topic Re: Limiting bathroom breaks.... in Community Chat

Limiting bathroom breaks....

straykatz — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:44:22 GMT

Should an employer be allowed to limit the amount of time used for bathroom breaks....and my primary question after reading the following article is "Should an employer be allowed to track who goes in and out of the bathroom and how often?"

https://gma.yahoo.com/company-limits-worker-bathroom-6-minutes-day-union-201335976--abc-news-personal-finance.html

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

mima — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:47:36 GMT

I just saw that on tv. I'm sure some people abuse the workplace by going to the bathroom to place calls, fix their makeup or whatever.

I don't know where the line should be drawn though.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

terrier3 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:49:35 GMT

This is ridiculous.

If you can't trust your employees enough to use the bathroom responsibly, what kind of a place are you running?

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

nunya — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:51:46 GMT

Some places now have people put their cell phones in a locker before they clock in.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

straykatz — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:53:41 GMT

I once had an supervisor (new job - been there less than 1 week) take me aside and tell me that I needed to time my restroom breaks to my official breaktimes.....like I can control exactly what time I need to use the restroom....I went back to my desk...and stewed and stewed and stewed over her words....at lunch time I walked out and never went back.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

terrier3 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:54:52 GMT

On 7/17/2014 straykatz said:
I once had an supervisor (new job - been there less than 1 week) take me aside and tell me that I needed to time my restroom breaks to my official breaktimes.....like I can control exactly what time I need to use the restroom....I went back to my desk...and stewed and stewed and stewed over her words....at lunch time I walked out and never went back.

Good for you!...that would have just been the start of a very bad situation for you.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

straykatz — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:57:34 GMT

On 7/17/2014 nunya said:
Some places now have people put their cell phones in a locker before they clock in.

I can see that happening...cell phone usage has gotten way out of control.....there are people who simply can't survive without constantly talking on their phone to someone or texting all the time....I come from a generation that did not have cell phones in my youth or early phase of my working career so I fail to understand why people are so obsessed/glued to their phones...it affects everything/everyone around them whether they care to admit it or not.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

kittymomNC — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:58:16 GMT

If anyone ever thought they could tell me how many times or how much time I could spend using the bathroom, they could also wave goodbye to me!

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:59:18 GMT

I don't know what the answer is either. I work on a campus that is home to a very large medical facility, although I don't work for them. We have a condo unit inside a building owned by them and we share a common bathroom.

There have been times I have had to wait to use the bathroom because one of their employees was inside the bathroom talking on her cellphone!

I didn't read the article and I know I should but my thought is, what if you are having an "issue" that day? Would they rather have you stay home?

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

brii — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:03:49 GMT

If people are using the bathroom for other things, I can understand why employers would want to limit that sort of thing.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

pinkskates4 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:07:05 GMT

What I'd rather see are reasonable performance standards that say - this is what you are expected to accomplish in x time frame.

How you meet that is up to you, but failure could mean termination.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

straykatz — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:07:44 GMT

On 7/17/2014 brii said:
If people are using the bathroom for other things, I can understand why employers would want to limit that sort of thing.

but how would an employer know what you are doing inside the bathroom?.....that is where I would definately draw the line!!!

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

Cakers1 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:10:18 GMT

Is it just me or did anybody else catch the name of the company - Water Saver. Guess it goes along with too many flushes happening.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

brii — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:11:16 GMT

On 7/17/2014 straykatz said:
On 7/17/2014 brii said:
If people are using the bathroom for other things, I can understand why employers would want to limit that sort of thing.

but how would an employer know what you are doing inside the bathroom?.....that is where I would definately draw the line!!!

If you were talking on your cell phone or going in and out all day long, I'm sure they would easily notice.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

Krimpette — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:15:38 GMT

Not sure why anyone wants to use their cell phone in the rest room anyway. Sounds a tad ""icky"" to me.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

terrier3 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:16:51 GMT

On 7/17/2014 Dagna said:
What I'd rather see are reasonable performance standards that say - this is what you are expected to accomplish in x time frame.

How you meet that is up to you, but failure could mean termination.

Dagna - Your idea would be treating employees like adults.

This place sounds worse than kindergarten!

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

redtabby — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:17:31 GMT

Several of my jobs over the years did not allow bathroom breaks except during scheduled breaks. I also remember in school only going to the bathroom during scheduled times, in high school you went during class changes. Your body does adjust to a schedule, except in case of illness - chronic or emergency. If someone is chronically ill, like ibs or Chrons, I would think that would be covered under the disabilities act.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

kittyloo — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:21:52 GMT

many younger employees consider a bathroom break another way to take additional time off from where they are working for the day. example. retail situation.

employee: I have to go to the restroom

supervisor: yeah, sure

employee: slowly makes their way over in the direction of the restroom, stops at the water fountain. once in restroom, checks text messages, uses restroom, washes hands, lipstick, check hair, another stop at the water fountain.

slowly gets back to register.

employee: I've been here 2 hours, can I take my break now?

and on it goes. If there is a rule to be abused, some will do it. Not most, some.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

pinkskates4 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:22:41 GMT

On 7/17/2014 terrier3 said:
On 7/17/2014 Dagna said:
What I'd rather see are reasonable performance standards that say - this is what you are expected to accomplish in x time frame.

How you meet that is up to you, but failure could mean termination.

Dagna - Your idea would be treating employees like adults.

This place sounds worse than kindergarten!

Agree. It is never a good idea to try to punish/restrict everyone when one or a couple of employees are causing a problem - if that is even the case.

6 minutes a day as a limit is ridiculous. With all the coffee and water I drink, I'd be in trouble for sure.

Re: Limiting bathroom breaks....

wildcherry — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:25:19 GMT

It's a shame really. I don't think they should limit. I don't really know what companies should do about this. People using computers for shopping, etc. is also a problem. I don't know what some seniors would do who actually HAVE to go more often during the day. Why limit breaks for them?

I have been in the restroom many a time while someone was gabbing away. A well timed flush on my part always gave me a silent laugh. What power! These people were actually chatting inside the stall. The bathroom is definitely not the place for a quiet chat.