Taking breaks on POS

Last reviewed: 2026-07-14

Team Shift supports breaks while a staff member is clocked in, directly from the POS clock-in tile.

Starting and ending a break

While clocked in, tap Take Break. Unlike clocking in or out, starting a break happens immediately — there's no confirmation screen. The screen updates to show an On Break badge, your last activity, and a live Time Elapsed counter.

To come back from a break, tap End Break — again, immediate, with no confirmation step.

Rules around breaks

• Only one break can be open at a time. If you try to start a second break while one is already running, you'll see a "Break start failed" message ("Already on break").
• If you try to end a break when none is open, you'll see a "No active break" message.
• There's no limit on how many breaks you can take during a shift.

When Take Break is available

The Take Break button only appears if breaks are enabled for that specific staff member. Admins turn this on per person from the Staff Details card on that person's staff detail page in Shopify Admin ("Breaks enabled" — "When enabled, this staff member can take breaks during their shift via POS"). If a staff member doesn't see a Take Break button, ask an admin to check that setting.

How breaks affect hours

Time spent on a break is fully excluded from worked hours — while you're on break, the clock isn't just paused visually, the minutes genuinely don't count toward your shift's net time. When you clock out, your total worked time is the time between clock-in and clock-out, minus every break you took in between.

If you clock out while a break is still open, Team Shift automatically closes that break at the same moment your shift ends, so nothing is left dangling.

Next steps

• Clocking in and out on POS
• Reviewing and editing timesheets — admins can add, remove, or adjust breaks after the fact