Helena Gonçalo Ferreira wrote an opinion piece on how contemporary capitalism manages the question of work breaks. The article argues that companies do not explicitly prohibit workers from taking breaks, such as going to the bathroom. Instead, they simply do not pay for that time, thus transferring responsibility to the worker.
The author describes this practice as a perfect responsibility transfer. According to Helena Gonçalo Ferreira, this is one of the most elegant solutions that contemporary capitalism has managed to produce to deal with workers' need for rest.
The text suggests that this approach allows companies to maintain an image of flexibility and autonomy, while in practice controlling the effective working time. Workers find themselves in a situation where they formally have freedom, but in practice are penalized if they use it.
