19-year-old worker is forced to work 8 hours without break, works 30 minute lunch unpaid: 'Flip the store sign to closed'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Oct 14, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

Breaks are not only important to the self but to productivity. There are countless studies that show breaks are essential for productive work. They give you a chance to energize recharge and return to your work renewed. That's why systems like the Pomodoro technique are so popular… they work. You buckle down for 25 minutes, then you get a 5-minute break. Rinse and repeat and take 30 after 4 Pomodoros. It's amazing how fast the work will fly by. It's easier to do a job when you know you have a break scheduled. We humans need little treats in order to keep going, and lunch is one of them. If you take away lunch, you take away the motivation to keep going. 

Especially over the course of an 8-hour workday. 8 hours is a heck of a long time, and you need something to break it up. But that's not what happened in this story. Read on for the details.

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10416263424
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story

  • 02
    Was told I couldn't get any breaks during 8 hour shift
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 03
    Short backstory, I'm 19 and from Denmark. Just finished high school, and before attending university, I decided to take a year to cool down. Made the bad mistake of taking a fulltime job during this period, but that's not important right now.
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 04
    At my workplace, a co-worker got an injury, which I won't expand on, in case someone from my workplace is lurking here lol. He took a couple weeks of sick leave (which is another story in itself, with the district manager at first not allowing him to go home, despite my co-worker being unable to breath without severe pain.)
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 05
    Anyway, we're naturally short staffed as a result of this. This leads me my latest shift, 8 hours. Normally this would mean I get a 30 minute selfpaid break - this time, however, I was told that I probably couldn't get my break this time - my fellow coworkers didn't get theirs either, and seemed to have accepted it. One of them told me "Sometimes you have to sacrifice for the job".
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 06
    I understand the reasoning, as me taking a break would leave my coworker alone at the checkout. What I find unacceptable, however, was the next part: I asked my coworker if I'd then at least get paid for this extra 30 min work (as the break is, as mentioned previously, self-paid). He said "You shouldn't count on it".
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 07
    So yeah, I worked for free for them for 30 minutes, 8 hours straight, no breaks and no food either. What troubled me the most is how everyone there seems to accept this: I've only been here for a short period, so this is the first time I witness something like this, and it's shocking. They willingly work overtime
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 08
    without pay, no breaks, because we have to "sacrifice for the job". I'm also often asked to stay 10 minutes extra to help the others who are closing the shop, because it'd be "unfair for them to do it by themselves" - and fair enough, I agree, we should be more than one assigned to closing the shop; only problem is that they don't pay me for this.
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 09
    TL;DR: Coworkers and superiors expect you to not take any breaks, and to accept working for free, because we have to "sacrifice for the job". I'm very much against this mindset, so will be seeking a new job for sure.
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 10
    MaesterHannibal OP 3h ago • • Also, word of advice for others: If someone tells you "apply to this place, they're always looking for new people!"... That's a pretty big red flag. I completelly missed it, and was just happy someone were looking for new workers. Don't repeat my mistake
    via u/MaesterHannibal
  • 11
    virginia-gunner • 2h ago • Unpaid work is theft in virtually every modern country. Including Denmark.
    via u/virginia-gunner
  • 12
    Rainbow Unicorn0228 2h ago • Yeah. No. • Flip the store sign to closed. Lock the door and put a sign saying be back soon. Take your coworker and go on break. Let them fire you for it so you can get them for violation of labor laws.
    via u/RainbowUnicorn0228
  • 13
    Ok_Tea8204 • 2h ago Where are you working because even in the US that is illegal.
    via u/Ok_Tea8204
  • 14
    gregsw2000 • 1h ago • Like halfway. In half the US they don't have to give you any kind of breaks, but they definitely have to pay you for time worked.
    via u/gregsw2000
  • 15
    • Lucky-Surround-1756 59m ago • I'd just take the break then. If I'm not getting paid, I ain't working. That sort of respect is only for jobs that treat you well, compensate appropriately and are flexible with your needs (contrary to the endless atories here, such workplaces do exist)
    via u/Lucky-Surround-1756
  • 16
    • Existing_Proposal655 29m ago • Unless someone is depending on you for their life or needs, ie medical care, animal shelter, etc, you NEVER have to sacrifice for your job. The business owner won't sacrifice a dollar for you so take your cue from that. If they're not giving you your 30 minute break, then leave 30 minutes earlier.
    via u/Existing_Proposal655
  • 17
    New-Geezer • 26m ago. The job needs to "sacrifice for their employees" by allowing them breaks and paying them for the hours worked.
    via u/New-Geezer

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