minute unpaid meal and two paid 10-minute rest breaks. Only the meal is deducted, so paid time is 8.5 hours. Straight-time gross pay for the shift is $221.00 before taxes, deductions, premiums, or weekly overtime additions.
The common mistake is deducting every break from the timesheet. Paid short breaks remain hours worked, and a worked-through lunch remains hours worked. An hourly worker who eats while required to answer calls, monitor equipment, stay at a counter, or perform any other duty is not relieved for a bona fide meal period, so that time stays paid.
Weekly totals matter after the shift calculation. Covered, nonexempt hourly workers in the United States must receive overtime pay at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek. Hours cannot be averaged across multiple workweeks for overtime, and state-specific break or premium-pay rules can add stricter requirements.
A one-off calculation is enough when you need to check one shift, explain one meal deduction, or compare a manager's note against the employee's clock times. It is also enough for a quick correction before payroll closes, as long as the state rule, break type, and weekly total are clear.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when hourly workers submit recurring shifts, calendar-based work blocks, break edits, and approvals across a team. Everhour's calendar integration turns Google, Outlook, and iCloud calendar events into timesheet entries within a configurable time window, excluding all-day, recurring, and pre-connection events. That gives managers a cleaner starting point before approving breaks, hours, and payroll handoffs.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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Federal law does not require lunch, coffee, meal, or rest breaks for adult hourly workers covered by the FLSA. Break requirements come from state law, a contract, or employer policy. The federal rule still controls pay treatment when breaks are provided: short rest breaks are generally paid, and bona fide meal periods are unpaid only when the worker is completely relieved of duty.
Short breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes stay paid when the employer provides them. Those minutes count as compensable hours worked and count toward weekly overtime totals for covered nonexempt hourly workers. A timesheet should record them separately from unpaid meal periods so payroll does not deduct paid rest time by mistake.
A meal period can be unpaid when it is a bona fide meal period, ordinarily at least 30 minutes, and the hourly worker is completely relieved from active or inactive duties while eating. A lunch spent answering calls, serving customers, monitoring equipment, or staying available for assigned duties remains hours worked.
A worked-through lunch adds paid hours to the weekly total. That matters because covered, nonexempt hourly workers must receive overtime pay at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek. A wrongly deducted 30-minute lunch can understate both straight time and overtime.
Federal time-clock rounding is accepted only when rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, one-tenth hour, or quarter-hour averages out over time so employees receive pay for all time actually worked. Rounding cannot be used to erase worked minutes, unpaid meals that were actually worked, or short rest breaks that must remain paid.
Everhour integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and iCloud Calendar so events with defined start and end times become timesheet entries. Teams can set entries to appear within a 15-minute to 3-hour window before or after events, while all-day, recurring, and pre-connection events do not sync.
Use calendar-based entries as a starting point, then review break deductions and paid hours before payroll. Everhour keeps scheduled work closer to approved timesheets.
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