Spoke with a friend tonight, promised her I would run this by my DU friends:

[The Straight Story]

Here is her situation:

She works at a call center and likes the job for the most part. She has two 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch. If she needs to get some water or go to the bathroom she has to enter a code in her phone (to take her offline) and when she gets back to her desk she pushes a button to 'go live' again.

Over the last two months she has been chided by management for 'auxing out' as she calls it, to go to the bathroom. She takes less than two minutes. She has been really ill with the flu, and she has a small bladder. And she only does this 3 times a day, and sometimes less because she is afraid.

The excuse from management is that they don't have enough people in the morning (only 4 there early on) and they need people to be available on the phones. She has held it for 45 minutes at a time. But even when more people are there later in the day they have said things like 'we have noticed that you take 3 quick trips to get a drink or go to the bathroom' as though it were something terrible.

Now I have managed data centers, assembly lines, call centers, etc and never once gave someone crap about going to the bathroom or getting something to drink. She has copies of all her codes from a report and it was not like they were every 5 minutes, literally 3 times a day 2-3 minutes tops.

Not written up, not fired, they love her work, but she and others have been getting crap verbally for running to the bathroom (and during this time of year they are hardly taking any calls) - her manager told her it was all about the numbers and justifying their jobs.

Going to the bathroom?

I told her I would ask folks here about their experiences with going to the bathroom at work (and hopefully, she will join up here soon) - have you ever encountered problems at work with having to take a piss???

[Liberty Belle]

1. She should call her state's labor commissioner or fair employment practices commission.

This is arguably discriminatory against her based on a medical issue. It's not healthy to hold off going to the bathroom, which can cause kidney and colon problems. If this is not legal for the employer to do, a simply letter from the appropriate regulatory agency to that effect, or a note from her stating she researched this and they are in the wrong, should be enough to stop this.

[underpants]

2. Sounds like a bad job. If she hasn't been written up that is in her favor

any good manager would write her up (yes such a great management tool) if they wanted to get rid of her

just because it is a bad job of course doesn't mean she can afford to leave it.

I have no advice other than to stick it out. If she doesn't have kids (meaning she can personally stick it out) I would say look elsewhere. Anywhere, but I don't know that that is really and option.

[JuniperLea]

3. I'd call that a hostile work environment...

In CA that would be cause for an EEOC lawsuit.

I managed two different call centers over the course of nearly a decade... I would sooner pee my own drawers than to make an employee hold it like that! It's so wrong.

In a call center, you are talking all day and you need water! And guess what??!?! When you drink water, eventually it needs to come out!

This really pisses me off... pardon the pun! You CANNOT be chastised for going to the damn bathroom or getting a damn drink of water!! Something is NOT right here.

[handmade34]

4. stories like this make me livid!!

I've heard them and they are outrageous... I am so grateful that I can get by now without having to ask permission to go to the bathroom...

my daughter did a short stay (until promoted) at HSN (no jokes) and she was not allowed extra time for bathroom breaks - so dehumanizing. This is where people need to say enough is enough, but jobs are scarce and they have us trapped...

[The Straight Story]

14. Back in the early 90's I worked in manufacturing

And we had lines that did not stop, but if someone went to the bathroom no one ever said a word about it. But I did, one time (not in the manufacturing job), have a boss ask me where I went during a cable hunt for our data center and I told him "I went to take a shit, next time I will fill you in and maybe you can come help me". Now this was not a situation where people were depending on folks to be on hand, it was basic cable mining and removing old cables no one needed.

Hell, he was right there when I walked out of the room and headed to the bathroom. But he got pissed because he had to pull some cables for a few minutes while I was off having fun in the bathroom.... :rofl:

[alphafemale]

5. I work at a call center.

Bathroom time is an AUX 5 at our center and we are allowed a max of 10 minutes a day. Your friend could probably get a medical waiver on that though.

Call centers can be ridiculous in the way they micromanage everyone down to the second, but it's not a bad job.

[mike_c]

6. I'm at a loss for words....

Believe me, I've typed quite a few and deleted them- they just didn't seem to convey my shock and disdain. Holy feudal overlords, batman! Jeebus!

First and foremost, I have never worked for anyone-- that I can recall-- who EVER asked about bathroom breaks. I've worked in factories, in stores, in offices, in laboratories, in trucks and heavy equipment, in printing plants and darkrooms, in warehouses and restaurants. I've worked outdoors and indoors. I simply cannot imagine even asking for permission to complete necessary bodily functions. They're not optional, whether we have some control of them or not. We have that control for our best interests, not our employers.

I cannot imagine working somewhere more than five or ten minutes beyond the first time someone criticized my bathroom breaks. The next time I had to go and the boss objected, I'd piss in the corner and the hell with him. That's the advice I'd offer your friend. Ignore them, and tell them it's none of their damned business, but if they don't care for her bathroom needs then they are free to look for someone who will hold it for them. And if they continue to make an issue of it, water the potted plant on the way out the door.

[pacalo]

7. No, never. If it's all about numbers & she has a bladder issue that takes only

a couple of minutes away from the phone to take care of it, maybe the managers could be persuaded to allow short bathroom breaks without having to "aux out".

[kentuck]

8. I would think that might be an FMLA issue?

She may want to get a statement from her doctor advising as such?

[Horse with no Name]

10. Did you notice the changes the republicans made in FMLA

in the last months of bush's presidency?
It isn't the FMLA that Clinton passed--that is for sure.
It is hard to use now.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Okay I am curious if she has health insurance?

the reason that I ask is that many women have problems with this type of issue as they get older.
There is actually medication that she can take to help her hold her urine longer. There is one that is pretty cheap...think it is on the $4 list.
There is also a small surgery that can help.
Beyond that, if she drinks caffeine, she should stop.
She can do Kegel exercises for strengthening.
Try to lose weight if she is overweight.
Now, I say these things not because of her job, but it is hard as a woman to have these urinary problems and fixing them increases the quality of life exponentially. I speak from experience.:)

[csziggy]

11. Albertson's lost a case about this type of thing

Though it was taken to the extreme:

$200,000 judgment upheld against Albertsons for denying cashier’s bathroom break

PRESS RELEASE

October 22, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A state appellate court has upheld a $200,000 judgment for a 51-year-old grocery store clerk who successfully sued the Albertsons grocery chain for failing to provide reasonable accommodation for her disability after her cancer treatments.

A three-judge panel of the First Appellate District Court upheld a $200,000 judgment against the grocery store chain after it failed to accommodate the employee who needed frequent bathroom breaks because of cancer treatments.

<SNIP>

A lawsuit was filed in 2006 in Marin Superior Court alleging that Albertsons had violated the woman's rights under the state Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) by failing to provide reasonable accommodation of her disability. A Marin jury ruled in her favor and awarded her $200,000. Albertsons appealed to the 1st District Court.

The First District Appellate Court ruling underscored the need for employers to consistently adhere to the FEHA. Justice Timothy Reardon wrote, "As is demonstrated by A.M.'s case, a single failure to make reasonable accommodation can have tragic consequences for an employee who is not accommodated. When construing a statute, we seek to interpret it in a manner that promotes wise policy, not absurdity."

More: http://www.boxerlaw.com/In-the-News/200-000-judgment-upheld-against-Albertsons-for-denying-cashier-s-bathroom-break.shtml

Maybe your wife should print out this article and leave it where the manager can see it!

[stevedeshazer]

12. I'm a former call center supervisor and manager.

And I can tell you for sure that this is wrong. As others here who work or have worked in call centers have pointed out, no one should micromanage their staff to the point of monitoring their bathroom habits unless it is excessive in some way.

These poor folks are measured in all sorts of ways, both objective and subjective. Their phone calls are monitored, call times and work times, calls graded, all of that and it can be a stressful job.

It seems to this old supervisor that it's becoming a human resources issue. If it can't be resolved with her supervisor or manager, that's the next step.

Another thought: Is there another underlying issue? Does she have a poor relationship with her supervisor? Because I have seen some supervisors who will take personal grudges out on some workers while letting others pass. Are the other workers being treated equally, or is she being singled out?

Good luck to your friend and I hope she reports back through you what happens.

[JoePhilly]

13. It has been years, but I studied call center protocol and behavior ..

One of the thing we found was that overly bureaucratic managers made things worse.

As an example, call centers often have "serial callers" ... people who are lonely who call the call center for no real reason. If you throw those people OFF, they just call back and disrupt things over and over, and so, it is better if you let a call center person talk to then for 5 to 10 minutes because they will stop calling. But a call center person is often measured on "speed", how fast can you get rid of the caller.

And so ... the effort to optimize the efficiency of the individual coats the entire team much more time.

The fix, was to classify these calls so that they could be factored out since they were not "real calls".

Also ... we found that if call center stats reflected the number of "available" personnel, the number of "real" customers they dealt with, and the total time they spent on true work break, or on bio break, you get a much more accurate view.

In any case, this call center doesn't sound like it is aware of such metrics.

[elehhhhna]

15. Excuse me but those workers NEED to get up and walk around once an hour anyway

and the management there sucks. She should get a doc note -- if they have more than 50 employees they must comply w/ ADA -- and start taking loner peebreaks (wow like 5 minutes!)

[asjr]

16. People have gotten blood clots from sitting

too long. She should tell them she is saving them money.

[eShirl]

17. They should just come out and say it if they want the employees to wear Depends

so they can can get all 6-9 minutes extra of work out of them

also they should either provide or reimburse for the Depends

[applegrove]

18. American managers have been carrot and sticked into focussing only on productivity. All that matters

is those bosses bonuses.

[Mimosa]

19. She should somehow get registered as disabled.

But closet republicans on DU will say she should buck up and hold it.

[cynatnite]

20. I was caught smoking in the bathroom while on break...

Of course, I was 19 years old and relatively stupid at the time.

Otherwise, no I've never been given grief just for going to the bathroom.

[JohnyCanuck]

21. I knew call center work wasn't for me..

when I was working a new job on a computer help desk (my first time in that type of environment) and after returning from one of my two 15min coffee breaks, the control room called me on my headset and said, "We noticed you were one minute late clocking back in after your break. You'll have to ensure you do not over-extend your breaks like that in the future," (or some words to that effect). That's when a suspicion which had been growing in the back of my mind really solidified, and I said (to myself), "Fuck this shit; it's time to find another way to make a living ASAP."