A former Walmart employee went viral on TikTok for breaking an eight-hour shift, suggesting he actively participated in “time theft” at work.
cherry (@harrietpotter_) stated that he is off the store floor for an additional three hours in addition to his allotted rest period during a single eight-hour shift.
She stitched together videos from TikToker @danno.ezra. In it, he said the greatest “work flex” anyone can do is get paid without doing any work.
@harrietpotter_ #stitch @danno.ezra and ♬ Original Sound – Cherry 🍒
@danno.ezra says in the clip, “If you don’t polish 80 hours a week, your actual working hours lead to time theft.”a
Cherry broke in on her stitched TikTok and said: It was 15:02 and we were supposed to have an hour long lunch. Baby, every 15-year-old was 30-45 minutes and lunch was always 2 hours for her to 3 hours for her.
according to workshop, employees are said to steal a total of $11 billion in wages through time theft across all industries in the United States. The outlet explains, “Time theft occurs whenever an employee is paid for non-working hours. It’s so subtle that it often goes unnoticed.”
The site also lists several factors typically involved in employees stealing time, with many employees likely to justify the act if they feel they are “underpaid.” says that there is
Low morale and inattentive supervisors are other reasons why employees feel it’s time to get paid for not working during shifts.
TikTokers had mixed opinions about Cherry’s confession.
Others seem to have had a similar experience in retail, writing, “How I was taking two 15’s every hour.”
User @imblackcuziblackman added, “Unfortunately, this is only possible in certain departments.”
Then, some said it took it to a whole other level, much like previous HelloFresh employees said to come to work and leave.
The Daily Dot reached out to Cherry via a TikTok comment and reached out to Walmart via email for more information.
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*First published: February 22, 2023 at 5:40 PM CST
Jack Alban
Jack Alban is a freelance journalist for the Daily Dot covering trending human interest/social media stories and how real people react to them. He’s always trying to incorporate evidence-based research, current events, and facts related to these stories to create not-so-average viral posts.