Meal Break Settings

Set meal-break rules so staff take unpaid breaks consistently and your labor hours exclude break time.

Configure meal breaks

In Back Office, open Point of Sale > Settings.
Find Meal Breaks.
Turn on Allow meal breaks. When off, staff cannot start an unpaid meal break on the POS.
Turn on Enforce minimum break length if staff must take a minimum-length break.
Set Minimum break length. The default is 30 minutes.
Under If too short, choose how the POS handles an early Resume:
- Block resume keeps the staff member on break until the minimum ends or a manager approves an override.
- Warn and allow shows a warning, lets the staff member resume, and records a note.
Set Minimum work before break if staff must work for a set number of minutes before starting a break. Enter 0 to turn off this rule.
Click Save.

Turn unpaid meal breaks off

Turn off Allow meal breaks and click Save. Selflane POS 7.8.0 or later hides the Break action.

Your break rules are kept for when you turn the setting back on. Turning breaks off does not erase previously recorded break time.

Choose the right rule

Use Block resume when your policy requires staff to complete the full break. Use Warn and allow when a manager needs visibility but staff sometimes return early for service.

Set Minimum work before break only when your policy requires staff to work before taking a meal break. This check happens when the staff member taps Break.

What staff see on the POS

When a staff member starts a meal break, the POS shows the time remaining before they can resume. The POS checks the minimum break length when they tap Resume.

If a rule blocks the action, a manager can approve an override from the POS prompt. Use overrides only when the early break or early return is necessary, then review the recorded note in your time records.

Unpaid time and labor hours

Meal breaks are unpaid. Selflane subtracts completed break time from worked hours automatically, so payroll and labor totals show net worked time.