Bathroom Issues 3

[ManagerJay]

Recently, I was asked to stay after a Manager's meeting to discuss an issue with my Executive Director and the Business Manager.

Once everyone had left I was handed an e-mail, from an employee, stating she belived some of the male employees were intentionally urinating on the floor in one of the bathrooms. She went on to state in the e-mail, that she belives this is a direct attack against her since she is responsible for cleaning the office.

I was asked to help with the problem since the employee is more comfortable speaking with me than anyone else on the Management Team.

After conversations with the employee, she told me she believes it to be one of two men in the office. She belives this based on comments made in the office by male staff. The comments range from, "I'll show them," to "If we had a urinal, this would not happen."

I understand there may be medical reasons for this happening. Does anyone have any suggestions how to address this? Since there is no proof this is intentional, at this point, should this be addressed in a group to the entire office staff, or should it be addresses directly with the individuals who may be responsible?

My intention is to get the situation resolved without offending anyone, or demeaning anyone. Any suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,




Jay

 

[mrdenny]

I'd recommend a blanked email to the staff in the office reminding them to help keep the bathrooms clean as when vendors or investors come to visit they can be offended by a dirty bathroom.

That way you don't have to worry about possible talking to the wrong person, and all basis ae covered.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000) / MCTS (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[langleymass]

Leave a note in the bathroom. You can make it anonymous if you like. One of my past workplaces did this.

Then fire the maid for acting like a five-year-old. If it is her job to clean the bathroom, then it is her job to clean up excrement off the floor. If she didn't want to do this, she should get a job doing windows or get a job that doesn't involve working with bathrooms.

 

[flapeyre]

Then fire the maid for acting like a five-year-old. If it is her job to clean the bathroom, then it is her job to clean up excrement off the floor. If she didn't want to do this, she should get a job doing windows or get a job that doesn't involve working with bathrooms.

Firing the maid isn't going to suddenly result in a clean bathroom floor. She is not the one making the bathroom untidy. She was correct to bring that up to management. The bathroom users are the "five-year-olds", not her.

My intention is to get the situation resolved without offending anyone, or demeaning anyone.

Then I vote with MrDenny, not langleymass.




Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[chiph]

Maybe adding a toilet target will help:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6015244831&category=47117

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[ManagerJay]

One of the options I considered was electrifying the floor.......

Honestly, though, I think the worst part about all of this is the fact that I never expected to have to address this type of issue with adults. I expected them to have enough courtesy for other employees and respect for the facilities they worked in to clean up after themselves if they made a mess.

Thanks,


Jay

 

[sleipnir214]

ManagerJay:
<facetious>
I don't know if where you are you can catch the T.V. show "Mythbusters", but on a show dealing with the myth of a man's being electocuted by urinating on the third rail of a subway. The folk on the show discoverd that unless the beginning of the stream of urine and the electrified object are separated by no more than around 2 feet, the uring stream breaks up into globs in-flight. Unless the purpetrators are kneeling, there'll be no conductive path.

And who says television can't be educational?
</facetious>


I also vote with mrdenny. I see no point, as langleymass advises, in killing all the rest of your chickens just because a fox got one of them.



Want the best answers? Ask the best questions! TANSTAAFL!

 

[mattKnight]

I expected them to have enough courtesy for other employees and respect for the facilities they worked in to clean up after themselves if they made a mess.

and

belived some of the male employees were intentionallyurinating on the floor in one of the bathrooms. She went on to state in the e-mail, that she belives this is a direct attack against her since she is responsible for cleaning the office.

Have you eliminated the possibility that it is intentional rather than just bad aim? If not, then courtesy may no be part of the equation.

Take Care

Matt
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

 

[flapeyre]

You should translate my signature from Latin:

 [white]Bad kitty! Why didn't you use the cat box? I just put new litter in it! [/white]

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[svanels]

My vote goes to mrdenny,
On top of that beside the e-mail, I would install a (fake) webcam in the bathroom, and/or put an audible alarm on the door. And I would tell them that I was hunting pigs.

The first one to object to these counter measures would be ...the pig

Steven

 

[mrdenny]

I'd be very carefull about installing anything in the bathroom, real or fake without going through your legal department.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000) / MCTS (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[shannanl]

I would install a (fake) webcam in the bathroom

Not a good idea. As a matter of fact it's probably illegal.

 

[fredericofonseca]

One thing can be done.

Install a swip card access to bathrooms, individual toilets.

Next time it happens the culprit is either going to be the last one that used it or the one immediately before him.
Either way both should be called to management and justify themselves.

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

 

[spamly]

I work with a coworker that has a... pressure problem. If I'm ever unlucky enought to be using the toilet stall next to the urinal that he's using, I have to raise my feet. This is because he urinates with so much pressure (I think he's trying to see if he can raise himself off the ground) that there's quite a bit of spray. He's a really nice guy and I don't have the heart (or desire) to talk with him about it.

Ah, the things I post online.

I'm just pointing this out because there's the chance that the culprit is not even aware that he's causing the problem.

 

[flapeyre]

Swipe cards? Not practical for urinals. That would result in plenty of righteous indignation among the male employees (maybe even a lawsuit).

We have a habitual "non-flusher" in the office. I've been drinking lots of coffee lately, hoping to find out who it is.

If I find out, I'll ostentatiously reach over and flush his, just as he leaves. Maybe he'll get the hint.



Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[svanels]

Lawsuit?.. Legal department or not, where I live an intentional beheaviour like this is reason for termination, you are endangering the health of other persons. Next thing they are going to is sh.. on the tables. You have to expose the pigs, probably they will be spanked by their peers.

If the webcam is to offending, put a horn and a flashing light on the door leading to the bathroom.

Steven

 

[ecobb]

svanels makes a good point. Unsanitary conditions, health code violations, workplace hazards,...you're currently open to much larger legal issues than a fake webcam...


Hope This Helps!

ECAR
ECAR Technologies

http://www.ecartech.com

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[flapeyre]

As a practical matter, the health code violations aren't going to cost near as much as the civil rights violations (health code violations seldom, if ever, end up in front of a federal jury with the ACLU as plaintiff).

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[svanels]

Well what about the EPA an other authorities who can shut the place down? What about the other employees if they start a lawsuit against the company? I do not think that the civil rights of one individual (The right to pee all over the place) will weigh as much the collective right to a safe and healthy workplace for the majority.

Steven

 

[flapeyre]

EPA is not going to shut down a business for a dirty bathroom, unless said bathroom drains directly into a ditch and not into the sewer.

I still think a dirty bathroom would not, as a practical matter, attract much attention from even the local government (unless maybe the place of business is a restaurant, perhaps). The EPA would show them the door. A key trait of any bureaucrat is to avoid stepping on a fellow bureaucrat's turf. They have too much else to not do [sic].



Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!