NEW YORK—Explaining that any absence must be arranged ahead of time by following proper company protocol as listed in the employee handbook, Ada Simmons, HR manager at Hadley Systematics, sent an email Monday reminding staff that a doctor’s note was required to use the bathroom. “We gently remind all staff that in the event you need to visit the restroom, please make sure to have your physician fill out a form in advance verifying that the time off work is medically necessary,” read the email, which observed that these steps were very important to keep staff from abusing their very generous bathroom break allowance. “We also must keep track of how employees are using their bathroom breaks, so staff should select the correct PTO reason code in the payroll system to specify whether their medical bathroom leave is urinary or fecal. Without a doctor’s note, we will unfortunately be unable to honor the employee’s request to relieve their bowels and/or bladder, and they will have to find an alternative after office hours.” The email added that if the employee needed to use the bathroom for more than three consecutive office minutes on a regular basis, they would need to meet with their manager to discuss possible accommodations such as moving their workstation to a toilet stall to help maintain their productivity.
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