How to troubleshoot daybreak
Updated
by
Leigh Hutchens
In Quinyx, "daybreak" refers to the time the system uses to mark the end of one day and the start of the next. Different parts of the system can have different daybreak times
Type | Where it is configured | What it does |
Business daybreak | Account settings > Group management > select unit > Advanced unit settings > Misc. | Determines at what hour the day starts and ends in schedule views, statistics, and employee metrics. |
Daybreak | Account settings > Group management > select unit > Advanced unit settings > Rules for hours AND Agreement daybreak. | Determines the start and end of the day for schedule, statistics, and employee KPIs. Doesn’t affect the schedule view but impacts the payroll file. Shifts that start within the day are included in the file. |
Agreement daily break | Account settings > Group management > select unit > Advanced unit settings > Time rules > Agreement daily break | Agreement daybreak is used when calculating schedule compliance against time rules, that is, daily and weekly rest. For example, if the agreement daybreak is 05:00 in an employee's agreement, when calculating weekly rest, the system will look between Monday 05:00 and the following Monday 05:00. This will usually be set to be either the same as the business daybreak or calendar daybreak, but it can be set to a different daybreak for e.g. night shift workers. |
Holiday rules and daily breaks
Rules for holidays that add a pay code on a day off are affected by which day is considered the “holiday” if the business's daily break and daily break differ. The business daily break determines how the day is interpreted. The default setting, if left unchanged, is 0, meaning it follows the calendar day (midnight to midnight).
When configuring holiday rules, Quinyx uses the value set in Daily break under Time rules at the unit level to determine when a day starts if the rule doesn’t allow you to specify a custom time. This applies, for example, to rules that earn an additional day off (so-called “Red Day”) if the employee is off that day.
Example scenario:
- If the business daily break is set to 06:00, but the daily break is set to 03:30, the rule activates as if the day starts at 03:00.
- Because the business daily break is 06:00, this is interpreted as “yesterday,” and the pay code is generated on the day before the actual holiday.
Problems that can occur
In some cases, a “Red Day” (a paid public holiday) is incorrectly assigned to the day before the actual holiday. This can create discrepancies in how time off is recorded, especially when a public holiday falls on the 1st of the month, as it may appear in the previous month or even the previous year (e.g., January 1st showing up in December).
Pay Code Limitation: Some pay codes are configured to allow only one Red Day per calendar day. This can lead to underpayment or missed Red Days, particularly during holiday periods with back-to-back public holidays, like Christmas. For example, if an employee is off on December 25 or 26, the system might not assign a Red Day at all due to this restriction.
Absence and daily break
The logic differs depending on whether a full-day absence is submitted by the employee or added by a manager.
- If an employee submits a full-day absence request, the request spans 00:00–00:00 and follows the calendar day.
- If a manager checks "Full day" when approving the request, the absence adjusts to the business's daily break.
Example: If a manager checks “Full day” during approval and the business daily break is 06:00, the absence will span 06:00 to 06:00.
Payroll files and daybreak
The payroll file includes transactions for all shifts that start on the current day (i.e., after the daily break on the 1st of the month). Shifts that begin before the daily break are not included.
Example: If someone is scheduled from 05:00–14:00 on the 1st of the month:
- Business daily break = 06:00, Daily break = 06:00 → transactions not included in payroll file.
- Business daily break = 06:00, Daily break = 05:00 → transactions included in payroll file (even if clock-in is earlier).
- Currently, the red day for a day off is appearing on the wrong calendar day, the day before. If the day before doesn't also trigger a red day, the setting on the pay code (max 1 per day) prevents proper compensation.
- If you align the Daily break on the unit card with the Business daily break (e.g., both at 06:00), the holiday falls on the correct calendar day. However, this change impacts which transactions are included in the payroll file, based on the new start time of the day.
