Woman sparks debate after admitting she takes her full 30 minutes break at work

A woman has kicked off a bit of a discussion after saying she always made sure to take her full 30 minutes of lunch break.

Personally, I wouldn't want to let even a minute of my lunch break be dedicated to work as that's my time, but others in the world of work might have different schools of thought.

TikToker @melekrenee was having absolutely none of the idea of working through her lunch break.

She said: "When you go from shift work to an office job the culture around taking breaks is so different and it's really, really bizarre to me.

"If you were working at a coffee shop, a bar or a f**king bookstore your manager or supervisor tells you to go for a break because you're not getting paid for your break."

She then explained that a colleague had once asked her whether she'd really just taken 'the entire half an hour' for her break when of course she had, as she was absolutely entitled to that time.

"Why would I continue working when I'm not getting paid? Why would I continue doing something for somebody else in my time?" she told her followers.

"Coming in early doesn't make you a hero, working through your break and eating at your desk doesn't make you special, staying late doesn't mean you've got a better work ethic than anybody else.

"And in a few years you're gonna end up resenting your job if this is the type of s**t you do."

Not everyone agreed with her, as someone said if you wanted to 'work your way up the chain and get a promotion' then working on your break was a way to show effort, though someone else told them they'd 'been lied to' and all that effort wasn't going to help them climb the greasy pole.

Plenty started sharing their own experiences, with some saying they'd been shamed by their colleagues for wanting to work their allotted hours, take their break on time and go home when they clocked out.

Many others said they'd happily give up their break if they were allowed to leave work earlier in exchange.

The vast majority agreed with the TikToker that breaks were there to be taken, and they weren't lifting a finger if they were 'not getting paid for it'.

At the end of the day it's time you're allowed to not be working in, so why would you want to work during it.

As for your rights when it comes to breaks, over here in the UK if you're working more than six hours a day you have the right to 20 minutes of uninterrupted break.

This break doesn't have to be paid and it'll say in your employment contract whether you're earning money for this time off or not.