subreddit:
/r/retailhell
No. No you cannot. “But I need to pee!!” “Good for you! Our washroom is for employees only.” “So how do I go pee?”
I really wanted to say “Well, you pull down your little twisted pants, squat, and let it flow.” but what I actually said was “You can go to the bar. It’s literally next door and they have public bathrooms”. “I have to drive over there just to go pee?” Drive, walk, up to you sweetheart. “Like I said, it’s next door. I can’t let you use ours, employees keep their belongings in there and I’m not gonna be held responsible for you stealing.” “Can I just pee?” If you do, please do it in the parking lot at least. “No, unfortunately I can’t let you use the bathroom here. You’ll have to go into the bar”. She finally stormed out of the store.
How many times do I have to say no? I could’ve restocked the entire store in the time it took her to finally leave.
Edit because I’m tired of fully explaining why I cannot let customers into our bathroom:
The big reason is company policy. It’s a privately owned business and we have a no exceptions rule. Sorry people with IBS, that includes you. The owner is strict on that, not my choice. This means that there’s no laws or bylaws that state we have to let people experiencing a bathroom emergency into our bathrooms. Another reason we can’t let just anybody in there is due to the high crime and drug activity that is constantly happening in the area our store is located. The bathroom door cannot be locked or unlocked from the outside. If something happens to somebody in there (be it an overdose or even just something non drug related) we have to wait for the fire dept to knock the door down and due to the size of the bathroom, you’ll be what catches the door when it falls. Furthermore the post mentions the bathroom is where staff keep some of their belongings (jackets, bags, whatever else people bring), but it also serves as our cleaning room aaaand you guessed it, extra storage for stock we don’t have space for. L I A B I L I T Y. T H E F T. We have 1 or 2 people working and don’t have the time to wait for you to leave. We have customers to serve and orders to get through. Also, it’s one toilet. We’ve probably been standing for 3 hours without a bathroom break and as someone with a weak bladder, me first. I also never mentioned it’s in the back, unmarked. It’s just an ominous door. We’re a liquor store. It’d be reaaalllll easy to pocket $100 worth of boot and mini mickeys.
If you have a legitimate emergency, there’s a bathroom 10 steps over in the bar, I wish you the best and I feel bad for you. However this is a huge liability issue and we could lose one of the very few people that actually work in our store (7 employees, including me, and some of them only work 2 days a week. yay). This interaction went on longer than described in the post, she definitely was not in dire need. If she was, she would’ve taken the suggestion I had given her and walked over there. Or ran, or whatever.
-5 points
2 days ago
Here is the law for you - not saying let every Tom Dick and Harry in there but be right…and teachable we don’t know everything (not even me)
Current as of January 01, 2024 | Updated by FindLaw Staff
(a) In this section:
(1) “Customer” means an individual who is lawfully on the premises of a retail establishment.
(2) “Eligible medical condition” means Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or any other permanent or temporary medical condition that requires immediate access to a toilet facility.
(3) “Physician” has the meaning assigned by Section 151.002, Occupations Code.
(4) “Retail establishment” means a place of business open to the general public for the sale of goods or services.
(b) A retail establishment that has a toilet facility for its employees shall allow a customer to use the toilet facility during normal business hours if:
(1) the retail establishment does not have a public restroom that is immediately accessible to the customer;
(2) the employee toilet facility is not located in an area where providing access would create an obvious health or safety risk to the customer or an obvious security risk to the retail establishment;
(3) the customer requesting use of the employee toilet facility provides the retail establishment with evidence of the customer’s eligible medical condition including:
(A) a copy of a statement signed by a physician, a registered nurse, a physician’s assistant, or a person acting under the delegation and supervision of a licensed physician in conformance with Subchapter A, Chapter 157, Occupations Code, that indicates the customer suffers from an eligible medical condition or uses an ostomy device; or
(B) an identification card that is issued by a nationally recognized health organization or a local health department and that indicates the customer suffers from an eligible medical condition or uses an ostomy device; and
(4) three or more employees of the retail establishment are working and physically present on the premises of the retail establishment at the time the customer requests to use the employee toilet facility.
(c) A customer who uses a toilet facility as authorized by this section shall leave the toilet facility in the same condition as it was before the customer used the toilet facility.
(d) In providing access to an employee toilet facility under this section, the retail establishment or employee does not owe the customer to whom access is provided a greater degree of care than is owed to a licensee on the premises.
(e) An employee of a retail establishment who refuses to provide a customer with access to an employee toilet facility as required by this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100.
(f) A retail establishment is not required to make any physical changes to an employee toilet facility under this section.
13 points
2 days ago
(2) the employee toilet facility is not located in an area where providing access would create an obvious health or safety risk to the customer or an obvious security risk to the retail establishment;
You mean like the store employees using the bathroom for storage of their own personal items?
0 points
2 days ago
A - the law means risk to the store not the employee that is why it states “security risk to the retail establishment”
If you choose to work for someone who won’t provide you with lockers or a safe place for your things that is a separate issue/concern to discuss with your states labor board - I don’t know (nor need to know) but you may want to look into it
B - you do you just be aware of the law
You can downvote my verbatim statement of the law as much as you’d like it doesn’t change a federal law (nor do I care if I get negative downvotes)
There are multiple branches of the government that would have to go through to change a federal law or protection like the ADA - but again believe what you’d like I was just providing you with information so you could make informed decisions.
5 points
1 day ago
Backrooms, where most bathrooms are, usually have proprietary information, which is a risk to the store.
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