14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently, companies in Norway have a very severe toilet regime, with some bosses using the most ridiculous methods to keep a tab on employees’ time spent in the restroom, a new survey suggests.
The Daily Mail reports a new survey was conducted with several major companies into the “tyrannical” toilet rules in place, at the demand of one workers’ union.
The results were a bit disheartening because they confirmed the worst fears: some bosses would go to extreme lengths to limit the time their employees spend away from the desk, thus presumably boosting their productivity.
According to the tab, about 66 percent of the managers included in the survey have chosen a very simple (and old) method of control: having employees ask for a key card to get access into the restroom.
Moreover, in one of three companies, there was video surveillance in the toilets, while other companies opted for a so-called “visitors book,” that ever user of the restroom must sign before giving way to the call of nature.
“But the most extreme action was taken by one manager who made women having their period wear a red bracelet to justify more frequent trips to the loo,” the report by the Parat union also found, as per the Mail.
“Women quite justifiably feel humiliated by being tagged in this way, so that all their colleagues are aware of this intimate detail of their private life,” the report further said.
The name of the company and of the manager imposing such a degrading role have not been made public to the press but, as a consequence of the above-mentioned report, the case has been passed on to Norway’s chief commissioner ombudsman Bjorn Erik Thon.
According to Thon, this is not a new problem, since they’ve been receiving complaints about this kind of monitoring for quite some time. However, measures against companies who practice it will be taken.
“Toilet Codes relating to menstrual cycles are clear violations of privacy and is very insulting to the people concerned. I hope and believe that this is not representative of the Norwegian working life in general,” Thon says.
“We receive many complaints about monitoring in the workplace, which is becoming a growing problem as it is so often being used for something other than what it was originally intended for,” Thon adds.