Can Employers give you a time limit for restroom use for the day?

Question

My employer gives me a "time limit" for restroom use for each day of 10 mins. The bathroom is far away, and it takes 4-5 mins round trip to get there and back. I am talking nonstop all day, and need to drink a lot of fluids to keep from losing my voice. Its also freezing in there, so I have to go a lot. Lately, they have been harrassing me abou it.. asking me WHAT I am doing in there, why certain trips taking longer (ummm...), and telling me it is "company policy". They say I need a doctors note, but I dont have a medical condition, I always drink a lot of water, and I dont consider my restroom use excessive. Who are they to determine what "excessive" use is? I know they are in the wrong, or they would have fired me by now. I checked some things on the OSHA website, but its not detailed enough. It only says employees are entitled "resonable" use, but does not indicate what that is, and I know they will point that out if I show them.

Can they legally do this? What can I do??

Answer 1

There is no OSHA regs regarding time limits on bathroom breaks, they just mandate that rest room facilities have to be provided.

But an EEOC lawyer would love to get a case like this since 10 minutes clearly discriminates against females, regardless of the time it takes to walk to and from the room.

Answer 2

This is hard to answer because you haven't let us know ( sorry for being intrusive ) how much time you actually spend each day.

I think a limit of ten minutes , if that is THE total amount of time the give you , is not enough ....

You mentioned that you need to drink a lot to stop you from losing your voice.. I am curious as to what your job involves that would cause that to happen and you also mentioned that it is freezing in there ..... When my work conditions are cold i don't have the same need to drink as much.

Also .. what is your general work performance like ... are your bosses happy with you generally ?
I can go to the restroom as often as I need to without being questions or harrassed as my bosses know that i am working hard during the day .. some days i may need it once only , other days several times .....

when they ask you what are you doing in there ... That indicates to me that they are timing how long you are actually in there.
One male where i work goes to the restroom several times a day and spends at LEAST ten minutes a time in there .. so if he goes 4 times .. that is 40 minutes PLUS the time it takes for him to walk there and back ( say a minimum of 5 minutes each time) ... Well that is an hour out of the day that he is being paid for to work.

I don't know enough of your situation to be able to judge....

IF you believe you are a good worker and that you work well with others and that you are in no way trying to rip the Company off .. then speak to somebody higher and tell them that you feel that you are being harrassed perhaps even bullied ...

IF you are somebody like the worker i mentioned ( AND PLEASE I AM NOT SAYING YOU ARE :) ) maybe you need to consider finding another job ?

I hate to see good people get bullied .. BUT i DO enjoy bad workers getting their butts kicked IF THEY DESERVE IT

Answer 3

I think a better question would be, "why in the heck are you working at a place like this?"

I am just about certain that this is fertile ground for an EEOC complaint. If nothing else, it is definitely discriminatory towards people with certain illnesses and older workers.

Call the Labor Board (or equivelant) in your state and talk to them about this. Or better yet, walk away from these losers and get a job at a decent place. These guys are barbarians!

If you'd like to read what others have to say on this subject, check out the link I've listed below.

Answer 4

If you are taking your allotted breaks (EX: 2 10 min breaks, and a 30 min lunch) AND are still using the restroom a lot, why would you think they wouldn't question you?

We have a few like that where I work, and it's called stealing time! did you know that since they pay for the breaks (except the 30 min. clocked out lunch of course....), they can also stop you from going certain places such as leaving the property?

Yup! It's legal! Get used to it or get out! :)

Answer 5

you need to humble yourself and try to limit your activity to mandatory breaks every three hours.if you have to go more often then that i would seek medical help or only drink water 30 minutes or so before your intended official break.the old saying is time is money and this would be very wasteful in my opinion.just imagine if every employee took the 10 min allowance times that by 1000 employees equals 10000 minutes. times that by 5 days a week that's 50000 minutes. this would be a tremendous loss of money for the company and could eventually bankrupt them.so put yourself in there shoes.

Answer 6

Yes, as long as it isn't 'unreasonable'. The law deliberately leaves this vague. I would take it up with the HR department initially, and tell them you feel the constant questions about your restroom breaks are creating a "hostile work environment". Use those exact words - they have remarkable power over HR departments. This is a legal term and something they desparately want to avoid.

Answer 7

10 minutes, on a 8 hour shift? I don't think so. Maybe they need to build a bathroom closer to the area where you work. Why should it take you 2-3 minutes to walk to a bathroom. That is too far away to even be reasonable.

Answer 8

No its is not legal. 10 minutes a day is also kind of short.
Talk to your state labor board. If you develop medical problems you could always sue. I think teachers had an issue with that. Its also discrimitory to females. They naturally take longer. THey can't just open their fly and zip in and out. I think its a hygeine issue too.

Answer 9

I don't think its necessarily illegal, but most definitely unethical!

As long as employees are performing, an employer should not micro manage their staff to the amount of minutes spent in the bathroom.

Answer 10

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY AND UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!!! I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING. I FEEL SORRY THAT YOU HAVE TO WORK IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE BOSS IS FOCUSED MORE ON YOUR BATHROOM USE INSTEAD OF YOUR PRODUCTIVITY. IN FACT YOUR BOSS HAS TOO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS IF HE IS ACTUALLY TAKING NOTICE OF BATHROOM USE.