Create a Custom Break Tracking Report

BambooHR does not provide a standard report for meal and rest break violations. Instead, users must create custom reports to track break violations, which include missed, early, or late breaks. This guide details the steps to configure a break tracking report, including adding relevant fields, applying filters, and sorting data. It is intended for Full Admins, Payroll Admins, or Custom Access users with the necessary permissions. Users should ensure that Time & Attendance is enabled and set up correctly before creating reports. The guide also highlights common uses for break tracking reports, such as compliance reviews and audits, and clarifies that BambooHR does not automatically calculate premium pay for break violations.

  • Jul 2, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Create a Custom Break Tracking Report
Article Text
BambooHR Time & Attendance (Formerly Time Tracking) is available as an add-on product. Custom reporting is available for all userse on all packages.

Summary

There is no standard BambooHR report that shows all meal and rest break violations. While the Timesheet Entries report tracks break start and end times, duration, and notes, break violation data is only available through Custom Reports. This guide shows you how to create a custom break tracking report to identify missed, early, or late meal and rest breaks, review compliance, and export break data for audits or internal workflows.

Who this is for

  • This guide is for Full Admins, Payroll Admins, or Custom Access users who have the Manage Meal and Rest Break Tracking permission and view or edit access to employee timesheets.
  • This report is not available to users without Time & Attendance or break tracking permissions, and it must be manually shared with eligible Custom Access users.

Before you start

Before you create a break tracking report, confirm the following:

  • Time & Attendance is enabled for your company
  • Employees must use the Start/End time entry method
  • Meal & Rest Break Tracking is set up

Each row in a break tracking report represents one recorded break.

Creating a Custom Report to Identify Meal and Rest Break Violations

Follow these steps to build a custom report that shows each recorded break, flags compliance violations, and allows filtering by break type, employee, or date range.

1. Initial Configuration
  1. Navigate to Reports > New Custom Reports
  2. Click + New Report
    • The Last Name, First Name field is automatically added to each new report.
  3. Name the report
  4. Under the report name, ensure you've selected the Employee dataset
    • Switching the dataset after adding fields will remove any fields you already added to the report.
    • If your report is set to Benefits, Applicants, or Payroll, the Time & Attendance data will not populate.
  5. Click Fields to begin adding columns
2. Add Meal & Rest Break Tracking Fields

All break-related fields appear under:

  • Employee > Time Tracking > Break Assessments
Available Fields
Break Details
  • Date
  • Timezone
  • Break Name: Displays the name of the break (for example, Lunch Break or Rest Break).
  • Break Type: Indicates whether the break is Paid or Unpaid.
  • Break Duration: Shows the defined break length in minutes.
Availability and Eligibility
  • Availability Type: Shows how the break becomes available (Anytime, Time of Day, or Hours Worked).
  • Available After  Shows how many hours an employee must work before the break becomes available (time of day or hours worked).
  • Start Before: Shows the required window for starting the break (time of day or hours worked).
  • Available At: Displays the calculated time the employee becomes eligible.
  • Unavailable At: Displays the calculated cutoff time.
Actual Break Timing
  • Actual Start: Shows when the employee clocked into the break.
  • Actual End: Shows when the employee clocked out of the break.
  • Actual Duration: Shows the recorded length of the break.
Violation Indicators
  • These fields help you quickly identify noncompliant breaks, such as breaks that were missed, started outside the allowed window, or ended too early or too late. The Result field is especially useful for filtering reports to show only violations.
  • Break Violations:
    • started early
    • started late
    • ended early
    • ended late
    • was missed
  • Result:
    • Compliant
    • Violation
Variance Calculations
  • Duration Difference: Shows the difference between the defined and recorded duration (in minutes).
  • Start Time Difference: Shows the difference between the eligible start time and the actual start time.

Tip: Add employee fields such as Time & Attendance Group, Employee ID, Department, or Location to make reports easier to read and filter.

3. Add Filters

Filters narrow your report to the data you need.

  1. Click Filters.
  2. Choose whether records must match All filters or Any filters.
  3. Add filters such as:
    • Break Type equals Paid or Unpaid
    • Break Violations equals Missed or Started Late
    • Actual Break Start within a specific date range
    • Department or Location

Filters apply to the entire dataset, not only to visible columns.

Common filter setups include:

  • Showing only missed or late breaks
  • Filtering by specific location or departments for compliance reviews
    • If location or department fields are included in the report
  • Limiting results to a specific pay period
    • While we do not support date ranges in custom reporting, you can limit the dates by setting up individual "Date is" filters
4. Sort or Group the Report (Optional)

Sort the Report

  1. Click Sort.
  2. Select a field such as Actual Break Start or Employee Name.
  3. Choose ascending or descending order.

Group the Report

  1. Click Group.
  2. Select a field such as Employee, Department, or Break Name.

When you group by a field, BambooHR removes that field from the column list and uses it as a section header instead.

5. Save and Run the Report
  1. Enter a clear report name, such as Meal & Rest Break Violations.
  2. Click Save to run the report.

You can open the report anytime from Custom Reports. You can also export the report to a spreadsheet for additional review or calculations.

Edit an Existing Break Tracking Report

To update a report:

  1. Open the report.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Adjust fields, filters, sorting, or grouping.
  4. Click Save to rerun the report with your changes.
Common Uses for Break Tracking Reports

Use custom break tracking reports to:

  • Review meal and rest break activity
  • Identify missed, early, or late breaks
  • Support audits, investigations, or internal reviews
  • Export break data for manual calculations or record keeping

BambooHR provides break tracking and violation data, but does not automatically calculate meal or rest break premium pay.

Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a standard report for meal and rest break violations?

No. You must create a custom report to view break violation data.

Does BambooHR calculate premium pay for break violations?

No. Break violation data can be exported, but premium pay must be calculated manually.

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