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A desperate young mum whose debts spiralled out of control because "she could not get enough shifts at McDonald's" following a battle with depression tried to take her own life.

Lauren, which is not her real name, claims she was threatened with losing her job after she took time off work to try and deal with her depression.

The mum says that twice she was told by her boss she might not have a job to come back to if she did not return to work at the fast food chain.

Speaking to Mirror Online Lauren said her bosses at McDonald's treated her mental health as though it was just her "taking time off work, not taking time to deal with my health".

A spokesman for McDonald's said they "do not recognise the situation that has been described" and they "encourage anyone with concerns to speak to their management team".

(Image: Getty Images North America)

The case of Lauren was highlighted by the Organise community who have released a mini-documentary about the realities of a zero hours contract.

It comes on the day staff at five stores walk out on Tuesday demanding better pay and working conditions.

Lauren, who is in her 20s, started working for McDonald's in 2014.

She said: "Soon after I started they were asking me to do extra things and extending my hours.

"I needed to because I needed the money.

"But I realised I was missing out on time with my son and it made me very depressed, very upset.

"My mum was sending me videos of him and I was missing it all.

"I quickly spiralled down. I went to the doctors and was diagnosed with depression and signed off work.

"While I was off I changed the time I was available, I could do Monday to Friday between 6am and 2pm.

(Image: Rex)

"That way I had the rest of the day with my boy.

"But I wasn't getting offered many hours. I wasn't getting enough work.

"I had a note from my doctor about my mental health. My mum was supporting me quite a lot. I was finding it very difficult to do things without getting upset.

"I felt like less of a mum.

"I received a text from my boss asking when I was going to be back.

"I said I would be back when my doctor had said.

"She (her boss) said I might not have have a job to go back to. Something like that doesn't really help when you are already depressed.

"My mum was shocked. I remember her saying 'what the hell?!'."

"I listened to the advice from my doctor and went back to work and it was a bit of a shock.

"Within a matter of weeks they cut my (shifts) down so much, too much.

"It was about a month I did not get any money. I was living with my mum, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pay rent."

(Image: AFP)

It was then, in the autumn of 2015, that Lauren tried to take her own life.

The lack of work had meant her debts had spiralled out of control - up to £8,000 and the mum couldn't even afford to buy her little boy a chocolate bar.

"I could take him to the park. That was it.

"So one night I sent him off to be with my mum and then..."

Even now it is difficult for Lauren to talk about. She was in hospital and she had her stomach pumped.

While recovering from her "lowest point" Lauren received a text from her boss - the same person as last time - once again threatening that her job was at risk.

"I went back to work but I got no support. They knew I had been off due to mental health.

"But there was never a conversation about what they could do to help me.

(Image: AFP)

"Every time I took time off with depression it was like I was just taking holiday just because they couldn't see that I was unwell."

Lauren still works at McDonald's - but she has another job lined up to start in the summer and has recently moved to a new restaurant so it has been something of a "fresh start" for her.

She told MirrorOnline: "The day I found out I got a new job was the second happiest day of my life, after the birth of my little boy, I can't wait to leave."

A spokesman for McDonald's said: “We don’t recognise the situation that has been described, however we take allegations of this nature very seriously.

"Whilst we don’t comment on individual cases we would welcome further details to allow us to investigate.

"We would encourage any of our people with concerns about any of our restaurants to speak to their management team so that matters can be dealt with immediately.”

Who is Organise? Organise is a community of more than 20,000 people taking action to improve their lives at work. Everyone in the community has free access to create petitions, open letters and surveys to gather information and support from their colleagues. People can team up in order to spot shared challenges and fix them. It’s confidential and there’s the option to be completely anonymous from your employer. The Organise community - including executive director Nat Whalley and lead campaigner Usman Mohammed, pictured outside the Amazon UK headquaters - has improved maternity pay at ITV, helped McDonald’s workers get a payrise and changed how Tesco pay temporary staff. Their members team up on everything from tackling the gender pay gap, sick pay for Deliveroo riders, fairer pensions at universities, to changing the law for self-employed parents. The Organise community has improved maternity pay at ITV, helped McDonald’s workers get a payrise and changed how Tesco pay temporary staff. Their members team up on everything from tackling the gender pay gap, sick pay for Deliveroo riders, fairer pensions at universities, to changing the law for self-employed parents. Join the Organise community or find out more here: www.organise.org.uk"

If you have an issue at work that you and your colleagues could team up to sort out or you just want to share your experiences of work, join the Organise community for free here: www.organise.org.uk

Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org.