A NON-smoker has reacted furiously after she got in trouble at work for taking the same breaks as her non-smoking colleagues.
TikTok user Syd, who posts under the handle poorandhungry, took to the video-sharing platform to share her experiences at a previous job.
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In the short video, she described how during an internship, she got disciplined for taking “smoke breaks” even though she didn’t smoke.
She said in the clip: “I once got in trouble at an internship for taking smoke breaks as a non-smoker.
“So basically a person that sat right next to me was a smoker and they were entitled to X number of smoke breaks whatever in the handbook, but as a non-smoker I didn’t get any breaks or I couldn’t leave early or anything.”
She went on: “So every time they went to go take their smoke break I would also go outside and just hand it on my phone until they were done on their smoke break, and then I would just go inside.
“So I was taking the exact same amount of smoke breaks as the smoker, but as a non-smoker, I couldn’t take a break too.”
The clip struck a chord and quickly racked up more than 600,000 views and hundreds of comments, many of whom agreed with Syd.
One user asked: “Why do smokers even get extra breaks?”
Another said: “Where I work if people are going to smoke they have to do it during their normal break. Extra breaks exclusively for smokers is wild.”
A third came up with a suggestion on how to get around the rule.
“I’d bring a pack of cigarettes and not smoke them if corporate were to be petty like that.”
Others admitted that they started smoking partly so they could enjoy the extra breaks at work.
But others questioned Syd’s story and insisted that smokers don’t have it easier.
One user wrote: “So you just don’t understand that by law you get breaks too? You don’t have to smoke to get a break.”
A second said: “I’ve had like 10 jobs and never had one that would allow extra smoke breaks, everyone got the same amount of breaks.”
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