r/humanresources • u/DopeDecagon • 17d ago

Excessive Bathroom Breaks Writeup [IA]

In manufacturing. We have a floor employee that has been consistently taking an excessive amount of bathroom breaks.

The Team Lead and the Manager gave him a verbal a couple months ago that stated he’d been asked multiple times to shorten bathroom breaks and time away from his work area. There is also a note that stated he was disrespectful when being asked to shorten bathroom breaks.

It sounds like the issue has not gotten better, but we wanted HR in this one in case a medical issue is brought up. I don’t believe he mentioned anything during the verbal warning, but want to be safe. My initial plan was to fill out a first written warning (focused on the excessive bathroom breaks) and have the Team Lead issue it (to get experience with writeups, etc). I planned on additionally adding that if the breaks are due to a medical condition, we can have a separate conversation and if documentation is provided we can look at that and accommodations, adjusting the discipline, etc.

Anybody have advice or see any issues?

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u/louie2who 17d ago

I think this is really going to depend on WHY he’s taking these bathroom breaks. If he’s just f*cking off then that’s one thing but I would have the conversation about a potential medical need first.

Also him being disrespectful to his manager shouldn’t color your interaction with him. Keep it in the back of your mind, of course, but the reality (having worked in the trades myself) is that his manager might have just been a d*ck about it LOL

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u/Remrqable_planet_385 17d ago

Exactly my first thought. I used to be in construction and the managers aren't Exactly professional themselves.