I didn’t think it was an issue until my boyfriend told me I was being exploited….?
For context: I work in Ontario Canada, I work for a small retail business with only 4 employees, including me. I generally have enough free time in the day for whatever I want to do (eat, play on my phone, even have time for a smoke if I need one) which is usually collectively about 3-4 hours. But i don’t have this free time every day, and i don’t have scheduled breaks, paid or unpaid. So the time I take to eat is “up to me”. If my employers see me eating while they ask me to do something, they always tell me to finish my food first and to take my time, so that’s not an issue at all. Also, I am always the only employee in the store.
So is that ok? That I don’t have a scheduled break? Because the majority of the time I do have enough time to take a few mins to sit/eat if I need it.
This is my second job, and my first job was the same- no scheduled breaks, but was allowed to take a few mins here and there if i wasn’t busy with something else. So to me, it feels like it’s just a small business thing.