Woman shares how her job doesn't allow her to take proper lunch breaks due to less pay

Every country has some rules and regulations while maintaining a uniform work culture in certain industries. In the United States of America, it is common for a worker to get an hour's worth of lunch break where they can clock out from their work and relax for a bit. It is part of an employee's benefit to receive breaks in between work, but things take a sour turn when those breaks end up being unpaid. One woman has posted a brief 5-second video reacting sarcastically to her own situation where she does not get paid fairly, so she has to pull some tricks of her own.

TikTok user @ava_rose02 gained over 400,000 views on her recent video in which she does not say a word, but the overlay texts explain a few things to the viewers, which reads: "1 hour for lunch but I take 10-20 minutes bc my boss doesn't pay me enough." She flips off her middle fingers at the camera in the end. The viewers do not get any further explanation from Ava nor a follow-up video to the viral one, but most of the people can deduce that she is entitled to an hour-long lunch break, but she is forced to cut down her break time and get back to work so she can make a bit more money than she usually does.

The video also hints that she might not be making enough money at her job and her break time is possibly unpaid. She adds in the caption: "The joys of life," followed by a smiley emoji. TikTok users rushed to the comment section with their own explanations, personal stories and similar experiences as some of them even stated that Ava took an hour-long lunch but only clocked out for 10 to 20 minutes. It basically meant that she received an extra 40 to 50 minutes of payment without actually working.

Some fellow TikTok users were either confused or had some polarizing opinions to share on Ava's video. @_sara_sperle wrote: "Wait, you have an hour, but only take 10-20 minutes? I don't get it." @eliimakeup shared a similar thing they did at work and commented: "Not me allegedly clocking back in one minute into my lunch so the system would accept it because my coworker got away with it."

@alien.imprint complained: "Every employer I've worked for automatically deducted breaks from my check even when I didn't take one, so I stopped clocking out altogether." @aiden123_07 shared what they do in Californian workplaces: "In Cali, if you don't clock out for lunch before your 5th hour of working or your clock back in before you should, an employer has to pay you a 1-hour penalty."

About a decade ago, TODAY reported on the endangered status of the lunch break hours that Americans receive. For many, lunch hour is something that was unheard of, but even since then, situations have changed to an extent. About 35% of employees in America say they almost always take a lunch break, according to a web survey taken in 2011 of about 750 respondents by Right Management, an HR consulting firm. Whereas 65% of employees either eat at their desks or don't take lunch breaks at all, according to the company's survey.