Chicago company monitors bathroom breaks: more than 6 minutes a day and you're penalized

I'm shaking my head at this. What is this, middle school in the form of a corporation?

So say the teamsters:

Basically, the company has gotten tired of people spending too much time in the bathroom outside their breaks, and the Teamsters aren't too happy (and they shouldn't be happy).

If you work at WaterSaver Faucet Company, when you gotta go, you might not want to go.

The Chicago company installed a new system that monitors bathroom breaks and penalizes employees who spend more than six minutes a day in the washroom outside their normal breaks.

Oh, ok, it's a War against Unions. Actually, maybe it is:

In December, the union-represented employees had to start swiping their badges to gain access to the washrooms. By March, 19 were disciplined for excessive use, Kreitman said.

And

The bathroom-monitoring part of the policy was put in place only four days after the union requested paid sick days for its members, Kreitman said.

How DARE you get sick leave.

And wait, what? They now make you swipe you badge so they can *monitor* your bathroom breaks to make sure you don't spend more than 6 minutes TOTAL per day? Does this also apply to non-union employees? Maybe not.

So far, the bathroom rules only apply to the 80 union employees at WaterSaver who work on the production line

I wonder.

But guess what? They REWARD too!

Employees who don't use extra breaks get a dollar a day while others who exceed more than one hour in a 10-day period will get a warning, which can lead to termination, he said.

Hot damn! A whole dollar for not going to the bathroom. And a gold star to boot! And if you're bad? You're FIRED. *Cue Trump soundbite*

It gets better:

A 12-page rule list given to employees is also pretty strict about how to take care of your personal business at the company.

"Place all toilet paper in the toilet and make sure that the toilet is completely flushed," it states. Employees are also told to place paper towels in the trash, refrain from "malicious gossip" and not to "make derogatory or inflammatory comments about the company."

Yep, refrain from talking crap about the company who restricts your bathroom under threat of penalty, too. Who is this company?

How dare you heed your call of nature. That's lost productivity!

[company president] Kersten told the Chicago Tribune last week that excessive bathroom breaks amounted to 120 hours of lost productivity in May.

Of course, the company spokesman says this is not the case, but who would I believe, teamsters ( and I know quite a few) or a shady for-profit corporation?

WTF

Link

a reply to: Liquesence

Wow, WTF?

That is just beyond lubricious! I hope the company gets its ass sued! The fact that this is even legal is just awful and outrageous. I don't care if they are Union or non union employees.

It is unacceptable for any company to treat their employees like that. Disgusting!

Well, the answer is to do a dump in the nearest trash bin.

ETA: Is this why they keep advertising PeePee Pants?
Wear peepee pants and you can slosh about the work place all day long.

a reply to: Liquesence

you don't spend more than 6 minutes TOTAL per day?

They get 6 mins PLUS breaks, as I understand it? I do not agree with this absurd policy.

However, in my office bldg, I see a woman take a 3 minute smoke break every hour . She pretends to take her trash out, get something important from her car, etc ...all just to have a ciggie. I know this because she is chatty about it. Then takes regular breaks and her hour for lunch.



Have to admit, I raised an eyebrow.

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: Liquesence

you don't spend more than 6 minutes TOTAL per day?

They get 6 mins PLUS breaks, as I understand it?

Yes, 6 minutes outside of breaks, as I understand it.

Still, that's besides the point.

ETA on your edit:

Yes people abuse the system. If they're wanting to smoke, why not card swipe the outside doors....or the smoking area. I doubt they "smoke in the boys room" like naughty rebellious teamsters. This is about bathroom breaks. Period.

Seriously guys.

Only in Corproate Fascist-Capaitlist America do we see company Presidents becoming irritated with lost productivity due to bathroom breaks.

Oh my goodness who cares, Kersten.

This line of thinking just kills me, oh it's just insane.

Haven't you ever had a late night out at Bdubs and had to work the next day...?

Typical rhetoric of the elitist mindset, "You peasants aren't working at your maximum potentional so therefore I'm limiting the use of bathroom breaks and not abiding by my scriptures may result in termination."

Sure I may be hyperbolizing a bit... but seriously, America - this is what we've become.

Oh how I was straight-up lied to about the way this country operates my entire life growing up.

When I was in aviation I had a shop foreman that would give me hell for all sorts of stuff including how long I was in the bathroom. I was a great employee but this guy hated me and I mean HATED me! I must have screwed him over in a past life or something.

Everyone called him the Gestapo. I remember he waited an entire weekend to berate me on Monday for leaving a dustpan line on the floor and I was one of the only people to pick up a broom at the end of the day, everybody else would just sit around and BS.

So, yeah treat your employees like this and they might want to do bad things to their bosses. I know I did.

You know this kind of sounds similar to the call center I worked at. Pretty much had 15 minutes of break and then AT least 5 minutes or so for other things such as bathroom breaks, phone calls. I think just in this instance it seems like they monitor it in the way of swiping the badges. It also did not penalize us in the way of money but spend too much time every day and you get talked to. So most of this honestly seems kind of normal.

a reply to: Liquesence

I had a girlfriend that used to work for Barnes n Noble.

They forced her to take her breaks and lunches.

If she didn't take them she would be fired.

I can only imagine the lawsuit that hit B&N for them to institute the policy.

Expect them to man the legal canons and set the lawyers to sue.

a reply to: Liquesence

Some jobs offer 10 minute breaks every 4 hours. Some more.

6 minutes is too riduculous.

a reply to: HeroicWrath

I remember in grammar school, too. Hour classes, with breaks between. "You had time to go between classes (breaks)." But I now have to go...NOW. Are you going to deny me the ability to relieve a natural function? BS.

One may not always have to go when one is on break. Nature calls not by your work or break schedule but as it calls biologically.

That's one reason I have my own business. I don't want fools looking over my shoulder, complaining if I clock in a minute late or caring how often I go to the bathroom or how many times I head to the breakroom for coffee.

It should only matter if work is getting down and the quality of the work.

I'll never work for another person again. Once you've tasted freedom from corporate BS, you never go back.

originally posted by: grey580
a reply to: Liquesence

I had a girlfriend that used to work for Barnes n Noble.

They forced her to take her breaks and lunches.

If she didn't take them she would be fired.

I can only imagine the lawsuit that hit B&N for them to institute the policy.

Expect them to man the legal canons and set the lawyers to sue.

That's labor law, so it's different, as far as I understand. They *have* to give breaks and lunches. You don't have to take lunch but you can't work.

originally posted by: Liquesence
a reply to: HeroicWrath

I remember in grammar school, too. Hour classes, with breaks between. "You had time to go between classes (breaks)." But I now have to go...NOW. Are you going to deny me the ability to relieve a natural function? BS.

One may not always have to go when one is on break. Nature calls not by your work or break schedule but as it calls biologically.

See in the instance of the Call center it was a few that ruined it for the rest. I failed to mention that while there we were doing healthy challenges and made it better ( such as drinking 8 glasses of water within' 8 hours ). They also took into account maternity in a way; but other than that they figured you shouldn't have to go to the bathroom 5 times in your shift or something like that. Or even you shouldn't have to spend 3+ minutes in the bathroom. I have no idea if they changed things as I left but my time there was like walking through hell.

I also heard that ours wasn't as bad as some of the others.

I'd bet the people who work in the office, management, ect have their own bathroom and don't have to keycard to #.
This RIGHT here is whats wrong or adding to the problem! How any State in Amorica allows this is beyond me? This is slavery 101.

It might be that people were using the can to get their smartphone fix too. I see that going on at work all the time. People hanging out in the bathroom talking, texting, surfing when they should be taking care of business. You get lost in how much time you are actually taking on your device.

I bet they're smoking in the bathrooms.

And this is with a union. Get used to it. It'll probably be happening more and more until the evil government with their evil regulations and such step in. Plus does it really matter if you at your desk/post/workstation and just daydreaming? Plus you should get up to stretch and walk around every hour or all sorts of health issues begin to creep in and then you really do need those sick days.

one place i worked at for a couple of years, there was the one guy that was always early along with a couple others of us.
he'd stand around outside, smoking and joking drinking coffee until time to clock in. then i swear everyday he would walk through the break room, grab a newspaper then proceed to the head and take his 30 min early morning crap. then after lunch he do the same thing. that lasted about six months after repeated warnings, he was gone after that.

people will kill time on the companies dime, that is a fact. using the head is just one of the ways they do it.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Thing is that when you have a union, you have to have your policies codified like this and they have to apply to everyone. You can't just call in the few troublemakers and tell them to shape up or ship out. It has to be a unified policy and it has to apply across the board or you open yourself up to all the messy and time-consuming union arbitration rules.