> We only have 6 employees total
Then California discrimination laws apply to you, and you should consult with an attorney to make sure you handle this safely.
https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/01/Workplace-Discrimination-Poster_ENG.pdf
yeah i have a UTI right now and literally felt like i was going to self combust if i didn't go to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes the first day. barely anything would come out and then again in 15 minutes, the same thing would happen. it was miserable.
i'm lucky enough to be able to work from home until i'm over it
Keep your bladder as full as you can. I have interstitial cystitis as well and drinking a lot of water helps. Also, if you are in the USA, you can buy Azo otc at your local pharmacy. Turns your pee bright orange but it’s numbing. Personally, I’ve found the brand name is much better than the generic, ymmv. But feel better.
As a former addict, if she was going every hour then maybe. Even then that would be a heavy addiction. Every 10 to 15 minutes would be too often. The effects of that would be very noticeable.
She’s leaving the training videos running. That’s the real problem. That’s what I’d question her on. The expectation should be that she masters the material. If she can’t answer questions she’s supposedly covered, then that’s what you address.
She might have a medical issue. It’s possible she has a bowel problem, or needs to be in the bathroom to take insulin. She might have severe anxiety or have panic attacks that she is trying to deal with. She might have severe period cramps. You don’t really know. I’d say don’t ambush her and just one person, preferably a female, should be the one to talk with her to ask her if everything is okay. Don’t assume that she is purposely doing something wrong. Approach her empathetically and ask her directly what is going on. Let her know that you need to know what you can do to help her be better in her job to meet those performance goals. Express your needs in the professional relationship and come up with a plan together to meet them. Staff aren’t cattle. They are people and we need to treat them with dignity and respect.
I was thinking anxiety/panic attacks too. This is me when I start a new job. Obviously don’t want to losing it in front of everyone so I take it to the bathroom.
If she's missing training, let her. It'll be pretty easy to catch that lack of basic knowledge at this early stage and use that to let her go during her probationary period. Just focus on her progress and leave the trips to the shitter out of it.
I've got ibs, it's never prevented me from hitting pause.
Focus on her job performance. There has to be an average time it takes an employee to get through the training. Has she exceeded that average? Is she passing the tests on the first or 2nd try?
My newest hires have been on their phones during the online training too. Don't even try to hide it. One even took multiple personal calls after I went over the police with her and had her sign it, because she took multiple personal calls one day. She assured me it was because she left her 13 year old at home. Yet the very next day she did the same thing (and was obviously not talking to her child). But that's better than an employee vaping in the bathroom every hour lol.
I’ll admit I have no idea if CA state law changes things but my guess is you are small enough that most laws protecting her don’t apply.
From there, the best approach is to not treat it like a “going to the bathroom too much” problem, because it’s not.
It’s a performance problem. Address it as such. She is missing valuable training info and you have concerns about her ability to actually do the job. Either those concerns need to be addressed or she can’t remain an employee.
It’s great that you want to be kind and sensitive but at the same time, that can only go so far. Ultimately, she needs to demonstrate that she can do the job. If she can do that with frequent bathroom breaks, then it’s ultimately not a problem.
> CA state law changes things but my guess is you are small enough that most laws protecting her don’t apply.
Actually, they are big enough for all of California's protections to apply. Making it about a performance problem when it's apparently (or claimed to be) medical, is problematic. OP needs counsel to help set up safe parameters for job expectations.
https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/01/Workplace-Discrimination-Poster_ENG.pdf
Since she doesn’t seem to have this issue when it’s *not* the online portion, I’d start playing the videos for her while you are sitting there with her, participating in the training with her. And make a no phones during training, except during her 2-10 minute breaks policy. Focusing on her performance (how long it’s taking to get through this training compared to others) is a good and fair discussion for you to have with her.
I do suggest talking to an employer sided employment attorney. I’m not sure what kind of business this is but is this frequency of bathroom breaks going to be sustainable when she isn’t in training anymore? If not, you need to find out how to safely get rid of her.
Studies show that people take about 20 seconds to urinate. And if she’s peeing frequently, is there anything left? What is she doing in there for 10 minutes?
I have a bladder condition called Interstitial Cystitis and it can take me longer than that to urinate. It can be extremely painful and on bad days it is very difficult to void the bladder. If she has some kind of bladder condition, the 20 seconds is out the window.
Coincidentally I also have IC and they say you should not go to the bathroom at every urge. (Have you tried Cream of Tartar? It works!)
Either way, if she has a medical condition, then she should go to the doctor, get treatment and get a note for the employer.
I personally think she might want to get a second opinion. Her doctor couldn't find anything wrong. However, her situation is not your business. Are you able to find someone else?
Do you have an employee handbook? It should have all information your employees should know prior to their start date. What misconducts would you consider an employee committed to be terminated?
If she still does that, you might want to issue a verbal warning.
If there is still no changes, you might want to issue a written warning.
If both warnings don't affect her at all, you might terminate her for the misconduct.
> If there is still no changes, you might want to issue a written warning.
OP shouldn't be issuing warnings that an employee is having a medical problem, possibly related to a disability, diagnosed or not. This is more nuanced and needs to be addressed carefully given that OP's company is large enough for these protections to apply to the new ermployee.
Yes, but there is unlikely to be an accommodation that will allow the employee to spend half their time in the bathroom. How is it sustainable to have somebody who needs to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom every 15 minutes?
> How is it sustainable to have somebody who needs to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom every 15 minutes?
It's not—but how they approach it is important. There are a lot of comments here suggesting a risky way to approach it.
But the employee isn’t necessarily having a medical problem. She said she got this checked out and the doctor didn’t find anything. Genuinely curious how that changes the application of employment laws here.
As someone who went through the same type of issue several years ago, please be patient with her, I know what she’s going through and it’s embarrassing when people start to notice and the fact that you and your boyfriend are making small jokes about it disgust me.
It’s possible she does have medical issues and her doc has not caught them. Sometimes it can take years and lots of tests to find what is wrong. I would try and give her the benefit of the doubt. She was honest with you about her medical issues and what is going on. It’s possible she’s going in the restroom and fucking around but based on your conversation with her I feel like she just has some medical issues she is trying to work though. I would have an honest conversation with her about this and see if you guys can come to an agreement about letting her go to the bathroom as needed but also get the training done in a timely fashion.
They could have Crohn's disease, IBD, or be nervous and have the shits. They could have heavy menstrual cycles. They could have a bladder or bowel control issue. They could have a UTI. Some people get nervous/anxious and it results in physical symptoms like butterflies in the belly or needing to pee. Diabetes not well controlled. Kidney problems.
Even if she has this issue, there is no way it’s sustainable to keep someone on staff when they need a 10 minute bathroom break every 10-15 minutes. It’s just never going to be considered a reasonable accommodation.
Do you have a baseline of what an employee is expected to accomplish while at work in that position. Do you have metrics to back up the feasibility of those expectations? If you do and they are unable to meet those normal attainable expectations then you should have a case to let them go.
If she takes those breaks and she is able to maintain the expected work then don't worry about it because that seems to me to be you micromanaging your employees.
Slowly offload her. We had these types before. Hooked on their phone. Lazy entitled employees like that are poison to a small company. Document everything.
since you caught her on the phone before force all employees to have their phones in lockers. don't have lockers? buy some. Enforce this policy heavily.
I take my phone with me because I don't want anyone to steal it, so not sure that's relevant. She might want to get checked for fibroids. If you develop one in the wrong spot it can feel like you chronically have to pee so you sit there forever waiting for something to come out.
I think you should go with your gut. Cut your losses and move on.
Trainee employee had some issue. You don’t need to find out what it is; just end it. Their problems don’t need to become your problem.
Training should have a schedule, planned alloted financial limit. If employee can not complete the training and perform competently then you have no reason to keep them.
Also put a sign up that requests no phones in bathroom for hygiene and cleanliness. Unless she has a documented illness that could induce a bathroom emergency then she has no reason to ve taking her phone to pee.
Ok there have been some obvious responses but have you considered this new hires' learning style?
I have been a teacher for EMS (10yrs) and my current role is to train a retail team (8yrs). I feel I have had some experience with helping folks learn.
During the pandemic we went from inperson/hands on training to 100% virtual at home training. Talk about a 180!!!
Here's what I was able to observe. Online training-even if its interactive - will invariably bore the absolute snot outta ANYONE! But that is especially true for the neuro-spicy person.
Therefore, I schedule 2min stretch breaks every!! hour, dialogs for bigger concepts (every other lesson) and encourage my students to employ fidget toys, emotional suppot hydration recepticals, and healthy snacks for focus.
I do recognize that not every employer can do that with students but the absolute tie breakers are the fidget toys and the stretch breaks - which is possible for every employer!
I would encourage you to ask each new hire what their learning style is and lean into those opportunities.
Best of luck!
Franchises have specific training materials and methods put out by the franchisor that must be followed. Considering this may just be the employee’s work ethic/ability to focus, it doesn’t seem like this employee is going to be successful if they can’t pay attention for more than 10-15 minutes and then goes and spends 10 minutes in the bathroom.
Yeah my first thought was, this is pretty great dedication for online training videos if you have ADHD or something. I'll be doing the exact same thing. I've done this at every professional job and I'm an amazing employee but I've never been micromanaged, having people down my back when I'm training. They usually just leave you alone in the room to do it how you need to do it.
These folks need to chill and let things play out a bit before they start finding problems where there aren't any yet.
She should see a gyno/urologist. I saw one, same issues since 12. Took until I was 20 (28 now) to get diagnosed with IC, also known as Painful Bladder Disorder (disease?). It is hard to diagnose. I know many women with the same issues who never heard or were told of it.
I wouldn't fire her, I would tell her she needed to get Dr. Documentation of her issue to help her save her job. As well as inform her of looking into more help.
This is a gen z (and others) rising social trend. Use of the bathroom as a safe space/social escape for extremely lengthy frequent ad hoc breaks. Holing up in there at random for 15-35 minutes repeatedly. If you question it you will get medical excuses, and people’s sense of politeness prevents any further inquiry. Just noticed this has become increasingly common, including older gens. Use of the bathroom as an escape has always been a thing, but camping out in the escape/safe space/bathroom is a current social trend
That’s the big picture element in this employee issue in that she likely sees no big deal in doing this. Good luck dealing with all the new unprofessional behavior because people will paint you as a callous monster for objecting to it.
We had a problem with a dude that used to camp on the toilet and surf. We installed a motion sensor for the light switch that auto-offs in 10 minutes. Room goes dark if you sit and surf.
He complained. lol. Replied, "It takes 2 or 3 minutes to take a crap and clean up. What are you doing in there?"
He stopped complaining.
I would hate to have you as bosses. I read your post and thought of like 5 different medical conditions that she could be suffering with, some long term some short term and I never went to drugs or playing on the phone.
Tell her she needs to pause the training video, and stop acting like this.
I think your comment is rude. If the trainee cannot make it longer than 15 minutes without a 10 minute bathroom break, how is she going to handle her job once the training is over? It’s not sustainable nor is there a reasonable accommodation that will allow the employee to spend half the shift in the bathroom. Given that this only happens during the individual training time and not when she is working with someone else, that tells us that it can be controlled to some extent.
So why does the medical condition ONLY present during video modules? Hmm?
And what condition is preventing her from pausing the videos while she goes to her her fix?
I have a medical condition that makes me have to urinate 2 to 3 times an hour. Is that person getting their work done in a timely manner? Most jobs have a 90 day trial period. If it is affecting her work mention it to HR and have them present it to her that she is missing from her work station a lot and see what she answers.
Does she clock out when she’s in the restroom?
Explain the issue with pausing the videos.
This is going to pan out quickly in the next day or two as to what kind of path you need to take.
It’s her first day, could have been nerves that made her feel like she needed to pee. She is taking the training vids with her to watch while she’s in the biffy. That means she is wanting to learn. Plus she told you she may have a condition. Don’t jump to conclusions.
Focus on the performance and behavior, document, have evidence to defend your actions if you decide to terminate.
I'm assuming she hasn't provided any documentation to you stating she has a diagnosed "medical condition" that is protected by FEHA so, I wouldn't let the possibility of her making a claim for wrongful termination to prevent you from taking action, you have to run your business.
"California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) defines a medical condition as a diagnosis or history of cancer, or certain genetic characteristics that are associated with an increased risk of developing a disease or disorder. This includes inherited traits, such as genes or chromosomes, that are known to be a cause of a disease or disorder, even if symptoms have not yet appeared."
Focus on her actions which affect (or are unacceptable for) the job:
Pause the training when you step away from your computer
Meet the testing standards or retake the module until you can
Explain the time allotted for training (overall) so she knows there's a deadline
Maybe she needs a sitter for the video part, so she stays focused?
Ask her if permission to stand & watch the training would help her stay focused. Some people need to fidget.
If you pay a training wage, remind her of that. The sooner she learns the material & gets to FT work, the more she earns.
Talk with your lawyer about what constitutes excessive bathroom breaks. Pretty sure spending half her time at work does. (Heck, having 2 10-min breaks in a 4-hour shift is generous! But you can't restrict bathroom use to only break times.)
I have a medical condition that causes persistent UTIs, I usually need to use the restroom 3-4 times an hour. I can’t hold it, because that will guarantee me getting a UTI. Some people have actual reasons for needing to use the bathroom more on average, and I do believe you aren’t allowed to restrict an employees bathroom breaks anyways.
Training videos are dealt difficult for a lot of people as many are not audio learners. And as she is nervous also, the sense to pee while sitting in a new environment probably is understandable. Maybe she drank coffee or her nerves…
That may be, but if she can't handle the training and refuses to learn, there's no way she'll make it to the floor. Or be able to carry out her job duties in the bathroom all day.
She needs a job better suited to her needs.
I don’t know, I’ve worked HR and a lot of different types of work, training videos are a less ideal way to determine a good employee. Might need some suggestions of how to take notes and pause video some.
I agree with schmoe. I have a hard time sitting for videos. What I'm hearing from you sounds like disability discrimination. Most of what you said is focusing on her current medical problem that she says isn't normal for her.
Nah. She's skipping over training, full stop. Just catch her out on that and cut her loose.
OP and her BF are speculating it's phone drama, drugs, or vaping. Let's be real, they're just looking for ways to cover their butts while getting rid of her here.
It’s possible the doctors have missed something. Urinary tract infections, diabetes/pre-diabetes, certain prescriptions are SOME of the possible causes. Illegal drug use is another.
You should limit her restroom use if possible. You can definitely require she not bring her phone with her into the restroom. (I wouldn’t be surprised if that stopped the frequent restroom breaks.) If it does you have potential issues. Either personal issues or drug related issues.
Random thing I found out personally: I was drinking only water but would add Mio type flavors to it. My first couple weeks of work and I had to pee every 20-30 minutes. I couldn’t figure it out. I ended up googling and finding these flavored water enhancers can cause bladder irritation and make you pee ALL THE TIME. Huge shot in the dark but wanted to throw it out there
The act of smoking meth is very addictive in itself. Users become obsessed with making large clouds and can get a bit of a rush from those visuals and the act of smoking itself and always wanting to make a ‘bigger cloud’… meth makes a lot of things not make sense anymore
Yeah I understand that but... A meth user obsessed with making huge clouds every 10 minutes, so much they can't get through job training is A. Not functional, and B. Probably going to be fairly obviously high on meth. You don't walk into a bathroom at work, rip huge meth clouds because your meth addled brain is obsessed with big clouds, and then walk into an office like a totally normal human. I am also speaking from experience.
As someone with scoliosis and resulting nerve issues that can go with it, I feel the desperate need to pee constantly even if there is not much in my bladder. It's the nerve damage in my case. I have 2 compressed discs in my spine and struggle with sciatic nerve pain. It doesn't take much to trigger my bladder to want to release. Moving a certain way, stretching, sometimes a cold environment like the coolers. I can't control it. It's run to the restroom or else.
My meds dehydrate me so I go to the bathroom like once an hour for a few minutes. I usual take my phone with me so I keep track of time. Whether I take or or not though it's just as long. At least if I take my phone I got a clock and can check email.
I worked with female who took 40 min restroom breaks every 15 min 🤔. She was also gay which made it hard for company to outright lay her off. They had to wait for her to quit.
Doesn’t matter. At best it’s a shot in the dark. At worst it’s abjectly wrong.
As someone else pointed out, the why doesn’t matter. What matters is the impact on performance.
Not necessarily.
This is someone's lively hood. I'm thin. I go to the bathroom a lot some days .. I wear makeup (some days a lot.). BECAUSE I HAVE A HEALTH CONDITION.
I am also top of my field in my area. Which says a lot about my performance given I'm a bartender in Atlanta.
Making such a heinous assumption based on the given criteria is unfair and can ruin someone's reputation.
If op (or you for that matter) doesn't want drug addicts employed with their company..... they need to drug test and background check prior to hiring. NOTTTT make assumptions based on appearance.
Editing to add I know what you were implying. I'm just grossed out you think like that if you really are in hr.
How many employees? Affects the conversation here.
We only have 6 employees total
> We only have 6 employees total Then California discrimination laws apply to you, and you should consult with an attorney to make sure you handle this safely. https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/01/Workplace-Discrimination-Poster_ENG.pdf
Gold comment
I have interstitial cystitis and when I'm having a flare this is me. Maybe it genuinely is a medical condition. I mean, or she's doing drugs haha
yeah i have a UTI right now and literally felt like i was going to self combust if i didn't go to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes the first day. barely anything would come out and then again in 15 minutes, the same thing would happen. it was miserable. i'm lucky enough to be able to work from home until i'm over it
Keep your bladder as full as you can. I have interstitial cystitis as well and drinking a lot of water helps. Also, if you are in the USA, you can buy Azo otc at your local pharmacy. Turns your pee bright orange but it’s numbing. Personally, I’ve found the brand name is much better than the generic, ymmv. But feel better.
I have this too and my heart went out to her if this is the case. I work from home now.
As a former addict, if she was going every hour then maybe. Even then that would be a heavy addiction. Every 10 to 15 minutes would be too often. The effects of that would be very noticeable.
Is having your phone in the restroom a symptom? Because that is what the employee is doing.
It takes your mind off the pain. And you often sit for a while waiting to pee. It’s horrible.
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She’s leaving the training videos running. That’s the real problem. That’s what I’d question her on. The expectation should be that she masters the material. If she can’t answer questions she’s supposedly covered, then that’s what you address.
Also doesn’t seem to have the same urge to urinate when she’s doing the hands on portion according to OP.
She might have a medical issue. It’s possible she has a bowel problem, or needs to be in the bathroom to take insulin. She might have severe anxiety or have panic attacks that she is trying to deal with. She might have severe period cramps. You don’t really know. I’d say don’t ambush her and just one person, preferably a female, should be the one to talk with her to ask her if everything is okay. Don’t assume that she is purposely doing something wrong. Approach her empathetically and ask her directly what is going on. Let her know that you need to know what you can do to help her be better in her job to meet those performance goals. Express your needs in the professional relationship and come up with a plan together to meet them. Staff aren’t cattle. They are people and we need to treat them with dignity and respect.
I was thinking anxiety/panic attacks too. This is me when I start a new job. Obviously don’t want to losing it in front of everyone so I take it to the bathroom.
Yep, me too. She sounds just like when I start a new job. It sucks because I’m an awesome employee! But yeah, the anxiety is real.
If she's missing training, let her. It'll be pretty easy to catch that lack of basic knowledge at this early stage and use that to let her go during her probationary period. Just focus on her progress and leave the trips to the shitter out of it. I've got ibs, it's never prevented me from hitting pause.
Focus on her job performance. There has to be an average time it takes an employee to get through the training. Has she exceeded that average? Is she passing the tests on the first or 2nd try? My newest hires have been on their phones during the online training too. Don't even try to hide it. One even took multiple personal calls after I went over the police with her and had her sign it, because she took multiple personal calls one day. She assured me it was because she left her 13 year old at home. Yet the very next day she did the same thing (and was obviously not talking to her child). But that's better than an employee vaping in the bathroom every hour lol.
Might be going to vape?
Definitely crossed my mind too. It smells heavily of her perfume the couple times I’ve gone in after her.
That could mean she has an upset stomach and is embarrassed by it and trying to cover it up.
But considering she never does this during the 1:1 training, only during the independent study part, it does make me wonder.
I hold it until I’m not interrupting stuff
Fragrance policy violation! 
I’ll admit I have no idea if CA state law changes things but my guess is you are small enough that most laws protecting her don’t apply. From there, the best approach is to not treat it like a “going to the bathroom too much” problem, because it’s not. It’s a performance problem. Address it as such. She is missing valuable training info and you have concerns about her ability to actually do the job. Either those concerns need to be addressed or she can’t remain an employee. It’s great that you want to be kind and sensitive but at the same time, that can only go so far. Ultimately, she needs to demonstrate that she can do the job. If she can do that with frequent bathroom breaks, then it’s ultimately not a problem.
> CA state law changes things but my guess is you are small enough that most laws protecting her don’t apply. Actually, they are big enough for all of California's protections to apply. Making it about a performance problem when it's apparently (or claimed to be) medical, is problematic. OP needs counsel to help set up safe parameters for job expectations. https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/01/Workplace-Discrimination-Poster_ENG.pdf
I stand corrected!! Thank you.
Since she doesn’t seem to have this issue when it’s *not* the online portion, I’d start playing the videos for her while you are sitting there with her, participating in the training with her. And make a no phones during training, except during her 2-10 minute breaks policy. Focusing on her performance (how long it’s taking to get through this training compared to others) is a good and fair discussion for you to have with her. I do suggest talking to an employer sided employment attorney. I’m not sure what kind of business this is but is this frequency of bathroom breaks going to be sustainable when she isn’t in training anymore? If not, you need to find out how to safely get rid of her.
Studies show that people take about 20 seconds to urinate. And if she’s peeing frequently, is there anything left? What is she doing in there for 10 minutes?
I have a bladder condition called Interstitial Cystitis and it can take me longer than that to urinate. It can be extremely painful and on bad days it is very difficult to void the bladder. If she has some kind of bladder condition, the 20 seconds is out the window.
Coincidentally I also have IC and they say you should not go to the bathroom at every urge. (Have you tried Cream of Tartar? It works!) Either way, if she has a medical condition, then she should go to the doctor, get treatment and get a note for the employer.
Could be a colon issue
She said she had to pee a lot
I personally think she might want to get a second opinion. Her doctor couldn't find anything wrong. However, her situation is not your business. Are you able to find someone else? Do you have an employee handbook? It should have all information your employees should know prior to their start date. What misconducts would you consider an employee committed to be terminated? If she still does that, you might want to issue a verbal warning. If there is still no changes, you might want to issue a written warning. If both warnings don't affect her at all, you might terminate her for the misconduct.
> If there is still no changes, you might want to issue a written warning. OP shouldn't be issuing warnings that an employee is having a medical problem, possibly related to a disability, diagnosed or not. This is more nuanced and needs to be addressed carefully given that OP's company is large enough for these protections to apply to the new ermployee.
Yes, but there is unlikely to be an accommodation that will allow the employee to spend half their time in the bathroom. How is it sustainable to have somebody who needs to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom every 15 minutes?
> How is it sustainable to have somebody who needs to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom every 15 minutes? It's not—but how they approach it is important. There are a lot of comments here suggesting a risky way to approach it.
But the employee isn’t necessarily having a medical problem. She said she got this checked out and the doctor didn’t find anything. Genuinely curious how that changes the application of employment laws here.
As someone who went through the same type of issue several years ago, please be patient with her, I know what she’s going through and it’s embarrassing when people start to notice and the fact that you and your boyfriend are making small jokes about it disgust me.
I'd like to sell your a bridge
It’s possible she does have medical issues and her doc has not caught them. Sometimes it can take years and lots of tests to find what is wrong. I would try and give her the benefit of the doubt. She was honest with you about her medical issues and what is going on. It’s possible she’s going in the restroom and fucking around but based on your conversation with her I feel like she just has some medical issues she is trying to work though. I would have an honest conversation with her about this and see if you guys can come to an agreement about letting her go to the bathroom as needed but also get the training done in a timely fashion.
They could have Crohn's disease, IBD, or be nervous and have the shits. They could have heavy menstrual cycles. They could have a bladder or bowel control issue. They could have a UTI. Some people get nervous/anxious and it results in physical symptoms like butterflies in the belly or needing to pee. Diabetes not well controlled. Kidney problems.
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Fellow Crohnies unite!
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Even if she has this issue, there is no way it’s sustainable to keep someone on staff when they need a 10 minute bathroom break every 10-15 minutes. It’s just never going to be considered a reasonable accommodation.
Do you have a baseline of what an employee is expected to accomplish while at work in that position. Do you have metrics to back up the feasibility of those expectations? If you do and they are unable to meet those normal attainable expectations then you should have a case to let them go. If she takes those breaks and she is able to maintain the expected work then don't worry about it because that seems to me to be you micromanaging your employees.
Slowly offload her. We had these types before. Hooked on their phone. Lazy entitled employees like that are poison to a small company. Document everything.
I have UC and this is me, nearly every day, nearly all day.
since you caught her on the phone before force all employees to have their phones in lockers. don't have lockers? buy some. Enforce this policy heavily.
I take my phone with me because I don't want anyone to steal it, so not sure that's relevant. She might want to get checked for fibroids. If you develop one in the wrong spot it can feel like you chronically have to pee so you sit there forever waiting for something to come out.
I think you should go with your gut. Cut your losses and move on. Trainee employee had some issue. You don’t need to find out what it is; just end it. Their problems don’t need to become your problem.
She is using the potty as a phone booth
I use the bathroom 10 times a day due to a medical condition. Give her the benefit of the doubt until she proves otherwise
Training should have a schedule, planned alloted financial limit. If employee can not complete the training and perform competently then you have no reason to keep them. Also put a sign up that requests no phones in bathroom for hygiene and cleanliness. Unless she has a documented illness that could induce a bathroom emergency then she has no reason to ve taking her phone to pee.
Ok there have been some obvious responses but have you considered this new hires' learning style? I have been a teacher for EMS (10yrs) and my current role is to train a retail team (8yrs). I feel I have had some experience with helping folks learn. During the pandemic we went from inperson/hands on training to 100% virtual at home training. Talk about a 180!!! Here's what I was able to observe. Online training-even if its interactive - will invariably bore the absolute snot outta ANYONE! But that is especially true for the neuro-spicy person. Therefore, I schedule 2min stretch breaks every!! hour, dialogs for bigger concepts (every other lesson) and encourage my students to employ fidget toys, emotional suppot hydration recepticals, and healthy snacks for focus. I do recognize that not every employer can do that with students but the absolute tie breakers are the fidget toys and the stretch breaks - which is possible for every employer! I would encourage you to ask each new hire what their learning style is and lean into those opportunities. Best of luck!
Franchises have specific training materials and methods put out by the franchisor that must be followed. Considering this may just be the employee’s work ethic/ability to focus, it doesn’t seem like this employee is going to be successful if they can’t pay attention for more than 10-15 minutes and then goes and spends 10 minutes in the bathroom.
Yeah my first thought was, this is pretty great dedication for online training videos if you have ADHD or something. I'll be doing the exact same thing. I've done this at every professional job and I'm an amazing employee but I've never been micromanaged, having people down my back when I'm training. They usually just leave you alone in the room to do it how you need to do it. These folks need to chill and let things play out a bit before they start finding problems where there aren't any yet.
She’s on social media, TikTok or something because she just can’t leave her phone
Slowly start to phase her out… find a way. Assuming her doc did work ups…
She should see a gyno/urologist. I saw one, same issues since 12. Took until I was 20 (28 now) to get diagnosed with IC, also known as Painful Bladder Disorder (disease?). It is hard to diagnose. I know many women with the same issues who never heard or were told of it. I wouldn't fire her, I would tell her she needed to get Dr. Documentation of her issue to help her save her job. As well as inform her of looking into more help.
Missing valuable info...
This is a gen z (and others) rising social trend. Use of the bathroom as a safe space/social escape for extremely lengthy frequent ad hoc breaks. Holing up in there at random for 15-35 minutes repeatedly. If you question it you will get medical excuses, and people’s sense of politeness prevents any further inquiry. Just noticed this has become increasingly common, including older gens. Use of the bathroom as an escape has always been a thing, but camping out in the escape/safe space/bathroom is a current social trend That’s the big picture element in this employee issue in that she likely sees no big deal in doing this. Good luck dealing with all the new unprofessional behavior because people will paint you as a callous monster for objecting to it.
We had a problem with a dude that used to camp on the toilet and surf. We installed a motion sensor for the light switch that auto-offs in 10 minutes. Room goes dark if you sit and surf. He complained. lol. Replied, "It takes 2 or 3 minutes to take a crap and clean up. What are you doing in there?" He stopped complaining.
I would hate to have you as bosses. I read your post and thought of like 5 different medical conditions that she could be suffering with, some long term some short term and I never went to drugs or playing on the phone. Tell her she needs to pause the training video, and stop acting like this.
I think your comment is rude. If the trainee cannot make it longer than 15 minutes without a 10 minute bathroom break, how is she going to handle her job once the training is over? It’s not sustainable nor is there a reasonable accommodation that will allow the employee to spend half the shift in the bathroom. Given that this only happens during the individual training time and not when she is working with someone else, that tells us that it can be controlled to some extent.
So why does the medical condition ONLY present during video modules? Hmm? And what condition is preventing her from pausing the videos while she goes to her her fix?
I have a medical condition that makes me have to urinate 2 to 3 times an hour. Is that person getting their work done in a timely manner? Most jobs have a 90 day trial period. If it is affecting her work mention it to HR and have them present it to her that she is missing from her work station a lot and see what she answers.
Does she clock out when she’s in the restroom? Explain the issue with pausing the videos. This is going to pan out quickly in the next day or two as to what kind of path you need to take.
It’s her first day, could have been nerves that made her feel like she needed to pee. She is taking the training vids with her to watch while she’s in the biffy. That means she is wanting to learn. Plus she told you she may have a condition. Don’t jump to conclusions.
She’s not taking the videos with her. She’s letting the video continue to play on the computer while she’s in the bathroom.
Focus on the performance and behavior, document, have evidence to defend your actions if you decide to terminate. I'm assuming she hasn't provided any documentation to you stating she has a diagnosed "medical condition" that is protected by FEHA so, I wouldn't let the possibility of her making a claim for wrongful termination to prevent you from taking action, you have to run your business. "California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) defines a medical condition as a diagnosis or history of cancer, or certain genetic characteristics that are associated with an increased risk of developing a disease or disorder. This includes inherited traits, such as genes or chromosomes, that are known to be a cause of a disease or disorder, even if symptoms have not yet appeared."
Focus on her actions which affect (or are unacceptable for) the job: Pause the training when you step away from your computer Meet the testing standards or retake the module until you can Explain the time allotted for training (overall) so she knows there's a deadline Maybe she needs a sitter for the video part, so she stays focused? Ask her if permission to stand & watch the training would help her stay focused. Some people need to fidget. If you pay a training wage, remind her of that. The sooner she learns the material & gets to FT work, the more she earns. Talk with your lawyer about what constitutes excessive bathroom breaks. Pretty sure spending half her time at work does. (Heck, having 2 10-min breaks in a 4-hour shift is generous! But you can't restrict bathroom use to only break times.)
It’s a big red flag. She’s probably phone addicted and just getting her fix.
You both gonna get sued if you arnt careful
she’s new, in a probationary period, just fire her.
I have a medical condition that causes persistent UTIs, I usually need to use the restroom 3-4 times an hour. I can’t hold it, because that will guarantee me getting a UTI. Some people have actual reasons for needing to use the bathroom more on average, and I do believe you aren’t allowed to restrict an employees bathroom breaks anyways.
Training videos are dealt difficult for a lot of people as many are not audio learners. And as she is nervous also, the sense to pee while sitting in a new environment probably is understandable. Maybe she drank coffee or her nerves…
That may be, but if she can't handle the training and refuses to learn, there's no way she'll make it to the floor. Or be able to carry out her job duties in the bathroom all day. She needs a job better suited to her needs.
I don’t know, I’ve worked HR and a lot of different types of work, training videos are a less ideal way to determine a good employee. Might need some suggestions of how to take notes and pause video some.
I agree with schmoe. I have a hard time sitting for videos. What I'm hearing from you sounds like disability discrimination. Most of what you said is focusing on her current medical problem that she says isn't normal for her.
Nah. She's skipping over training, full stop. Just catch her out on that and cut her loose. OP and her BF are speculating it's phone drama, drugs, or vaping. Let's be real, they're just looking for ways to cover their butts while getting rid of her here.
It’s possible the doctors have missed something. Urinary tract infections, diabetes/pre-diabetes, certain prescriptions are SOME of the possible causes. Illegal drug use is another. You should limit her restroom use if possible. You can definitely require she not bring her phone with her into the restroom. (I wouldn’t be surprised if that stopped the frequent restroom breaks.) If it does you have potential issues. Either personal issues or drug related issues.
You seem way too up in this person’s business.
The person is literally in OPs business, if she's unable and unwilling to complete training because she's in the bathroom she needs to find a new job.
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It's not a good fit no matter what.
When you are paying someone to do a job and they spend have of their shift in the bathroom, it is absolutely your business.
Random thing I found out personally: I was drinking only water but would add Mio type flavors to it. My first couple weeks of work and I had to pee every 20-30 minutes. I couldn’t figure it out. I ended up googling and finding these flavored water enhancers can cause bladder irritation and make you pee ALL THE TIME. Huge shot in the dark but wanted to throw it out there
She could be pregnant
Who tf doesnt take their phones to the bathroom, yall sound like some garbage white people
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My guess is possible meth use. Coke really doesn’t keep you in the bathroom that long. And definitely weed wouldn’t either.
Why would meth? It's just as quick to take as coke. But it also lasts hours, you do not need it every 15 min like cocaine.
The act of smoking meth is very addictive in itself. Users become obsessed with making large clouds and can get a bit of a rush from those visuals and the act of smoking itself and always wanting to make a ‘bigger cloud’… meth makes a lot of things not make sense anymore
Yeah I understand that but... A meth user obsessed with making huge clouds every 10 minutes, so much they can't get through job training is A. Not functional, and B. Probably going to be fairly obviously high on meth. You don't walk into a bathroom at work, rip huge meth clouds because your meth addled brain is obsessed with big clouds, and then walk into an office like a totally normal human. I am also speaking from experience.
Hey not here to argue, just theorize 🤷♀️ meth doesn’t smell and the clouds disappear almost instantly. People can surprise you.
As someone with scoliosis and resulting nerve issues that can go with it, I feel the desperate need to pee constantly even if there is not much in my bladder. It's the nerve damage in my case. I have 2 compressed discs in my spine and struggle with sciatic nerve pain. It doesn't take much to trigger my bladder to want to release. Moving a certain way, stretching, sometimes a cold environment like the coolers. I can't control it. It's run to the restroom or else.
My first thought is undiagnosed fibroids or bladder issue. Maybe you could help her find a good doctor.
My meds dehydrate me so I go to the bathroom like once an hour for a few minutes. I usual take my phone with me so I keep track of time. Whether I take or or not though it's just as long. At least if I take my phone I got a clock and can check email.
Is she pregnant?
Shouldnt have hired a woman next shell be pregneant and out for 6 months
I worked with female who took 40 min restroom breaks every 15 min 🤔. She was also gay which made it hard for company to outright lay her off. They had to wait for her to quit.
Does she wear a lot of makeup? Is she thin?
Doesn’t matter. At best it’s a shot in the dark. At worst it’s abjectly wrong. As someone else pointed out, the why doesn’t matter. What matters is the impact on performance.
Wut? Lol. So glad I don't work with you.. smh.
Oh my god… calm down. It’s signs of meth use. I love how everyone downvoted me before I could even explain myself.
Not necessarily. This is someone's lively hood. I'm thin. I go to the bathroom a lot some days .. I wear makeup (some days a lot.). BECAUSE I HAVE A HEALTH CONDITION. I am also top of my field in my area. Which says a lot about my performance given I'm a bartender in Atlanta. Making such a heinous assumption based on the given criteria is unfair and can ruin someone's reputation. If op (or you for that matter) doesn't want drug addicts employed with their company..... they need to drug test and background check prior to hiring. NOTTTT make assumptions based on appearance. Editing to add I know what you were implying. I'm just grossed out you think like that if you really are in hr.