No Washroom Breaks at work: Legal?

[polak]

I just worry about her questioning him and him not getting canned and then her being in his "bad books".

In my opinion it sounds like people there might be abusing bathroom breaks and her manager is clueless and doesn't know how to address the issue.

[Engine09]

I have a useless coworker who is a champion at wasting time. It was getting so out of hand a couple weeks ago I actually started taking note, she went to the bathroom 12 times and that was only by 2PM when I stopped keeping track.

Great policy, send that manager over here.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by polak

I just worry about her questioning him and him not getting canned and then her being in his "bad books".

In my opinion it sounds like people there might be abusing bathroom breaks and her manager is clueless and doesn't know how to address the issue.

That's why you get everything in writing.

Bathroom policy - In writing

HR complaint - In writing

Outcome of said complaint - In writing

If she feels like she is being treated unfairly by him - Document it, in writing

Then if she ever feels the need to go to HR if she feels like he is treating her unfairly she has it all documented.

[SportsJunky]

Is she an adult? Adults don't need permission to go to the bathroom. I would break that policy immediately if I was her.

[CaptainYooh]

Came for the jokes. I am disappointed to see so many serious responses...


You are not allowed to eat on company time, therefore, you should not be allowed to poop on company time. However; since your hair continues to grow on company time, you are totally allowed to have haircuts on company time!

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by troutman

Bathroom breaks are ok with me, but poop at home please.

If I ever get around to getting a proper will done I'll save up a deuce for when I get there!

[calumniate]

They say don't poop where you eat, haha.

[Sainters7]

The most ironic part of it, is in my experience in an office, it's the older, senior level people who are burning a hole in the carpet with how much they go to the bathroom. Feels like that's pretty much all a couple of our directors do when I see them.

Good luck only going once a day, 50/60-somethings who probably instituted this policy.

[Raekwon]

Is she still allowed to chew gum?

[zyzz]

This is hilarious. Get her boss' email and send that OHS link from a hotmail account.

[The Yen Man]

I feel kind of bad for the manager too, it sucks when someone abuses stuff like this. I wouldn't even know how you'd try to curb this. Have the staff sign out and sign in for washroom breaks?

[Hack&Lube]

What kind of job is this? Does she work at a Call Center or Service Desk?

[Cole436]

This sounds like a whole bunch of game playing.

There's only two things that can happen here, she emails him asking him if this is policy. If he says yes, it's shipped to HR and one way or another the problem is solved. He says no, and again the problem is solved.

[skudr248]

Lol what a funny thing to do... why doesn't the manager grow some balls and speak with X person that she has a problem with taking to many "washroom" breaks.

[DigitalCarpenter]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I feel kind of bad for the manager too, it sucks when someone abuses stuff like this. I wouldn't even know how you'd try to curb this. Have the staff sign out and sign in for washroom breaks?

I would go with Key Performance Indicators.

IE you pay these people to deliver some kind of work. Set the amount of work required to be completed in a day at a level that cannot be met if you are taking an excessive amount of bathroom breaks

Then fire the slackers once you have the metrics.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Cole436

This sounds like a whole bunch of game playing.

There's only two things that can happen here, she emails him asking him if this is policy. If he says yes, it's shipped to HR and one way or another the problem is solved. He says no, and again the problem is solved.

Yeah I thought about telling her to just repeat what he said to them in an email to confirm. Again, I'm just worried about her being put in his bad books if nothing comes of it.

She does work for the service desk but I don't think that excuses the company. They should have enough staff to cover the desks if people want to use the washroom.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by polak

I'm telling her to go to the washroom and have her phone recording the exchange in her pocket cause it was verbal.

Sounds like you're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. Your GF should simply contact HR and ask them to clarify the rules. No formal complaint, no secret recordings, just an 'innocent' question. Any decent HR person will pick up on this, talk to the manager, manager gets an opportunity to climb down on the 'misunderstanding'. No need to make it so dramatic and confrontational. Unless it doesn't work, then by all means empty both barrels.

[The Yen Man]

I have a friend who worked at a call desk for Rogers where they monitor how long you're away from your desk. So everytime you left, you had to sign off on your workstation. If he was gone for over a certain amount of time, it flags it in a record log.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I have a friend who worked at a call desk for Rogers where they monitor how long you're away from your desk. So everytime you left, you had to sign off on your workstation. If he was gone for over a certain amount of time, it flags it in a record log.

If you take that long I would expect it to be a record log.

[WhiteTiger]

All this makes me wonder about how long is too long. How many trips are too many? Is there some sort of secret office protocol I'm not aware of? I've never bothered to care enough to monitor my coworkers trips to the bathroom. Makes me now wonder if this is a thing I've been missing out on.