Well, one boss who likes to keep her employees on a tight leash has decided that they must all sign in and out when they get up to go to the restroom. But one employee refuses to get on board with the new rule, so he’sreached outto the internet for advice on how he can fight it.
This man’s new boss has implemented a rule that all employees must sign out before going to the bathroom
Image credits: Kelly Sikkema (not the actual photo)
But rather than complying with the rule, he’s looking for a way around it
Image credits:Nicola Barts (not the actual photo)
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Later, the man responded to several readers and shared more details about his situation
Employees are entitled to as many bathroom breaks as they need, as frequently as they need them
Image credits:Tim Mossholder (not the actual photo)
We’re all expected to be managed at work. A supervisor might check in once a week to ensure that you’re meeting deadlines or to see how productive you’ve been that day. But there’s a fine line between being an involved boss and micromanaging, and tracking employees’ trips to the toilet seems to be a bit extreme. When it comes to using the bathroom,OSHAstates that employers must “permit workers to leave their work area to use the restroom as needed, provide an acceptable number of restrooms for the current workforce, avoid putting unreasonable restrictions on bathroom use, [and] ensure that restrictions on restroom use do not cause extended delays.” But the rules aren’t quite as clear cut when it comes to tracking workers’ trips to the toilet.
Some jobs may require employees to alert a colleague if they’re taking a bathroom break, to ensure that their station is covered or they don’t miss any phone calls during the time that they’re gone. But OSHA specifies on their site that any individual may require more or less trips to the bathroom, based on their health, fluid intake, age, etc., so there are no federal standards dictating exactly how many restroom breaks employees are permitted to. When they need to go, they’re allowed to go. And in the United States, employers are required to compensate their employees for breaksup to 20 minutes, so if these employees are “signing out” to use the restroom, they better make sure they’re still getting paid.
Micromanaging is a common tactic bosses use, but it always backfires
Image credits:CoWomen (not the actual photo)
This authoritarian style of supervising comes from well-intentioned individuals, but it often creates a toxic work environment. Somesigns that your bossmight be micromanaging are if they constantly check in with employees about every detail of their work, they nit-pick and monitor every move of their staff, they don’t trust their team members to accomplish tasks on their own, they’re always looking for perfection, they criticize their employees harshly, and they don’t listen to input from their employees. This creates a lack of trust in the workplace, causes self-doubt in employees, leads to burnout and poor performance, stifles creativity, increases turnover rates and harms the company in the long run.
Rather than focusing on insignificant details, managers would benefit more from building relationships with their staff
Image credits:Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)
Many readers chimed in with their thoughts, as well as suggestions of what the man should do next
Gabija Saveiskyte
Rūta Zumbrickaitė
Work & Money
