Asking permission to go to the rest room

[Bright Star]

When I worked at Wally World as a cashier years ago, the cashiers had to get permission from the CSM if they needed a bathroom break. So if it was busy & it took a while for them to get to you then you had to hold it, no matter what, or face the consequences!

One time I felt sick to my stomach & had to run to the bathroom & throw up. I got yelled at for doing that! I was told that in the future that if I felt the need to throw up then I was to turn on my light & wait for a CSM! So when I pointed out that if that were to happen & if I had to wait then more than likely I'd throw up all over the registers & surrounding area, I was looked at as if I had lost my mind.

Expecting a cashier to "hold it in" while waiting for a CSM to let you go doesn't make sense. You can only hold it for so long before your body says "the hell with this, I'm letting loose NOW!!!" When u gotta go then u gotta go. I'm a grown person & I'll go when I need to go. Shoudn't need to go if you really need to go. Just go!!

The store won't stop making money cause a cashier goes to the bathroom & waiting a few more minutes isn't going to make a customer suddenly explode with impatience-more so than they already are.

I used to tell a long line of people that I had to go & I'd be back in a few. I didn't care if they got pissed or not. When most people need to go, it gets hard to concentrate on the task at hand.

Just once I'd like to hear about a cashier that was forced to wait & either pissed or shit on the floor while on the register. That would go over like gang busters...lol.

[Boozy]

Grown adults should never be required to ask permission to relieve themselves.

If a company doesn't feel they can trust their own employees to regulate their own bladders and be truthful about when they do and do not need to go, then they have hired the wrong people. Treating employees like children only serves to drive away those employees that are mature and responsible.

[Mr Slugger]

Kinda of why I didn't like ringing register back in the day. Not that they wouldn't let you go mind you, because if you had to go you had to. (Their was always two people floating around the front to jump in your register if they had to) I was more the fact that you had to announce that you were going pee. And for me being a floor worker to be last resort cashier you didn't really plan pee breaks, because on the floor you just go when you need to, and if they called you right before you needed to you were in trouble.

But I would say if someone told you that you had to hold it until they were ready I think they need to have people who have a set to come up to the their register with a pee bottle.

[joe hx]

Doesn't your store sell depends? just kidding...

As far as having to ask... Well, in some situations you need to let your supervisor or coworkers know that you'll be back in a minute. Workers just disappearing is never a good thing. Really, though, I don't think you need to ask permission.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Giving your coworkers a heads up that they need to cover for you for a few moments is not the same thing as a grown ass adult having to ask permission to go to the bathroom.

Boozy's right, if a company is hiring useless people, they need to rethink their hiring practices, not treat their adult employees like toddlers.

[guywithashovel]

I spent five years working at Wal-Mart, and most of the time, the management at my store wasn't this bad. Towards the end of my tenure there, we acquired a few managers who liked to laud themselves over people. However, I don't think any of them ever went as far as requiring us to ask permission to use the bathroom. Even when I was a cashier, they didn't mind if you left your register momentarily to use the rest room. The only times I ever remember them talking to anyone about doing this was when people did it and forgot to turn off their register lights. In these cases, customers were lining up at their registers when they (the cashiers) weren't there to wait on them. However, in this case, I think this was mostly the customers being dense.

I started working when I was eighteen years old, and I have maintained pretty steady employment ever since (I've had a few short gaps between jobs). Throughout that time, I have learned that it's best for management to keep a "hands-off" approach. By that, I mean that it's best to stand back and let people do their jobs and only intervene when it's necessary.

[jackfaire]

I worked in a call center that wanted to decrease people's need for bodily functions. Rather than dabbling in genetic engineering they decided first any need to step away from your desk came out of your break time this would suck as the bathroom was on the other side of a very large office and you could burn up most of a break getting there and back. (also breaks weren't allowed at your desk and again the breakroom was far away)

Then they started the ask permission thing I actually laughed in their faces when they proposed that one. Especially when it turned out it was the supervisor's ideas and not some BS from Corporate.

[MaggieTheCat]

The call center I used to work in used to require this. They used to make an agent put their phone on hold after a call and stand up at their station (without actually leaving their station) and wait until a supervisor came over and approved the bathroom break. This could sometimes take several long minutes, for if a supervisor was taking an escalated call or helping another agent with an issue...who knows when they'd be free. And if the call queue was too long, supervisors had the "right" to tell the agent to take more calls before going to the bathroom.

Fortunately, they wised up and changed the policy while I was working there. As of when I left the company, agents could go to the bathroom anytime they needed to, they just needed to leave a sign with their station number at the supervisor's desk. This was so that in case there was an emergency (like a tornado) and we had to do a head count, we could account for everyone who was supposed to be in the building.

To the OP, your managers must be pretty thick to think that anyone who is feeling like they need to throw up can hold it. I've been down that path plenty of times; if you need to go, you need to go, and if you can make it to the bathroom or even a waste paper basket, you're doing good.

[jackfaire]

if you need to go, you need to go, and if you can make it to the bathroom or even a waste paper basket, you're doing good.

Visions of Van Wilder dance in my head.

[Kimmik]

See there are always those that abuse the system. On the floor you have a little more leeway but as a cashier with lines it is a bit harder. Due to the fact of if you just walk off then you are unaccounted for. And lets be honest who doesn't know someone that likes/ed to milk the clock.

Now you punch in a code to alert the CSM that you need a bathroom break and it is not much of a problem. Or in my case being pregnant I would explain to the customer that I would be right back after I finished the customer I was on... I would make my light flash and dash for the rest room... dang baby tap dancing on my bladder. But other wise I think that it is a fair shake to require a heads up when you need to leave your station. After all that is what breaks and lunches are for.

Sometimes you just have to go.. but sadly they have to have us "ask" for permission due to a few bad apples.

[Boozy]

Sometimes you just have to go.. but sadly they have to have us "ask" for permission due to a few bad apples.

I don't like the "few bad apples" argument in cases like this. Telling a grown adult that they need to ask permission to use to washroom creates an unprofessional environment. The company becomes a day care, the employees children, and the supervisors babysitters.

Companies concerned about lost productivity due to abuse of bathroom-breaks have the option to seek out the bad apples and fire them. But for the most part they need to treat their employees professionally if they want to hire and keep good, mature people.

[elsporko]

Depending on the job its neccasary to let people know you have to go to make sure things are covered. You shouldn't be denied but you should have enough controll over your bladder to wait a few minutes to go. If you can't then you are drinking way too much while working or something.

[guywithashovel]

To some extent, I can sympathize with the "few bad apples" argument. However, why can't they just punish those bad apples and leave us good apples alone? I'm not trying to be snarky, but that's the side I tend to lean towards. I have worked in environments where management lauds themselves over the workers. It's like they're always there, always coming down on you for something (almost always something petty), always making up contrary rules and procedures (and then changing them and getting mad at people for not realizing they've been changed). That creates a very unhappy work environment, which isn't conducive to good customer service.

[Rageaholic]

I don't like the "few bad apples" argument in cases like this. Telling a grown adult that they need to ask permission to use to washroom creates an unprofessional environment. The company becomes a day care, the employees children, and the supervisors babysitters.

Companies concerned about lost productivity due to abuse of bathroom-breaks have the option to seek out the bad apples and fire them. But for the most part they need to treat their employees professionally if they want to hire and keep good, mature people.

Yeah, I HATE that arguement. People are going to "abuse the system" no matter what. Should we get rid of welfare because some people abuse it? We should never punish everyone for the misdeads of a few.

I have very strong feelings on basic needs like going to the bathroom. It should never be denied. Yes, a simple reminder is nice, but none of that bull shit like waiting for a supervisors approval. That's just STUPID.

[elsporko]

To some extent, I can sympathize with the "few bad apples" argument. However, why can't they just punish those bad apples and leave us good apples alone? I'm not trying to be snarky, but that's the side I tend to lean towards. I have worked in environments where management lauds themselves over the workers. It's like they're always there, always coming down on you for something (almost always something petty), always making up contrary rules and procedures (and then changing them and getting mad at people for not realizing they've been changed). That creates a very unhappy work environment, which isn't conducive to good customer service.

Sometimes its alot easier to address all the apples instead of weeding out the good and bad ones, and good ones who turned bad, and bad ones that turned good and good ones that are feeling bad at the moment.