When an employee punches in for a shift, the punch records productive work time in MyTime. Punching in and out for meal breaks during the shift records productive versus nonproductive time.
- Rest breaks are nonproductive, paid time. These breaks are often 10- or 15-minute increments. An employee does not need to punch in or out for rest breaks unless combined with a meal break.
- Meal breaks are nonproductive, unpaid time. When an employee punches out to begin their meal, they are notifying the system of a change from (productive) paid time to a period of (unproductive) unpaid time.
It is important for an employee to punch in and out for the appropriate amount of time assigned for their meal breaks, to ensure accurate pay calculations for payroll processing.
Employees may combine meal and rest breaks at the manager's discretion and with the manager's approval prior to combining meal and rest breaks. An employee’s timecard may need to be adjusted to reflect which portion of the combined breaks should be attributed to a meal break and which portion should be attributed to a rest break. Such adjustments may be made by the employee directly in MyTime, subject to manager approval, or such adjustments may be made by the manager after the employee provides the information to the manager, such as via email or other means.
You may contact UCSF Labor and Employee Relations, [email protected], with questions on this topic, or for guidance in developing department procedures around clocking in/out.