Community Chat

[terrier3]

On 7/17/2014 kittyloo said:

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.

I think the hiring process would weed out slackers (or attempt to).

And Managers are hired to motivate staff to do their best for the company. At least good managers are motivators.

[straykatz]

On 7/17/2014 Krimpette said:

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

It is ICKY....IMO a gross habit ... there are lots who do talk on their phone while in the restroom.

[Lipstickdiva]

On 7/17/2014 redtabby said: 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.

Exactly. People who work in factories can't just walk away from the line and go to the bathroom.

I'm not sure what happens in an operating room where a surgery goes on for several hours.

There are a lot of situations I can think of where you just can't take a bathroom break.

[151949]

Actually, I have worked with some people who do spend an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom all day while someone else has to do their work, so I can see where this would PO an employer. As with most things - I say if you are not doing anything wrong you should have no reason to care if they know how often you go in and how long you stay in there.The ones who get all up in arms are the ones who are abusing it I bet. For those occasional times when you may be ill and need to go in more than normal - if that is not your every day pattern it should not matter to the employer.

[deepwaterdotter]

On 7/17/2014 LipstickDiva said:

On 7/17/2014 redtabby said: 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.

Exactly. People who work in factories can't just walk away from the line and go to the bathroom.

I'm not sure what happens in an operating room where a surgery goes on for several hours.

There are a lot of situations I can think of where you just can't take a bathroom break.

Many years ago I worked on an assembly line. When 'nature called', we alerted our team leader to request a designated "relief person" who would cover our job for such situations. I have spoken to teachers who said that they wear adult diapers in the classroom when leaving to use the restroom is not an option in their school.

[kdgn]

On 7/17/2014 straykatz said:

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.

You've made a very valid point, Straykatz. I'm like you, not glued to my cell phone and not dependent on it for my life. At my mom's nursing home the director of nursing had to officially tell all of her staff that using their phones to text/talk during working hours would get them written up. I saw one young CNA sitting at a table with her cell phone in her lap. She was trying to text without being seen. What she was supposed to be doing was supervising a patient while she ate. The director was standing in the doorway talking with me when suddenly she said "Excuse me", hustled over to the CNA and that was the end of the texting. I understand the CNA was written up.

[Elstongunn]

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.

I agree. Unless it's suspected that the employee is doing something illegal in the bathroom, the standard should be if the work/production is being met, that is all that matters.

Most people cannot just "say 'bye" and walk off a job. I would have gone to HR about it first instead of sacrificing a job. The supervisor pushing bathroom break rules could have just been a tyrant and doing it on his/her own. Just walking out in a fit of temper is never the answer and ends up looking bad for the employee.

[151949]

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.

Not all jobs work that way - my job was one that did not. My expectation for the day was to be there to meet the needs of my patients and those needs could change in a nanosecond.

[QueenDanceALot]

I am way too old to be told when I can go potty.

[LilacTree]

I live in a four-year-old senior apartment building, very new, very nice. But it obviously has plumbing issues because it is built on hilly ground. We have received many notices that bathroom wipes are not to be flushed. They continue to have problems with the plumbing and it is attributed to the wipes. At one time they advised us that rubber gloves had been flushed. I understand their frustration completely.

However, last notice we received was written in big red letters and taped to our doors and it threatened all of us with "fines" if they continue to have the problem.

There are 50-55+ people living here. Would you consider it fair (or even legal) for all of us to get fined?