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# Recording breaks

In the RCP system you decide not only how employees clock in and out, but also whether they record breaks and how those breaks affect work time. You plan a break in the schedule as **paid** or **unpaid**, and additional location settings let you adjust how the system counts time when a break is overrun. Below you will find the full set of settings, plus how employees clock breaks during a shift.

# Controlling breaks in the location settings

How breaks are counted is set when editing a location. Two options in two different tabs affect it.

||| Caution: For employees to be able to record breaks, the **"RCP"** switch (the **"Work time tracking"** tab) has to be turned on for that location first. Without it the system will record neither clock-ins nor breaks.

1. Go to the **Locations** tab and choose the location you want to set breaks for.
2. Click **edit** (the three dots on the right).
3. Go to the **"Planning"** tab — there you will find the **"All breaks are unpaid"** option.

Once **"All breaks are unpaid"** is on, every break at that location counts as **unpaid**, no matter whether you set a paid or an unpaid break in the schedule. That means break time is **not counted** towards the employee's total work time.

![The "Planning" tab in the location editor with the "All breaks are unpaid" option](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/3/1/2/4/3124ad20f50ccc00/ppen-w017_1oeroiw.png)

4. Go to the **"Work time tracking"** tab — there you will find the **"Do not deduct paid break overrun"** option.

When you turn on **"Do not deduct paid break overrun"**, time "over the limit" of a paid break will **not** automatically turn into an unpaid break and will **not** reduce the employee's work time.

![The "Work time tracking" tab in the location editor with the "Do not deduct paid break overrun" option](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/3/1/2/4/3124ad20f50ccc00/ppen-w018_mfavve.png)

|| Remember: Location settings are configured by the Organisation Administrator, the Advisor and the Location Manager. A full description of the remaining options is in [Planning settings in a location](https://help.proplanum.com/en/article/planning-settings-in-a-location-1uls96f/) and [Work time tracking (RCP) settings](https://help.proplanum.com/en/article/work-time-tracking-rcp-settings-xme5f4/).

# Planning breaks in the schedule

Before employees can start recording breaks, you have to **plan them in the schedule** first. It is in the shift window that you decide whether a given break is paid or unpaid.

1. While adding a shift for an employee choose the **"Add break"** option.
2. Set its parameters — for example the length of the break or the hour from which it applies.
3. If you want employees to be able to record **unpaid breaks** as well, tick that option in the shift window.

![The "Add break" option in the shift window](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/3/1/2/4/3124ad20f50ccc00/ppen-w019_s7vfhc.png)

|| Tip: Unpaid breaks are useful when people occasionally step out for private reasons — the employee can then "pause" work time by going on an unpaid break. To avoid adding breaks by hand every time, use shift templates or save [templates of whole schedules](https://help.proplanum.com/en/article/copying-and-schedule-templates-158j7x0/) — that shortens planning considerably.

# Employees recording breaks

If breaks are planned and time tracking is on, employees clock breaks using the method your company has chosen — in the mobile app or at a KIOSK terminal. The clocking methods are described in [Types of time tracking](https://help.proplanum.com/en/article/types-of-time-tracking-t0xaur/), and breaks from the employee's perspective in [Breaks at work](https://help.proplanum.com/en/article/breaks-at-work-4juyb4/).

![Recording a break during a shift in the mobile app](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/3/1/2/4/3124ad20f50ccc00/pm26en-mob-przerwy_1t41rll.png =320xauto)

Break time counts down. If an employee overruns the length of a planned paid break, the time starts counting in red, and depending on the location settings the system may add an **unpaid** break on top.

| Important: A break can be taken in instalments — an employee can split it into several shorter breaks as needed.