Excessive breaks to the restroom
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Excessive breaks to the restroom

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LaQuan asked 4 years ago
What are ways that I can use to control excessive breaks? I have a gentleman that works 8hrs, but 45 mins of the 8hrs is running to the restroom for 10 mins or more at a time. Not to mention he already get 30 min lunch and two 15min breaks. Any ideas?

2 Answers
Brittany Staff replied 4 years ago
Hi LaQuan! I’m probably not the most qualified person to answer this, so I’ll let the other community members help with that. But this article has an entire section on bathroom breaks and might be helpful:

https://www.zenefits.com/workest/top-payroll-practices-for-employee-breaks/

Riia O’Donnell replied 4 years ago
Before you make any moves, you might consider if the employee has a medical condition that requires frequent trips to the restroom.

If so, you may want to accommodate his needs. I would carefully suggest that if there’s a medical reason for his frequent trips to the loo that he talks to his physician and requests an accommodation under the ADA. I wouldn’t press for details – your role is only to suggest he leverage his rights, if applicable, under the law.

If he’s just taking a “break” and has found a great hideout, he’ll likely take the hint. If he does have a legitimate medical need to be there, frequent trips to the bathroom would likely be considered a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

You’d need to look at the exact impact of his absence. Does his walking away from the line, for example, pose a safety risk to others? If the only impact is inconvenience or curiosity, you might want to let this one go (no pun intended).

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