Restroom Breaks

Taking restroom breaks is important for health, but some employers unlawfully deny workers this right. There are specific laws setting up standards and guidelines for allowance of breaks, including taking a restroom break. These laws also govern the effect of breaks on employees’ work hours, wages, and other related issues. You could be losing income in small amounts if your employer violates the law on rest breaks. These small amounts can add up to a big figure over time.

Your work environment can also become intolerable if your employer denies you a legitimate restroom break. You should seek the services of a skilled labor attorney if your employer violates your rights as an employee regarding restroom or bathroom breaks or another issue.

At Stop Unpaid Wages, we represent employees facing employment-related issues in California. We strive to protect employees’ rights and ensure that employers do not take advantage of them.

Rules Regarding Break Laws At The Workplace In California

Most laws covering restroom breaks are general rules that apply to all workplace break times. You have a right to a break every 3.5 hours. According to California law, an employee is entitled to a ten-minute break every 3.5 hours of work.

The break laws were enacted to ensure an employee’s mind and body remain fresh during a work period. This is also vital for the employee’s safety and health. High-stress working hours can have a serious effect on you both in the short-term and long-term. Breaking laws is part of California’s overall safety and employee rights legislation.

Employers must give their employees reasonable breaks because they enhance productivity during work time. On the other hand, most employers claim that most employees waste a lot of time in the lunchroom or bathroom or outside chatting and smoking all day, every day. However, under workplace break times laws, the time abuse by some employees should not be the reason to deny others a legitimate break.

California is among the states that have the most reasonable “break laws” system in the United States. However, there are still some restrictions. Any break that does not exceed 20 minutes is not supposed to be deducted from the worker’s time and wages. If it is deducted, overtime pay can be affected in some situations, and the employer could face serious consequences. On the other hand, breaks that exceed 20 minutes can be subtracted from the employee’s time. Meal breaks must be at least 30 minutes, while rest breaks often take ten minutes.

Understanding California’s Restroom Laws

There are specific restroom laws apart from the general rights to breaks. You are entitled to a reasonable number of restroom breaks and sufficient periods while working as required. “Reasonable” restroom access is required by law, but the exact duration depends on circumstances. Typically, restroom breaks last a few minutes and cannot be unreasonably restricted.

Going to the restroom cannot be restricted only to your regular rest or meal breaks. It is a labor law violation for employers to only allow their employees to go to the restrooms during regular rest breaks. Under the law, both male and female employees are entitled to separate restrooms.

It is an offense for the employer to deduct the employees' minutes used to go for restroom breaks from the other breaks or from their work time. Your employer cannot claim that you only have a five-minute break after taking five minutes to go to the restroom.

However, some employees can spend an unreasonable time in the restroom or take an unreasonable number of restroom breaks. If you do this, your employer has the right to stop you. The employer also has the right to order you to stop if your restroom breaks are too frequent and long. Restroom breaks are intended for on-site use, and employees should remain within workplace premises. You can also not extend the end of another break by claiming that it's time to go at the tail end.

However, if you have a health issue that requires you to use a restroom frequently or for longer, including pregnant mothers, your employer should accommodate this situation. You can wait for your colleague to go to the restroom and return before you go in the following cases:

In job positions where your job involves assembly lines
If your job involves interacting with clients directly, and

This will prevent a situation where workers go to the restroom at the same time whenever they wish. Employees with medical issues should be allowed to go first.

A Violation Of Your Restroom Rights

Employers have different reasons why they violate break laws, including:

Avoiding having to keep up with all those pesky rules
Boosting productivity
Saving money

You can suffer if your employer ignores restroom break laws. Wage theft is a common crime for which you can file a lawsuit regarding a restroom break. Your employer can force you to clock out and in for breaks that do not exceed 20 minutes, even for using the restroom. An employer can also withhold from you monies that lawfully belong to you. Some employers also shorten employees' total work hours per week. This can affect overtime pay or even the determination of whether you are considered a full-time or part-time employee. As a result, this can affect your eligibility for certain benefits.

You are entitled to all lost benefits and back pay under the policies set by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. You are also eligible for a full hour of extra pay for every workday at the time you were not offered the requisite break time. For some workers, this can be equivalent to hundreds of hours.

It is a serious offense for your employer to limit your restroom breaks. Your employer can face charges for discouraging you from reasonably using the restroom during a workday. However, you could be liable if you abuse this privilege and make your employer step in and impose restrictions. You can file a complaint with OSHA if your employer imposes unreasonable restrictions. OSHA will carry out investigations, and your employer could face a fine and be ordered to pay you for the outstanding restroom breaks if guilty.

It is also a crime for your employer to deny you a restroom break if you have a health issue or disability. Some workers must drink extra water to stay healthily hydrated, and this results in more restroom breaks. Employers can only accommodate these medical issues through restroom breaks. However, you must inform your employer if you have any medical condition. Your employer will, in turn, let your supervisor know. Opening up on this issue is important even if it appears embarrassing. You cannot file a case for lack of special accommodations if you have never given your employer a chance to adhere to your unique restroom needs because the employer was unaware of your situation.

What You Should Do When Your Employer Violates Your Restroom Rights

You can take legal action against your employer if you believe the employer has violated your rights as an employee regarding taking restroom breaks or other related issues. You should, however, talk to your employer or supervisor and let them know of the issue. Give the employer ample time to address the situation. You can reach out to a skilled attorney or OSHA for help if this strategy fails.

Breaking your restroom rights can translate into other classes of offenses. For example, it can amount to being underpaid for your work hours. You are entitled to extra pay for days wherein bathroom and other breaks were denied. The law also allows you to pursue extra pay for the correction of all negative effects this could have had on your benefits and wages.

You have a right to pursue back pay if your employer deducted from your wages or denied overtime pay because of restroom breaks or any break that does not exceed 20 minutes. Under the law, you can also claim an hour's pay for each day you were denied. This constitutes:

A ten-minute rest break every four hours
A meal break that does not exceed 30 minutes at least every five hours worked, and
All necessary restroom breaks of five to ten minutes each

You are also entitled not just overtime but double time if you worked for a period that exceeds 12 hours in one day. Similarly, the law permits you to pursue payment if you worked over eight hours on the seventh consecutive day on the job in one week.

You are entitled to pay for each eight-hour shift during the period you were denied your breaks. The law allows you to pursue two extra hours of ‘’penalty pay’’if your employer denied you both meal breaks and rest breaks during the same shift. If, during the same time, your employer forced you to clock out and in again to use the restroom, these minutes should also be factored in.

OSHA can come in if your employer:

Denied you the lawful restroom breaks
The premise had no functional men's and women's restrooms, or
The employer committed other flagrant crimes against workers’ rights or worker health and safety protections

A fine can vary significantly in amount, and it is also not automatic. However, an employer can face a higher fine if a repeat offender shows no sign of correcting the problem.

Restrictions On Restroom Use

Employers are not supposed to impose restrictions on restroom use, and workers should avoid wasting time when taking restroom breaks. An employee can take a restroom break depending on factors, like air temperature, fluid intake, medical conditions, and medications. The conditions that require regular restroom use include hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, abdominal pain, constipation, urinary tract infections, and pregnancy.

The frequency of accessing the restroom varies significantly from one person to another. There is no federal standard for the number of restroom breaks you should take. The purpose of the sanitation standard is to ensure that employers provide workers with sanitary and enough restrooms. This ensures that workers do not suffer adverse health effects that can arise if restrooms are not available when needed.

Doctors reveal that regular urination is important, with women needing it more regularly than men. Serious health issues that can result from voluntary urinary retention include increased frequency of urinary tract infections (UTIs). This can cause more severe infections and renal damage in rare situations. Delayed defecation can also cause health problems like hemorrhoids, diverticuli, abdominal pain, and constipation. OSHA’s field sanitation standards for agriculture require that employers provide farmworkers with restrooms located not more than a quarter mile from work.

Restroom break laws do not apply to mobile employees or to areas that are often unattended. However, transportation must be available to the nearby restrooms. The purpose of this is to provide the mobile crew with protection equivalent to the employees working at fixed locations.

Workers With Temporary Illness

A worker suffering from temporary illness, like infections or digestive issues, requires frequent restroom breaks. A company should be flexible and understanding in these situations. Temporary health conditions can affect the employee’s need for breaks. Companies should adopt supportive strategies, allowing extra breaks as required. An employer should not punish an employee for taking the necessary time to manage a medical condition.

Workers Experiencing Stress or Mental Health Issues

Mental health issues can also affect an employee’s need for breaks. An employee experiencing significant stress or mental health issues can benefit from extra break times. Companies should be sensitive about these cases and offer support through flexible policies and access to mental health resources.

Restroom Facility Requirements

OSHA demands that all restrooms must have the following:

Individual paper or cloth hand towels, air blowers, or clean individual sections of continuous cloth toweling
Hand soap or another cleansing agent
Cold and hot running water or tepid running water

Air blowers and hand towels must be placed at an accessible point within the restroom or somewhere nearby. OSHA standards also dictate the minimum number of bathrooms that employers or companies must provide. The restrooms should be provided depending on the number of workers as follows:

A company with one to 15 employees should provide one restroom
A company with 16 to 35 employees should provide two restrooms
A company with 36 to 55 employees should provide three restrooms
A company with 56 to 80 employees should provide four restrooms
A company with 81 to 110 employees should provide five restrooms
A company with 111 to 150 employees should provide six restrooms

Restroom Access For Transgender

Workers should be allowed to use the restrooms that match their gender identity. Men should use men's restrooms, while women should use women's restrooms. A worker should be given the freedom to choose the safest and most convenient restroom to use.

Companies should provide separate restrooms for men and women. Employers should also provide additional restroom options for employees, like:

Gender-neutral restrooms with lockable stalls
Multiple-occupancy restrooms, and
Single-occupancy restrooms

Workplace restroom policies must consider transgender employees. It is an offense to ask an employee to provide medical or legal documents to use the restroom that he/she finds appropriate. The law also prohibits employers from creating segregative restrooms because of the gender identity or transgender status of an employee. An employer can be legally held accountable for this violation. The Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibit discrimination based on an employee’s sexual orientation.

Proving That Your Employer Denied You A Restroom Break

Sometimes, your employer can fail to leave a record of violations of restroom break and wage laws on your paycheck. Therefore, these violations can be challenging to prove. However, failing to give all the details like hours worked, the rate per hour, and all the deductions on your pay stub is in itself a violation of your rights. It is also an offense if your employer provides misleading information on your pay stub. Your employer could face fines that increase with each subsequent offense.

The law prohibits employers from erasing the information from the time clock to prevent OSHA investigators from carrying out their investigations. This will be an additional and severe crime because it will be considered a cover-up.

Fortunately, you are likely not the only worker having your rights regarding restroom and other breaks violated. If two or three of you provide evidence of what has been happening, your lawsuit will be much stronger. An experienced labor attorney can also help you gather relevant evidence. Attorneys also know how to identify any violations of OSHA laws and state laws that have negatively impacted you.

Examples Of Recent Restroom Break Lawsuits In California

There have been several serious lawsuits filed in recent years over restroom break violations by employers and related issues. For example, in June 2019, a Teamsters case was filed with the NLRB against an employer for improperly punishing 19 workers. The employer claimed that the workers used the restroom excessively. The employer also decided to put rules on restroom break time. Employees were only supposed to take a restroom break for 30 minutes per week or only six minutes per day. The company also developed gift card reward programs to discourage employees from using the restroom at all. An ID tracker was placed at the restrooms so that an employee swipes a card while going in. Phones were prohibited in the restrooms and at the workplace. The employer observed other break laws and permitted the employees to access the restroom without swiping a card during rest breaks. The court is yet to make a ruling on this case, but some of these rules are illegal.

A cashier in Fairfax, California, in yet another restroom break case, was on cancer treatment. The employee had a dry mouth and was required to take a lot of fluids. A water bottle had to be constantly around, and the cashier had to take three or four restroom breaks during one shift. The manager observed this arrangement to accommodate the medical condition of the worker. Unfortunately, a new manager took over who did not understand the cashier’s situation and denied the employee her extra restroom breaks. There was a communication breakdown because the outgoing manager did not inform the incoming manager. The cashier was unable to control her bladder while working in front of the clients and was humiliated. In regard to restroom breaks, the judge established that the cashier’s rights were violated. This was a violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

The Reasons Why Restroom Break Laws Are Violated

You can experience violations of your rights in modern California and the U.S. workforce. Many laws and rules protect the rights of employees, but most employers overlook them. Some employers fail to observe these laws because of intense competition between industries and the pressure put on them by taxes. To most employers, denying employees break time could be an easy way to achieve greater productivity.

On the other hand, some employees abuse break time. Most employers use this as an excuse to deny employees who are not doing anything wrong their legitimate and legal breaks.

Typically, the workers are overworked and get exhausted if restroom and meal breaks are cut off. However, this can attract fines, penalties, and back pay requirements from the employer.

Find a Dependable Employment Attorney Near Me

All non-exempt employees in California have a legal right to take reasonable restroom breaks when necessary. These breaks are separate from the mandatory 10-minute rest breaks. Employers should not deny employees time to use the restroom or track the time spent in the restroom and deduct it from an employee’s pay. It is also mandatory for employers to provide accessible and separate restrooms for males and females. An employer should not make an employee clock out when going to use the restroom.

If you feel that your employer is violating your restroom break, contact an attorney. An attorney will evaluate your situation and determine if you have a valid case against the employer. In most cases, employers deny employees restroom breaks to maximize productivity and profits, but this is illegal. If you need guidance and representation in pursuing denied restroom breaks, contact our attorneys at Stop Unpaid Wages. Call us at 424-781-8411 to speak to one of our attorneys.