That might not work since I don't go at the same time everyday. Has anyone ever had a job where people would actually abuse the right to go to the bathroom anytime they needed to? Maybe the distillery has had some problems with people going 14 times a day, but my productivity, or anyone else's, has been hindered by taking 2 minutes piss breaks whenever the need arose.
What do you propose; each individual worker taking his/her 15 minute breaks and 30 minute lunch whenever they want? That would be pretty chaotic.
What if you don't wake up the same time everyday? Should you have to be at work at 8 AM to start your shift?
my god, you took the words straight outta my mouth!!! as for the 15 minute breaks and lunch breaks... they can be taken at set times b/c your body doesn't have an immediate need to take care of... (hunger and cigarrette desires, unlike urination, can wait.)
I bet most of the people responding here have never worked in an assembly line environment. Unscheduled absences by workers is a disruption of work flow, so it's a very real concern for Jim Beam. They've tried structuring bathroom breaks, and they've done so in such a manner whereby employees have a break every hour and twenty minutes (considering the fact that you can go during lunch and before and after your shift). If you need more breaks than that, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. No matter how much you drink. I drink about two gallons of water, coffee, iced tea, etc. every day, and I still don't need more than two or three breaks during my work day......that includes my commute, and my work day is usually a hell of a lot more than eight hours. These people are effectively getting 8 or more breaks depending on how many times they care to go during lunch and before and after work. Still, if that isn't enough, they can get a doctor's note and be excused from this very liberal policy. Still, there will be people who complain. They're the same ones who'll always fight a corporate decision that "affects" the individual.....regardless of whether or not there's a sound business need that drives the decision. Increase shareholder value?!? To hell with that noise.......that crap is for MBA's, not for the common man. If the company thinks it's right, it must be wrong.....so let's fight it! After all, it only screws up their economy.
26 responses, and nothing about Jim Beam making their consumers pee on themselves? I've never worked on a line, but I imagine Pole is right on the money. My real issue are the jags that I work with that smoke 15 minutes for every hour they're at the office.
well i'm sorry we couldn't all be blessed with such a fantastic bladder as yours appears to be. as i said before, i urinate at least 10 times a day. there is nothing wrong with me though, b/c i drink a lot of water, it runs right through me. maybe some people can retain water, but others can't. should they be punished for that? should they be forced the humiliation and degradation of urinating on themselves?
excerpts from the book: "Void Where Prohibited: Rest Breaks and the Right to Urinate on Company Time" The act of holding off the need to urinate, and measures workers take to reduce urination, can lead to bladder and urinary tract infections and permanent bladder and kidney damage. Consistently resisting the urge to urinate can cause changes in the muscles of the bladder so that it loses its contractility, resulting in difficulty with emptying the bladder. In a strongly worded letter to the Register, Iowa Labor Commissioner Byron K. Orton wrote that he was aware of situations where employees remained at their work stations, soiling themselves, even vomiting, because they were told if they left they would be fired. "Any way you slice it, that is wrong," Orton wrote. Orton said that Iowa OSHA, which he heads, will now interpret the employer's obligation to provide toilet facilities to also mean allowing employees to use the facilities. "Any other interpretation would not only defeat the intended purpose of the OSHA standard, it would clearly fly in the face of reasonableness and common sense," Orton wrote.
I work at a place with assembly lines and I can assure you that our business has not suffered because we allow our employees to use the restroom at their own discretion. To try to regulate bodily functions is ridiculous and demeaning. If you treat your employees like children, they're going to have the work quality of children. And it's not like the potential abuses (employees hanging out in the restroom to avoid work) couldn't be avoided through other means (like the line leader keeping track of who comes and goes). I think the world will survive if Jim Beam produces a few less bottles of booze because they allow their employees to pee when they need to.
Can you guys teach me and drapg how to be ready to pee at a certain time, and at that time only? Since y'all are so much more evolved to able to pee only when someone tells you that you can, I'd like to be able to do so as well. I'd prefer the times of 9:37am, 2:19pm, 7:22pm, and 11:02pm. Thanks.
What do you do when you go to the doctor for a physical and they need you to pee in a cup? How do you fit that into your urinating schedule? Do you say "sorry, Doc, I can't go, guess we'll have to try this again tomorrow"? Or what about a drug test? Should they be scheduled only when people have to pee? Is it wrong for them to set a time for such a thing?
When I go to the doctor to get a physical, I know that I'll have to be giving a urine sample, so I wait. That's only one time a year (if you're up to date), not that big a deal. I've only had one drug test in my life, so I probably can't comment on that.
well, i drink a lot of water, which the doctor ALWAYS provides, and wait about 5-10 minutes... because i urinate often, i can easily provide a sample. the question should be how do all of the people (many of whom seem to populate this BBS) who drink a lot of liquids, yet only urinate sparsely, provide urine samples for physicals and drug tests.
So the choice is: 1. The smoker takes a 10-15 minute break every hour, thus resulting in around an hour to an hour and a half every day that a smoker works less than a non-smoker....adding up to about 5 hours a week that they work less than me, yet we get the same salary because HR wouldn't dare differentiate between the hours a smoker and a non-smoker work. OR 2. Let them smoke inside and slowly kill me with their cigarette stink. Doesn't seem fair. Allthough, I guess when the smoker is about 60 and has been smoking all his/her life and has horrible emphesyma and is afraid to go to sleep because their lungs might fill up with fluid in the middle of the night and suffocate them...or they are stuck with an oxygen machine on their nose and they don't have enough energy to get out of the recliner...or they get lung cancer and die a slow, horrible, and painful death...or they figure out that they would have plenty of money for retirement if they hadn't spent thousands on cigaretts every year...I guess that's when it balances out for taking time off of work for a smoke break... BTW...all you smokers, after you come back from smoking from outside and you smell like cigarettes and sweat from being outside in the humidity....yeah...you guys stink to high heaven...it sucks for us a little, but it really sucks for you because all the non-smokes make fun of how much you stink behind your back...
Since everyone here seems to vary so widely, I wondered what exactly normal urination frequency is. Here's Dr. Andrew Weil's take on it: An average adult urinates about five or six times a day, and a typical urination is about 300 ml, so almost two one-liter bottles daily is the normal output. By middle age it is not uncommon for both men and women to get up once at night to urinate. If you are urinating more often than this, (a condition called "frequency"), it is usually due to one of two things: either increased urine flow out (which means the body is making more urine than normal) or a decreased bladder capacity (which means the bladder holds less urine than normal). Several things can prompt the body to make more urine than normal -- especially drinking alcohol and caffeine or taking diuretic drugs. Urinating frequently can also be a sign of diabetes, but more often it is simply the result of drinking a lot of fluids. Decreased bladder capacity, on the other hand, is almost always due to an irritation. The biggest offender here is caffeinated beverages, especially coffee, which is a notorious bladder irritant, particularly in women. Switching to decaf is not a solution, because it still contains other irritating components of the coffee bean. Bladder infections also cause frequent trips to the restroom. They usually announce themselves by causing burning, painful urination. Drinking more rather than less water is generally a good idea here, as it will help dilute irritating factors in the urine. Believe it or not, anxiety can also cause urinary frequency by affecting the nerves that control the bladder. I've known many medical students to urinate twice an hour or more while doing last-minute studying for exams. Utilizing some form of relaxation therapy may be helpful if this is the problem. Many women experience alteration of bladder function as a result of childbirth. Stress incontinence is one common symptom -- that is, the leakage or urine with sneezing, coughing or exercise. Increased urinary frequency may also develop. Interesting to note how widely it can vary due to age, gender, child-bearing history, dietary habits and stress levels. It seems the best solution would be to treat adults like adults and let them decide when they need to use restrooms.
