Too long of a restroom break.
Grubby
4 Posts
Recently workers complained about a coworker taking too long and too many bathroom breaks. Yesterday he spent over an hour in the restroom. We have a camera in the break room that captures the entrance in to the restroom. Guess this has been going on for some time now and his co-workers are tired of this. I'm only going off what I've been told, but I understand that he sits in a stall and "texts". I realize this is a touchy subject, but what are our options?
Comments
Recently workers complained about a coworker taking too long and too many bathroom breaks. Yesterday he spent over an hour in the restroom. We have a camera in the break room that captures the entrance in to the restroom. Guess this has been going on for some time now and his co-workers are tired of this. I'm only going off what I've been told, but I understand that he sits in a stall and "texts". I realize this is a touchy subject, but what are our options?
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For the allegation that he's texting in the toidy to be credible, the john has to be built for multiple occupants or someone must have texted him or her (and it would need to be a lot of texting to make a big deal about it, which would incriminate the recipient, so they're certainly not going to tell). I >know< one can sometimes hear someone texting in a stall when, for example, one is standing in front of a urinal. But outside the door? Hard to believe. So: assuming that your bathroom is built for multiple occupants, then just have an appropriately gendered person from the management team step in there after 15 minutes and simply hear them clicking away on their phone. If the fan is too loud, consider turning the light out and seeing if you can see their mobile phone light coming out of the stall at the very moment the light goes off. Call them while they're on the john and see if they have to fumble for the phone or if you can tell by the ring that it's up in their hand and not down on their belt or in a pocket. It's this kind of thing that makes you feel like a school marm when you are in HR.
If all that fails, simply ask them why they took a one hour potty break yesterday, as evidenced by the camera in the break room. When they explain, ask them if that's the same reason for the day before and the day before. You run the risk of them making a play for FMLA or ADA if you go this route, so it would be my second choice compared to finding a method to build a case of reasonable suspicion or flat out catching them.
Keep in mind that this person could have intestinal problems and they text because the intestinal problems put them on the toilet for a long time and they're bored. Even if you use one of the above mentioned tactics for finding out if you have a toidy texter on your hands, you shouldn't immediately assume they're shirking duties.
[quote user="Bedford"][...] If he has not felt that it is necessary to come forth and tell you of any medical reasons, then let's be realistic and assume there are none. [...][/quote]
Actually, that kind of thinking has failed in both ADA and FMLA litigation.
When someone's behavior is so unusual as to raise a big red flag, the Company is considered to have knowledge that should lead to an ADA or FMLA discussion. Therefore, treating someone who sits in the john for an hour like they are a person who may as well have simply gone out back and smoked for an hour, could wind up getting you in trouble, depending on how you handle such cases.
I generally support the notion of looking into ANY employee's production: this person may be a particularly good candidate to check in on. However, a finding of poor work quality or low work output still has to be set aside until the medical issue is resolved so that the performance issue can be handled in the correct context and in compliance with applicable laws and regs.