Bathroom breaks and work.

[Krasuss]

Damn, that's retarded. If I'm at work I'm gonna take a shit if I need to and I'm going to get paid for it.

100% agree, and if I want to I will do it 3 times a day

[Dristereau]

As someone who suffers from Social Anxiety this is something that terrifies me about starting work. I did a two week course a few months ago now and on the second day I had the tutor of the day come and find me in the bathroom and threaten me there and then whether to leave or not. I had to stay, not really much choice, and ended up stabbing myself with a pen because of how uncomfortable I felt. The next day I had a Panic Attack and didn't make it in. I don't mind the idea of working, but the idea of needing the bathroom and being unable to go is something that terrifies me. Not US here, but still, it's something that scares me about work. No idea what to do about it.

[Atheries]

Yeah, as I mentioned in my comment, I have social anxiety and worked at Walmart, was a pretty horrible experience, especially when people would ask me where things were. I spent as much time as I could just hiding in the bathroom, and then they moved me to a register. I missed at least one day a week, didn't even call in. They needed employees so they never said anything about it.

[Kristya]

The law varies from state to state. Some states like Texas just follow the default that the federal government laid out.

Employers are not required to give breaks or lunches, regardless of length of shift. The one exception is for nursing mothers who must be given a 30 minuted uninterrupted lunch break.

If your employer does give you breaks, they are required to pay for your break time as long as it is less than 30 minutes. 30 minutes or more can be unpaid, however the employee must be completely free from work duties during this time, otherwise it must be paid.

[vrsick]

I get a paid 30 minute lunch and an unpaid 15 minute morning break. I don't take the 15 minute break because I don't smoke and don't see the point of going and sitting on the coach for a few minutes. A lot of down time at my job so probably a good 4 hours a day is me just fucking off on the internet waiting for work to come to me.

[Waaldo]

When I was in highschool teachers didn't let us go to the bathroom without permission, so I walked out and went to the bathroom, fuck their permission. No one is going to stop me from doing what has to be done. Deducting pay for a 100% natural human process is the definition of inhumane. Next time you have to go, let it out in your pants. Drop a deuce on the floor and tell him you were doing it out of efficiency. I would love to read a news article about a person being fired for having to go to the bathroom.

Your boss is a greedy asshole who gets paid no matter what. Even if he doesn't show up, he gets paid. So seriously, you and all of your co workers just need to piss all over his floor in protest.

[Daez]

My opinion is you should get a better job. I could never work there. They seem to treat their employees like crap. Treating your employees like crap is a great way to make sure they do not give a damn about their job. Having employees that do not give a damn about their job is the best way of making sure they only put in the minimal effort necessary and never anymore than that.

Like all policies, this probably started because one person was abusing it and rather than taking the steps to deal with that one person they decided to deal with everyone at the same time even though everyone else was not abusing it. That reeks of HORRIBLE upper level management. Its those types of companies that cannot figure out why they are going out of business.

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15 min for breaks? For a whole 8 hour work day? Something like this is allowed?

Where I live, the laws do not really cover those that are over 18 in regards to when and if they get to take a break.

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http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ohio-meal-rest-break-laws.html

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I have a low tolerance for crap like this so I would never think a company that micromanages your ass, literally your ass, like this is deserving of your time. Anybody that thinks otherwise just doesn't trust their employees, is a cheap skate, or just a douche. If there is demonstrated slacking off in the bathroom, then address it. Proactive shit like this just makes people feel like they are being managed by people who formerly ran a sweat shop.

I can think of only two reasons that people would put up with something like this:

1) The pay is very, very good
2) There are no other jobs in the area

Short of that, quit and find a job that treats you like a human being.

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They tend to have a long history of treating employees like shit

My only question for you is why you work for this company? Either you have the skills available to be an actual administrative assistant (which seems to be what this job does from what I have seen on the website) and then you get an actual job as an administrative assistant or you do not in which case you get a job that is not in this field. At the end of the day, working at a job that you hate just for a few extra dollars an hour is NOT a good way to live your life.

[Maltah]

Yes.

Most of them.

I still find it baffling that federal law doesn't mandate breaks, regardless of hours worked. As if Congress ever skipped lunch...

[Daez]

American work laws are awful. This following the revelation that you're not mandated any paid holiday leave, 40 odd % of Americans took no holiday what-so-ever last year.

I disagree. You work for the company that offers what you want. If paid vacation is very important to you then you find a company that offers paid vacation. If you have no skills so you take any job you can get then you lose your ability to choose. That is why you get your skills as an American worker before you enter the work force.

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So long as I get somewhere close to 9hrs (or way, way more if we have a deadline...) everything's fine.

My life partner is senior partner at his law firm. He makes his own hours but has to worry about productivity. For the past year, his eldest child has been badly in need of growing up (although he is 22) and has taken quite a great deal of his time. Suddenly, he had to go from working 8 hours a day to working 12 because every time you turn around the kid is sucking up even more of his time and he has to work more hours to catch up. At least he gets to set his own hours/breaks though.

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I'm actually not allowed to work through my lunch break by company policy. Something about liability or some such thing.

You have to clock out anytime you are leaving the premises unless you are doing so at the behest of your employer. It is because when you are on the clock the employer becomes responsible for your actions. When I worked midnight shift at my nursing home job, I was always supposed to clock out, but I never did and routinely left for lunch anyways. Thankfully nothing ever happened.

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Yikes! Indiana sucks. In California, if the work hours are greater than 5, you get a lunch break. 10 min for every 4, iirc.

States with fewer employer regulations normally attract more employers.

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I have social anxiety and the couple jobs I have had, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom to stop a panic attack. When I worked at Walmart I was in there probably every 30 minutes, more if people talked to me. I was just supposed to stock a couple shelves and straighten things up, so it was fine. And then they moved me to a register, at which point I started not coming in once a week. On my breaks I would spend the whole time sitting outside crying and talking to my sister on the phone. Then my boyfriend at the time broke up with me so I had to move back home, so I just didn't go to work the last week I lived there lol

I also have social anxiety, but it is much lesser than that. I can turn it off at work, but in my free time it definitely still exists. At work, I simply tell myself that I do not care what people actually think about me because I do not know them or care to know them. Its a lot harder in real life when I look at people as potential friends and relations.

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As someone who suffers from Social Anxiety this is something that terrifies me about starting work. I did a two week course a few months ago now and on the second day I had the tutor of the day come and find me in the bathroom and threaten me there and then whether to leave or not. I had to stay, not really much choice, and ended up stabbing myself with a pen because of how uncomfortable I felt. The next day I had a Panic Attack and didn't make it in. I don't mind the idea of working, but the idea of needing the bathroom and being unable to go is something that terrifies me. Not US here, but still, it's something that scares me about work. No idea what to do about it.

Start by finding a mental health service that can work with you and then go to counseling and possibly seek psychiatric (drug related) therapy.

[diamondjim]

So I work for a company that has a contract with Paypal, we do customer service for paypal. So we get an email today from our om, Tell us how paypal is complain because paypal pays 50% more for a us agent than they do for a agent from the Philippines. I make 10.50 an hr.

[Schmeebs]

So I work for a company that has a contract with Paypal, we do customer service for paypal. So we get an email today from our om, Tell us how paypal is complain because paypal pays 50% more for a us agent than they do for a agent from the Philippines. I make 10.50 an hr.

The phillipines is the new India for call center outsourcing.

[BLCalliente]

Split shift.

7 am -12 pm first half of shift (15 min min break)
12 pm-5:30 pm (off work)
5:30pm-8:30pm second half of shift (no break)

Split shift = "How to fuck your employees as hard as possible within the confines of the law"

[diamondjim]

Split shift = "How to fuck your employees as hard as possible within the confines of the law"

I thought it was so they did not have to pay for a second break