A former Walmart employee went viral on TikTok for breaking down her eight-hour shift, suggesting that she actively participated in “time theft” while on the clock.
Cherry (@harrietpotter_) said that in a single eight-hour shift, she would stay off the store floor for an additional three hours on top of the break time she was allotted on some days.
She stitched TikToker @danno.ezra’s video, in which he said that the biggest “work flex” someone could make is getting paid to not do their job.
@harrietpotter_ #stitch with @danno.ezra ♬ original sound – Cherry 🍒
@danno.ezra says in their clip, “Not grinding for 80 hours a week the real work flex is time theft.” A
Cherry cuts in with her stitched TikTok, stating, “I stole so much fucking time from Walmart, and y’all know Walmart is trifling. We supposed to get two fifteens on the clock and we supposed to get an hour lunch. Baby, all my fifteens was thirty or forty-five minutes, and my hour lunch was always two to three hours cause I always had to take me a nap by the middle of my shift.”
According to Workyard, employees purportedly steal a total of $11 billion of wages due to time theft across all industries in the United States. The outlet says “time theft occurs any time an employee is paid for unworked time. It often goes unnoticed because it’s so subtle.”
The site also listed several factors that usually play into employees committing time theft, stating that a number of workers may rationalize the act if they feel as if they’re being “underpaid.”
Low morale and inattentive supervisors are other reasons that employees feel the time to get paid for not working while they’re on the clock.
TikTokers had varying opinions on Cherry’s confession. One user wrote, “and then y’all complain when you get fired.”
Others seemed to have had similar experiences working in retail, writing, “The way I used to take two fifteens every hour.”
User @imblackcuziblackman added, “unfortunately this is only possible in certain departments.”
Then there were those who said they took it to a whole other level, like a former HelloFresh employee who said that they would clock into work and leave.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Cherry via TikTok comment and Walmart via email for further information.
