Bathroom Breaks

[Da-Xia]

Good Afternoon,

We have been having issues with our employees taking extremely long bathroom breaks.  Our employees work(8) hours per day, we provide them with a lunch break as well as(2) 15 minute breaks.  Several of our employees have not been using their break times to use the restroom, and sometimes even take their break and then as soon as their break is over - go to use the bathroom - sometimes for as long as 30 minutes.  This is not an unusual occurrence and typically happens every day - sometimes even several times a day.  Are there any company policies that we can set in place without breaking any employment laws?  It's an awkward position to be in, however work productivity has been in affected by the amount of time the employees are spending in the restroom.  Thank you for your help. We are located within the state of California.

[barend31]

I suggest you write a new break and lunch time policy and have each employee sign for it that they have received it and understand that they are responsible for reading it and abiding by the terms of the policy.

Now to write the policy:

Lunch time is provided for all employees.Your lunch period is ________ minutes.  If you exceed your lunch time the time it may be docked from your pay. Breaks of 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked is mandated by the State of California. These are for restroom and rest breaks. Our company has decided to give 15 minutes to allow ample time for rest room use and rest time.  Because of the short duration of the breaks you are not allowed to leave the premises during break time. If your break time goes over 15 minutes you will not be paid for the time over 15 minutes. Since these breaks are for rest room use no restroom use will be permitted outside break time except in emergencies. No restroom use will be permitted within 30 minutes returning to work after a break.

Here is the code in California law that says you only have to give 10 minute breaks and that you can restrict to premises. If they continue than shorten the breaks to 10 minutes and if that doesn't work start docking pay.http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_RestPeriods.htm

Shirley