Chicago workers accuse employer of holding them to daily 6-minute bathroom limit

So instead of banning cell phones inside company property, (which every job I have had since cell phones become the in thing have done) they are willing to risk violating the general industry sanitation standards 29 CFR 1910.141 (OSHA), possibly the Fair Labor Standards Act, and in some instances the ADA; all to to save about $2500/month. Yea that makes a lot of sense.

Simply put, Under OSHA worker safety regulations, an employer must permit workers to use the toilet “when nature calls.” They cannot limit bathroom usage to meal breaks or rest breaks.
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Union workers for a Chicago faucet-maker filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board accusing their employer of limiting them to 6 minutes a day for personal bathroom use, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The workers, part of Teamsters local 743, said in their complaint that supervisors at WaterSaver Faucet installed a tracking system monitoring employees’ bathroom use late last year. The company’s human resource department disciplined 19 workers last month for “excessive use of the bathroom,” specifically 60 minutes of use during a 10-day period.

The complaint also said that WaterSaver has begun offering employees gift cards valued at up to $20 each month if they do not use the bathroom at all during company time. CEO Steve Kersten told CNN that the company lost 120 hours worth of production in May due to workers using the bathroom outside of scheduled break times



Chicago workers accuse employer of holding them to daily 6-minute bathroom limit