Kaines West Michigan, is my neighbor, they live right across the street.  For a manufacturing business of their size, they have been a great neighbor.  But I recently was told by a credible source that they have done something unthinkable.  They have restricted their employee's the right to reasonably use the bathroom, which allegedly has been passed down by owner Les Kaines, pictured below, receiving the 2013 Business of the Year from the local chamber.

Undoubtedly, their latest bathroom policy wasn't enacted to make their employees anal retentive, but to increase efficiency.  The new policy states that if they want to use the bathroom, they need to contact the person in charge of the key and exchange their cell phone for that key.  Management apparently wanted to cut down on workers taking bathroom breaks just to use their smartphone to check out the latest on the Ludington Torch, or update their bathroom-selfies on Facebook, wasting company time either way.

So the rationale behind the policy change is understandable in the employer's eyes, but the policy doesn't appear to be well thought out.  According to my credible sources, the bathrooms remain locked during universal breaks and during lunch, when the apparent goal of the new policy would not apply.  When everybody is off on these breaks, it can be the only time they seek relief, particularly if they have a good work ethic in the first place, and use the breaks to use the bathroom.

But what happens when the bathroom-key-keeper goes offsite during lunch hour to take their break, as what reportedly has happened today?  And what about the inefficiency in the first place of having this person use a fair portion of his time swapping phones with bathroom keys, and having to be readily locatable by somebody wanting to take the Browns to the Superbowl?

Workers of Ludington, you have the basic human right to go bathroom while at work.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Agency states that all employees must be provided with toilet facilities.  A memorandum on behalf of OSHA in 1998 stated that workers could only be restricted access to a bathroom if it was reasonable at the given time.  

OSHA has ruled that where a worker has reasonably waited to visit a bathroom, or where an additional worker is not available, for replacement, in the worker's absence, then the worker is entitled to use the restroom or else the employer will be in breach of their fiduciary duties to the employee.  That happens when the key-keeper fails to be available at all times.

In the limited precedent on this topic, Zwiebel v. Plastipak, 2013, The court held "While there is a clear public policy in favor of allowing employees access to workplace restrooms, it does not support the proposition that employees may leave their tasks or stations at any time without responsibly making sure that production is not jeopardized. In recognition of an employer’s legitimate interest in avoiding disruptions, there is also a clear public policy in favor of allowing reasonable restrictions on employees’ access to the restrooms."

Is this a reasonable restriction Kaines is employing, or is it a load of crap, where you wind up with a breakroom of employees who just ate lunch and have nowhere to go?   

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I have heard of local places of employment who restrict their employees access to their cell phones. Either you lock them in your locker or in your auto. Violation of this rule is subject to dismissal.

There are other alternatives.

Available are detector's that will alert you if someone is either using or carrying a cell phone. They are common to correctional facilities and the military.

Kaines could use these devices to detect when someone is using the bathroom as their private phone booth on company time. 

While costly Kaines could install detectors that would notify them when someone is entering the restroom with a cell phone.  And if someone did smuggle one in, their are other devises that could alert them when someone inside is using one. And still other devices that would  locate the contraband phone.

Employees could try sneaking in a burner phone and flushing it on the way out but that would get expensive after awhile.

As a public service you could restrict publishing your efforts until either lunch time or when the shift ends.

And to make it easier for the time strapped employees to find your updates at lunch time, as a you could rename the Torch and Pitchfork as either #1 or #2. 

(This in no way reflects shinblind's opinion of either the Torch or the Pitchfork and should not be construed  as such.)

(The above disclaimer was on the advise of shinblind's legal council.)

We aim at the Ludington Torch to represent the blood, sweat and tears of the community, but sometimes our aim is off and we just represent other body fluids-- and our bad aim only makes it a worse mess.  

I'm waiting on an update, but in the meantime I suggest that employees at Kaines carry a spare phone to work and exchange those when you need to go, and spend a little extra time in the crapper as a protest.  If the keyholder isn't around, I would suggest walking a couple of blocks over to the police station/city hall and adding to the excrement load there.  Let them know about the problem and leave the bathroom messy.  They may help solve the problem quickly.

Funny shinblind. I think this is a no win situation for Kaines. Before phones how many people took magazines or newspapers to the throne. I've been doing that since I was a kid starting with comic books. I would be more concerned with people texting while working. Let it go Kaines. This is a no win situation, like employers who refused to hire any tattooed smeared people. There are so many people plastered with tattoos now that it's almost impossible to hire someone with clear skin. 

I remember when MISCO - Howmet  don't know what it is called now in  Whitehall took restroom the doors off the stalls , both men and womens  because people were sleeping or reading instead of working. The union protested , the doors were replaced and toilet monitors , a supervisor of a close department would keep tabs on the offenders. That only lasted a short time. 

This is a touchy and hard situation to comment on. I think the employees may be getting a bit of a harsh deal. But, some people think going often to the bathroom at work and wasting 20+ minutes in there every visit is okay, and it's just not. If anyone is that sick, or just wasting time, they should be fired. Foremen and supervisors should be taking notes on this during the shift, and reporting it to the Personnel Dept. if it get's to be habitual. I don't know if this was a recent or new policy, but, if reported to the State, if may end soon, or have to be altered. I don't believe anyone working by the hour needs their cell on and working all day, and if I see that myself, and it's not an emergency situation, I don't employ them anymore. I think this situation should be investigated more when any individual is interviewed, to see how they respond.

Update: the locks are gone.  

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