Portable Restroom Trailers Investigates Restroom Privacy

Water Saver Faucet Company is located Chicago and has been in the public eye due to what employees are calling “bathroom harassment”. The company building is a factory that makes faucets for kitchens and restrooms. The company’s employees are given breaks that total one hour; however, expected cell phone use in the restroom was increasing the amount time spent in the restrooms. Because of these suspicions, the company installed a swipe card system last winter that tracked how long each employee is in the restroom for. The swipe system showed that time in the restroom exceeded the break time by 60 minutes every 10 days which means employees were spending an additional 6 minutes in the restroom every day.
The factory employees claim that management has a spreadsheet showing how long every employee is in the restroom for and that disciplinary punishment has been made, including verbal warnings and suspension in some cases. Because of the intensity of the situation union representatives have gotten involved. Union reps say this is an invasion of privacy. The invasion of privacy is especially pertinent because there have been meetings between employees and human resources where employees have to explain what they were doing in the restroom.
Another argument the union reps are making is that the 140 employees aren’t given sick days. If an employee is sick but is the main source of income for his/her family then he/she must go into work. This obviously creates a conflict with this new policy because when people are sick they have a tendency to use the bathroom more than the average person. Also, our bodies don’t work on cue so sometimes restrooms need to be used at inconvenient times and it is wrong to not let employees use the restroom when this happens. Water intake is also a major factor in how often someone needs to use the restroom. Ultimately union reps claim that this is an inappropriate policy because of the privacy issue and the fact that there are too many factors.
At Portable Restroom Trailers we want employees to feel comfortable in their work environment. We feel that adequate restrooms should be provided to employees so that they feel comfortable and clean. That’s why we have Industrial Grade trailers which provide more restroom units, as well as safety and comfort to appeal to both employees and employers. While we can’t tell either side what to do, we can still provide quality restroom trailers as a facility solution.
Tell us, what do you think about the swipe card system?