Human Resource Blog

HR Issue — Paying for Employee Restrooms???

What is the human resource issue related to employee wages decrease because they have to pay to use the bathroom at their workplace?

This is one of the most unique questions that has been posted on the site so far. It would be fascinating if you would post a more detailed question, including the state, for a more specific answer.

It’s not clear from the question if the employer has toilets with coin-operated stalls similar to those found in some airports, that the workers must use. Or, if the employer is making a deduction from the employee’s salary for toilet use or for damages to an employee toilet.  Or, the employer might simply put a coffee can outside the toilet and require each employee to drop 50 cents into it before entering the restroom. None of these tactics is recommended by our HR experts.

Without understanding all the circumstances, it’s almost impossible to give a definitive answer. But, here are some issues that this situation raises

Minimum Wage and Illegal Deductions

The federal minimum wage law, the Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA, prohibits most deductions that would reduce a workers salary below the minimum wage. The FLSA applies to companies (and individual employees) engaged in interstate commerce, as well as those with annual revenue over $500,000.

Both state and federal law set limits on the deductions that an employer may legally make from an employee’s paycheck.

For smaller companies, some state minimum wage laws permit employers to make deductions to the employee’s paycheck for damages, uniforms, and the like that would result in the employee being paid less than the state minimum wage. Other states do not permit this.

OSHA

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that employers furnish restrooms, and that employees be permitted to use them. It’s highly doubtful whether requiring employees to pay for the toilet qualifies as “furnishes” in this case. It also raises an issue of restroom accessibility. For a coin-operated toilet stall, what if the employee comes to work without any cash, or without any change? He or she would be unable to use the restroom, which would likely be an OSHA violation.

More than 20 states have their own worker safety organization instead of OSHA, but by law their standards must be at least as strict as OSHA’s.

Damages 

If the employer is trying to charge workers for damages to the employee restrooms, that raises another issue. In a few states, this might be legal if the employer knows for a fact that the worker did the damage. However, to look at another scenario, suppose there is $500 damage to the employee restroom. The employer doesn’t know which worker did it, so she charges 10 employees each $50. This would probably not be legal, because it penalizes 9 employees who did nothing wrong.

Restroom Breaks

It’s possible that this question refers to an employer who deducts time from the employee’s hours when the worker takes a short restroom break. Perhaps when Suzie takes 5 minutes to use the restroom, the employer requires her to clock out during that time, or otherwise deducts it from her wages.

This would be illegal under federal law. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay workers for any short rest breaks of less than 20 minutes. This would include restroom breaks. Many – but not all — states have similar provisions for smaller employers.

Again, please post  a more detailed question so you can get a better answer.