Meal & Break Planning is a HotSchedules feature that allows users to designate requirements for meals and/or breaks during scheduled shifts. At the store level, shifts can either be flagged as eligible for the meals/breaks or they can be automatically inserted within the shifts. Managers can edit the times of these meals or breaks on the shift modal on the Scheduling tab.
The rules are configured in the Above Store Console, so a user with this access can manage which rules are assigned to stores. Each rule set can contain multiple rules that dictate how long an employee has to work before they are eligible for a meal or break.
Rule sets are assigned to stores, and store level managers will have the option assign specific rules to different employees (if needed). If there is only one rule, it will apply to all employees at assigned stores.
Create Meal & Break Planning Rules
To access the Meal & Break Planning rules, hover over the Scheduling tab in the Above Store Console and select Meal & Break Planning.
The next page will display a list of any existing Meal & Break Planning rule sets. Select any of these to make changes to their rules. To create a new rule set, select Add Rule Set.
This will allow you to begin setting up the first rule for this new rule set.
A - Create the name of the rule.
B - Choose whether you are creating a meal or a break allocation. Meals are unpaid, and this time is deducted from the employee's shift duration. Breaks are paid time.
C - The eligibility is the number of hours that need to be worked for an employee to be eligible for this rule.
D - Set the length of the meal or break.
E - Choose whether this rule should be recurring - meaning that there can be multiple meals or breaks if the shift length requirement is met.
F - Select Add Allocation to add another rule. For example, if you would like to include both meals and breaks in this rule.
After setting up the new rule, select Save. This will bring you to a page where you can name the rule set or add more rules to it. If there are multiple rules within a set, store level managers can designate which rule each employees is assigned to on the staff list.
Select the Stores tab to assign this rule set to all of the necessary locations. After checking the boxes for all the locations, select Save.
Advanced Configuration
Advanced Configuration allows meal and break rules to be applied based on specific shift conditions, providing more control over how meals are assigned.
When enabled, rules can be configured using time-based conditions such as when a shift starts, ends, or when a meal should occur within the shift.
Enable Advanced Configuration
- Navigate to ASC → Scheduling → Meal & Break Planning
- Add a new rule set or select an existing one
- Ensure Apply Meals/Breaks to Shifts is selected
- Enable the Advanced Configuration checkbox within the rule set
Once enabled, each rule gains additional configuration options.
Additional Configuration Fields
When Advanced Configuration is enabled, the following fields are available:
- Shift Start Time — applies the rule only to shifts that begin within a specified time range
- Shift End Time — applies the rule only to shifts that end within a specified time range
- Meal Falls Between — defines the time window during which the meal must be scheduled
When using Advanced Configuration, the Recurring option is not available. Rules apply once per qualifying shift based on the conditions that are set.
Edit Meal & Break Planning Rules
To edit existing Meal & Break Planning rules, select the name of the rule set that should be updated.
Within the rule set, you can edit the rule set name, select the name of the rule to edit it's settings, or delete the rules by selecting the x.
Select the Stores tab to assign this rule set to all of the necessary locations.
Additional Resources
Auto-Created Meals and Breaks Setting
Self-Guided Walk Through - Please make sure you are already logged into your Above Store Console account in this browser.
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