Company limits bathroom breaks to 6 minutes a day [and gives bonuses to workers who never use it]

CNN ^ | July 15, 2014 | Patrick M. Sheridan

[grundle]

Spend more than 6 minutes a day in the bathroom at Chicago's WaterSaver Faucet company and you'll face disciplinary measures.

That's what a union contends the manufacturer is pulling: timing bathroom breaks and warning employees when they can't beat the clock.

The union, Teamsters local 743, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming WaterSaver unfairly disciplined 19 workers in June for "excessive use" of washrooms.

The company's human resources department described "excessive use of the bathroom as... 60 minutes or more over the last 10 working days," according to the affidavit. Do the math and it works out to 6 minutes a day.

The controversy goes back to last winter when WaterSaver installed swipe card systems on bathrooms located off the factory floor.

WaterSaver has adopted a rewards system where workers can earn a gift card of up to $20 each month ($1 a day) if they don't use the bathroom at all during work time.

[Squawk 8888]

If true the company has nobody to blame but itself for its labour troubles. I’ll hold off on further comment until all the facts are in; I suspect there’s more to the story; bear in mind that these are allegations that have not been tested in a hearing.

[a fool in paradise]

This rule discriminates against homosexuals!

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Maybe Water Saver is trying to save water.

Actually, this is really stupid. If they want to limit bathroom breaks, I guess they have the right; but 6 minutes a day is absurd.

[autumnraine]

And bad for woman too since we need more time.

[dainbramaged]

One place I worked years ago had magazine racks in the stalls - a man could get some reading done.

[Safetgiver]

Oh yeah! I’ve worked with those tiny bladders. It’s all BS in the bathroom texting their boyfriends or whatever...Hell, I’ve found a co-worker who was to be in a meeting who said he needed the bathroom. A half hour later when he was supposed to deliver a presentation of what we had accomplished for the quarter, I found him sleeping in the stall with his pants still up. He didn’t last long after waking up. Bathroom breaks are just a way to screw around (unless when you wash your hands you sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star three times to be sure you are adequately cleaned).

[dfwgator]

Block cellphone activity (through shielding) and you’d cut down on “slack time” in bathrooms.

I found ripping a loud one while someone is on the phone in the bathroom, tends to make them stop calling there.

[Safetgiver]

One guy on the shift would clock in at 6am, then grab a newspaper and camp out in the bathroom for half an hour or 45 min while the other two of us worked.....There is a place right here in my town (a foundry) where a large percentage of the workers get to work to get to the toilet in the AM. They punch in, go to the shiiiter and sit there. When asked why they didn’t go at home before punching in, they said “I don’t want to use MY water!”

[bolobaby]

Why does this quote from World Cup soccer come to mind...?

“I thought I had slipped, I thought I wouldn’t make it, but I tore my anus on that move, the pain ... it was terrible.”

[Drawsing]

How about toilet seats with a pressure sensitive switch? After six minutes a mild electric shock is administered. 2 minutes later, a stronger shock is delivered and on up from there.

Seriously though, I have wondered about some of my coworkers taking mini-vacations in the stalls.

[Conservative_caterer]

As usual, there is a lot more than the superficial story line here. Reading the article, the one hour per week average potty time for the problem employees is above and beyond break times, etcetera. This time is paid time that the employees are supposed to be on the floor producing money for the company. That is, after all, why they have the afore-mentioned job.
If health situations prevent following the company policy on bathroom use, maybe that’s the wrong job for that employee.

[steve86]

"excessive use of the bathroom as... 60 minutes or more over the last 10 working days,"

I did this in one day all the time. One of the several medically related reasons (IBS) I couldn't continue working.

[DoodleDawg]

They get breaks already by law. Go then. Geez

What law gives them that?

[aimhigh]

Oregon’s minimum break rules are defined by law. Two ten minute breaks and at least a 20 minute lunch.

[1rudeboy]

Having dealt with Teamsters in the past, I can say with some certainty that a minority of them probably abused their bathroom privileges at this place, and the company had to develop a restrictive rule that applies to everyone because the abusers can’t be fired.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I agree. And furthermore, where I work, people who smoke are not taken to task for taking four or five 20 minute breaks per day to feed their habit. Yet if I leave my desk for one to two hours per day, I would be questioned on why.

In fact, my company has even erected little plexiglas bus stop type structures so the smokers can indulge during inclement weather.

It seems like very odd behavior from a Fortune 100 company that also spends lots of dough to make sure employees eat right and exercise to lower health care costs. Makes me shake my head.

[gov_bean_ counter]

WaterSaver has adopted a rewards system where workers can earn a gift card of up to $20 each month ($1 a day) if they don't use the bathroom at all during work time.

Oh, and don't drink that. It's not lemonade...

[defconw]

YEP!

[Hoffer Rand]

I found ripping a loud one while someone is on the phone in the bathroom, tends to make them stop calling there.

Once had a woman in the stall next to me, loudly yakking away on her phone, actually say, "hang on just a second, I need to switch hands, so I can wipe." That's when you know you've heard EVERYTHING! Serious TMI!!

[a fool in paradise]

PONG!