Shifts and Breaks

Shifts are the building blocks of your rota. Each shift represents a block of time an employee is scheduled to work, including any breaks. StaffBrik makes it straightforward to create shifts, configure breaks correctly, preview costs, and assign roles.

Creating a Shift

To create a shift, click on an empty cell in the rota builder or click Add Shift from the toolbar. The shift creation form includes:

Field	Description	Example
Employee	Who the shift is for (pre-filled if you clicked on their row)	Sarah Patel
Date	The day of the shift	Monday, 23 Feb 2026
Start time	When the shift begins	07:00
End time	When the shift ends	15:00
Break duration	Length of the break in minutes	30 min
Break type	Paid or unpaid	Unpaid
Role	The role the employee is filling on this shift	Barista

Once you confirm, the shift appears on the rota and the week's cost total updates immediately.

Quick-Create Example

A breakfast cafe that opens at 07:30 might schedule a morning shift as follows:

• Start: 06:30 (arrive for prep)
• End: 14:30 (8 hours total)
• Break: 30 minutes, unpaid
• Paid hours: 7.5 hours

Editing a Shift

Click on any existing shift block in the rota to open it for editing. You can change:

• Start and end times (drag the edges of the block for quick adjustments, or use the form for precision).
• Break duration and type.
• The assigned employee (useful for swapping a shift to cover absence).
• The role.

Changes to published shifts trigger a notification to the affected employee.

Break Configuration

Breaks can be configured as either paid or unpaid:

• Paid break - the employee is paid for the break time. The break duration is included in the total paid hours for the shift.
• Unpaid break - the employee is not paid during the break. The break duration is subtracted from total shift time to calculate paid hours.

Example: 8-hour shift with a 30-minute unpaid break

	Time
Shift start	09:00
Shift end	17:00
Total shift length	8 hours
Break (unpaid)	30 minutes
Paid hours	7 hours 30 minutes

Example: 8-hour shift with a 30-minute paid break

	Time
Shift start	09:00
Shift end	17:00
Total shift length	8 hours
Break (paid)	30 minutes
Paid hours	8 hours

tip

In UK hospitality, unpaid breaks are the norm. Most operators offer a 30-minute unpaid break for shifts of 6 hours or more. If you offer paid breaks as a perk, make sure your budget accounts for the extra cost.

UK Break Regulations

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, workers are entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of at least 20 minutes when their daily working time exceeds 6 hours. StaffBrik helps you stay compliant:

• When you create a shift of 6 hours or more without a break, StaffBrik displays a warning.
• The minimum allowed break for shifts over 6 hours is 20 minutes.
• You can set breaks longer than 20 minutes (30 minutes is standard in most hospitality venues).

caution

The 20-minute break is a legal minimum, not a suggestion. Consistently scheduling 6-hour-plus shifts without breaks puts you at risk of a Working Time Regulations breach. StaffBrik's warning is there to protect you - do not ignore it.

Young Workers (Under 18)

If you employ anyone under 18, the rules are stricter:

• A 30-minute break is required for shifts exceeding 4.5 hours (not 6 hours).
• StaffBrik applies this threshold automatically based on the employee's date of birth.

Cost Preview

When creating or editing a shift, StaffBrik shows a cost preview in real time. This tells you exactly how much the shift will cost before you commit:

Detail	Value
Employee	Sarah Patel
Hourly rate	£11.44
Paid hours	7.5 hrs
Shift cost	£85.80

The cost preview updates as you adjust times and breaks, so you can experiment with different configurations and see the impact on your budget instantly.

info

The cost preview uses the employee's current base hourly rate. If the employee has a different rate for a specific role, and you assign that role to the shift, the role rate is used instead.

Cost Snapshotting

StaffBrik uses cost snapshotting to ensure historical accuracy. Here is how it works:

• When a shift is created, the employee's current hourly rate is captured and stored with the shift.
• If the employee's rate changes later (e.g., an annual pay rise in April), the shift retains its original cost.
• This means last month's rota always reflects what you actually planned to spend at the time - not what the rate happens to be today.

Example scenario:

1. On 1 March 2026, you create a shift for Tom at £11.44/hr. The shift cost is snapshotted at £11.44/hr.
2. On 1 April 2026, Tom gets a pay rise to £12.00/hr.
3. Tom's March shift still shows a cost based on £11.44/hr - because that was his rate when the shift was created.
4. Any new shifts created for Tom from April onwards use the £12.00/hr rate.

tip

Cost snapshotting is essential for accurate labour reporting. When you pull a cost report for a past period, the figures match what you planned at the time - not a retroactive recalculation based on current rates. This makes it reliable for comparing planned vs actual spend.

Role Assignment

Each shift can optionally be assigned a role - the specific job the employee is performing during that shift. Common roles in hospitality include:

• Barista
• Server / Front of house
• Kitchen porter
• Chef / Cook
• Shift supervisor
• Baker
• Delivery driver

Roles serve two purposes:

1. Clarity on the rota - when you print or publish the rota, staff can see not just when they are working but what role they are filling.
2. Rate overrides - if an employee earns a higher rate when performing a particular role (e.g., a team member who earns an extra £1.50/hr when acting as shift supervisor), the role rate takes precedence over their base rate for cost calculations.

Shift Patterns for Hospitality

Here are some common shift patterns used by Brikly customers:

Early / Late Split (Restaurant)

Shift	Time	Break	Paid hours
Early	08:00 - 15:00	30 min (unpaid)	6.5 hrs
Late	15:00 - 23:00	30 min (unpaid)	7.5 hrs

Single Full Day (Bakery)

Shift	Time	Break	Paid hours
Full day	05:00 - 13:00	30 min (unpaid)	7.5 hrs

Weekend Short (Cafe)

Shift	Time	Break	Paid hours
Morning	07:00 - 12:00	None (under 6 hrs)	5 hrs
Afternoon	12:00 - 17:00	None (under 6 hrs)	5 hrs

info

Shifts under 6 hours do not legally require a break - but many operators still offer a 15-minute break as good practice, especially in physically demanding roles like kitchen work.