There are lots of settings that can be customised, depending on how RTA is being used for your business.

Spending time on the setup ensures that the module works in the way that you want, and gives flexibility over use of functionality.

Below is an explanation of these settings & their function within Rota, Time & Attendance.

Rota Settings

Shift swaps

employees can offer out their shift - and when doing so it allows other employees to take this shift on, with the option of swapping one of their own shifts in exchange.

Shift offers

employees can drop their shift and allow other employees to take this shift on.

Please note: For alternative employees to be able to be notified of an available shift/accept it, they must fit the same criteria as the original employee in terms of location/department/role.

Here's a useful guide on this:

Multiple Job Roles/Locations for employees

Automatically publish rota changes

this means that any time a change is made to a rota, the system will automatically approve the shift change/creation. This will automatically inform the employee of the assigned shift.
This can be useful for smaller businesses where changes aren’t made to the rota very often.

Don’t let users swap within ‘x’ hours of shift start time

this means that shifts can’t be swapped within the designated amount of time before a shift is scheduled to start (eg within 24 hours of a shift start time).

Shift swap responses must be approved/shift offer responses must be approved

This setting is for when your business requires additional approval before an offered or swapped shift is accepted. This allows either a line manager or HR/Admin user to have some control over which employees end up working a shift.

Unavailability requests must be approved

this setting is specifically for when an employee adds unavailability to the Rota, Time & Attendance module (not leave booked through HR). This adds an approval step for this. It's designed to flag the unavailability and ensures that if a shift is scheduled, cover can then be found.

User can view shift break

employees can view their scheduled break time within a shift.

Show employees who else is working with them

Employees have visibility of who they're working with in the same location/department. They'll also be able to see people with different roles within the same location. People of different departments won't be visible.
This could be useful to employees for lift sharing/potential shift offering/swapping.
This is a Breathe People Portal mobile app setting only

Shift must fall in this time interval in order to restore connection with timesheet

If a timesheet is created manually, this setting will link the timesheet back to a shift, if a shift exists.
For example: If the shift was scheduled for 9am - 5pm and a timesheet is manually created as 8am - 6pm, the difference either side of the shift is within 8 hours, so Timesheet will display the new working time against the shift when viewing Timesheet from rota screen.

Apply default breaks

This means that rather than creating breaks within each shift scheduled, defaults can be set to apply to all shifts created. This applies to the ‘lunch break’ that an employee sees once they’ve clocked on for their shift.
When scheduling the shift, there will be the option to mark the break as paid/unpaid. This will need to be set on an individual shift basis.
The ‘break’ that an employee sees once clocked on for their shift is an intended rest break, so will always display as paid within a timesheet.

Top tip: Saving a weekly template & applying it to future weeks is a quick way of scheduling recurring shifts.

Remember: always ‘save’ when changing a setting!

Timesheet Settings

Allow employees to manually add timesheet

Employees can add their own timesheets
Useful if your people aren't clocking on/off but still need to provide hours worked for pay purposes

Snap to rota when within

when a timesheet is created within ‘x’ minutes to a shift starting/ending, the timesheet will display the start/end time that has been assigned in the shift. as opposed to the specific time that the employee clocked on/off.
For example: Scheduled 9am shift start; employee clocks in at 8.58am; if setting is ‘5 minutes’ then the timesheet will display a 9am start.
This allows for ease of view when approving timesheets and viewing via Timesheets report.

Punch in/punch out violation if exceeds

This setting is for when an employee clocks in/out outside of ‘x’ minutes of the shift start/end time, then the timesheet will be marked as having a violation.
Useful as it flags if the employee is clocking on late/out early for their shift.

Auto approve Timesheets

If enabled, timesheets will be automatically approved when submitted.

Shifts wording is in relation to Timesheets. Admin covers Admin/HR User and line manager if given permission (within permissions).

Enable time tracking in employee dashboard

this gives the employee the ability to clock on via the shift displayed within their dashboard.

Enable within ‘x’ mins of shift

This setting allows a time window to be set so that employees aren’t able to clock on too early for their shift.
The clock-on button will only appear when within ‘x’ mins of their shift start time.

Mobile Settings

Enable Timeclock in mobile app

This gives employees the ability to clock on via The People Portal mobile app.

Only allow to start within ‘x’ of the start of a shift

A time window can be set so that employees aren’t able to clock on too early for their shift. They'll only be able to clock on within ‘x’ mins of their shift start time.

Enable geo-tracking in mobile app

This setting captures the employee's location at the time of clocking on, which can then be viewed via the timesheets filter on the rota screen.

Timeclock settings

When a central clock-in location is used with a communal device

Only allow start within ‘x’ of the start of a shift

A time window can be set so employees aren’t able to clock on too early for their shift. They will only be able to clock on within ‘x’ mins of their shift start time.

Self-assigned shifts

This setting gives the employees the ability to clock on and off without having a shift assigned. The Timesheet will be generated and displayed according to the (primary) location that they are assigned to.

Only Managers/admins can activate the Timeclock

Only people with line manager or HR/Admin permissions will be able to launch the timeclock via the app switcher when logged into Breathe RTA. This prevents employees from doing so.
This is useful if there has to be a manager on site for work to commence.
Once logged in to TimeClock, it will stay active for 2 weeks before credentials must re-entered.

Geo Fencing settings

Request GPS location

This allows the employee's clock-on location to be captured.
This is a clock-on location only, not clock off/live tracking.
Using this functionality gives a map view of where the employee clocked on.
This setting can be useful for businesses who have employees out on the road.

This is in relation to clocking off via the Employee Dashboard (usually if using desktop/laptop), and also when clocking on via the mobile app (ensure appropriate setting ticked in Timesheet settings).

When the employee first clocks on, they have to ‘allow’ the site to access their location in order for the location to be captured. This is a one-time click, and won't be needed every time they clock on for a shift. If the employee accidentally doesn’t allow, this can be reversed by clicking this icon within the URL bar:

Locations can be viewed within the Timesheets filter from the Rota screen. See more about viewing Timesheets.

If the location on the map doesn’t match the location the employee clocked on at, this is usually down to the user clocking in via their dashboard and the internet provider therefore not picking up the correct location.

Geo Fencing can be set up for each location, as seen below:

Type in the address of the location and set the radius in which employees can clock on.
The minimum radius that can be set is 50m. This is due to internet provider inconsistencies (as mentioned previously).

When the address is typed in, a map view is generated for visibility over the radius.

If an employee wishes to clock on, but geo fencing prevents this, they can still manually add their Timesheet if this permission is set.

Remember to ‘save’ after editing settings.