Timed Bathroom Breaks

A Chicago-based faucet manufacturer recently ended up in the news over a controversial policy: timed bathroom breaks for employees. The company’s Human Resources department stated it was losing valuable production time due to “excessive use” of the washrooms. We asked E-News readers: Does it make sense to monitor employee bathroom visits? Sixty percent said no, while 22% said yes and 18% weren’t sure.

Comments:

“Companies can make ridiculous policies like this and people can make a decision to leave. I would not consider working for a company that wastes their time thinking of these bad ideas. The HR director should be fired.”

“Someone analyzing cost savings areas needs to cultivate a little common sense.”

“It's work, not prison!”

“Absolutely yes. You can't trust hourly employees. Maybe 20% have the work ethic to keep their breaks short and care about productivity and not burdening relief workers and coworkers. Maybe 40% are neither total slackers nor total hard workers. They won’t take forever but won’t hurry. They would finish in 5 minutes but take 10-15. Then there are the 40% that are the problem. They slack on purpose. They will take 1/2 hour to an hour. They will sit and surf the net and purposely try to screw the company. If it weren’t for these 40%, the company would not need to treat them like babies and the good workers could even pressure some of the borderline ones into doing better. But with the ultra-slackers, the company has no choice. FYI, the ones who take forever are easy to identify. They are the same ones who work the attendance policy to the max, right up to getting fired, then working off points, then up to getting fired and squeeze out every possible sick day allowed.”

“Litigation has forced HR decisions to become very data-based, so quantitation at the most ridiculous level may be required.”

“This is an example of corporate bullying and is a discrimination lawsuit just waiting to be filed! Shame on this company and its HR department.”\

“There are always some bad apples that can cause unwanted policy changes that affect everyone.”

Teresa McPherson was the former Editor of Adhesives & Sealants Industry. She has held several editorial positions during her more than 20 years with BNP Media. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism from Eastern Michigan University.