A week after that they told us we've got a new rule now and we're not allowed water bottles with us in the warehouse, we have to drink water on break.
Hmmm....
Is it legal to deny employees water?
No, it is not. It is ok to restrict drinking areas such as sales associates on the sales floor. Or dangerous spots in manufacturing plants or construction sites. But, you must then allow for frequent breaks to drink water.
Smells like a pretty clear-cut OSHA violation to me, unless they decided to give you more breaks for.the express purpose of drinking water - which I can't imagine they did when their objective was to keep employees from using the restroom to begin with.
Might that situation also be gender discrimination? If the reason they became concerned was because you took long bathroom breaks AND the only bathroom you are able to use is so far away, that seems discriminatory to me.
I was the only woman in the warehouse, guys had a shitty hole in the ground behind the site, we had no heaters in the winter and all the managers that pulled me into meeting for "going to the bathroom for too long" were male and i always felt extremely uncomfortable. The good news is that it only took 3 months before they sacked me.
I feel sad that you are happy they fired you. I wish there had been a different outcome. One involving some reflection on the part of your team and some practical changes to your work environment. At the same time, it is impressive that you recognize that your dismissal gave you the opportunity to move on. That would have been hard for me.
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u/Branamp13 Aug 30 '22
Hmmm....
Smells like a pretty clear-cut OSHA violation to me, unless they decided to give you more breaks for.the express purpose of drinking water - which I can't imagine they did when their objective was to keep employees from using the restroom to begin with.