Pregnancy Discrimination - Seattle,WA

Sounds like enough time to pee about 6 x day. If you do need more, try to comprimise instead of filing complaints.

Can you not make some agreement with them to make up whatever "extra" time at the end of the day? So, if you need an extra 20 min of personal time, could you just stay an extra 20 min at the end of the day to compensate? I would try to work with them and see if they are willing to come to some sort of agreement on how to handle the situation. If they aren't willing to compromise/work with you at all, then by all means file that complaint!

I don't think a company can tell you how long you can spend ing the restroom. File the complaint. Not just for you but for all the other pregnant women that might work there!! When I was pregnant with my oldest I was so sick. But no one complained about he extra time I took in the bathroom because hey really did not want me plucking in the office if at all possible! My asst mgr is pregnant now and I am not offended that she takes more time than me to pee. That's ridiculous!!

Wow! I can't believe how insensitive some of these responses are!

Wow.

Well, first of all, your health and the health of your child is what's most important. Getting pregnant is not some kind of terrible choice, with consequences, to make. I don't like that people saying "well, you're the one who decided to get pregnant..." is an appropriate or helpful response. If you have nothing nice to say, keep it to yourselves! WOW. Bringing children into the world is the most beautiful part of life, but we live in such a selfish and greedy society that has no respect left for the beautiful things in life, that make life priceless and give our lives fulfillment beyond what any dollar amount can give.

OK, that being said, I am a business major. Companies factor time in for bathroom breaks, sneezing, blowing your nose, or whatever it is that you do when you're not working. I'd like to know how many of these people think they deserve to be paid for each second that they are not actively working. I have lots of friends, with great high paying jobs, who sit around and talk to me on facebook all afternoon when I'm not in class, and home with my daughter. So, before being harsh on the pregnant lady, think about how much time YOU waste at work. This would include any time you spend talking about non work subjects, texting, surfing the internet, shopping online, staring into space. Seriously, we're going to pick on the pregnant lady now who is legitimately uncomfortable and has a medical excuse? She can't even go pee when NATURE calls without someone breathing down her neck? Seriously, get real.

I don't know what to tell you to do about work, but if it comes to a decision between your job or risking your health and in turn taking the risk of complications with your pregnancy... I think you know what you have to do. I'll be praying for you, and I hope it gets easier.

And I'm adding this part in:
I absolutely HATE when people jump in with the whole terminator "I did this and I did that, so you should be able to" attitude/argument. You are YOU, and not anyone else. No one walks the same path. If terminator mom wants to risk her child's health for brownie points from the boss, or just to be able to tell everyone about how "tough" she is, then that's her business. I personally think she has an ego problem. Don't let anyone bully you into going against your own motherly instinct. If your child comes first in your life, you are making the right choice.

Can I make a strange suggestion? I hate to say this, but I think that you might just want to try it so that you don't lose your job (especially if you only have medical insurance through them.)

Wear Depends. That way you can just pee at your desk. No one will know.

It is tempting to not drink water. I know. I hated leaving my desk because my clients would call me and it was hard to "make time" to go. So I didn't drink enough water. I ended up in pre-term labor at 24 weeks and had to go on strict fulltime bedrest. I will never know if not drinking enough and not going to the bathroom enough caused it, but I will tell you that I didn't make the same mistake twice with my second pregnancy...

Here is what you really need to understand, and I tell LOTS of women here this because it is so important. The uterus is a smooth muscle tissue. If you don't drink enough often enough, it shrinks. When it shrinks, it contracts. When it contracts, it can cause labor. Labor, and for this discussion, early labor, is like a pebble that starts rolling down a hill. Stop it early enough or prevent it. But if the pebble continues to roll, all of a sudden it's a boulder and there's no stopping it. That's why the doctor wants you to drink all that water a little bit at a time, all day long.

Then there's the peeing part. A full bladder presses on the uterus. THAT can cause the uterus to contract. So the point is drink and pee, drink and pee.

And that's why I recommend Depends. I actually peed in my older son's diaper driving home one time when I was afraid I'd pop and there was nowhere to stop for a real bathroom. I wasn't taking ANY chances of doing anything that I actually KNEW could cause early labor, again!

As an aside, make sure you are taking pregnancy vitamins with folic acid. Ideally, you need them before 8 weeks gestation to prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida and some forms of cleft palate, but go ahead and get them TODAY if you haven't already. (Hope you already are!)

Good luck!

You need to google your work rights for your state. Here in Missouri it would only be considered discrimination if they don't allow you to clock out an use the bathroom. In other words if they made you stick to the company policy and made no accommodation for your condition.

What you are asking for is more paid leave than your coworkers just because you are pregnant. That isn't really fair to the employees who are not pregnant, right?

Still there are a fair few states that required reasonable paid leave so look it up and see what you have.

http://www.hum.wa.gov/faq/faqpregnancy.html Looks like they must give you time off but do not have to pay you. I think LoveTeachingMath offers a very good compromise.
Here is another one that spells out they do not have to pay you.
http://www.legalvoice.org/pdf/self_help/Know_Your_Reprodu...

I'm sorry but I don't believe your company owes you an extra hour and 40 minutes a week of time that they're paying you to use the bathroom. I worked through two pregnancies. You already have 4 breaks a day. You can also go before you clock in and just after you clock out to go home. That's six times a day. You don't need to do all of your drinking at work. An hour and 40 minutes a week of paying you to pee doesn't sound like an accommodation that's required - imagine if every pregnant woman at work got that time? If you really need all that bathroom time, ask if you can start your shift 10 minutes earlier and end 10 minutes later, and clock out during those extra 20 minutes a day.

jo is right. you are wrong. an extra hour or so per week of lost wages is not going to put your finances in the tank - and it's only fair.

think of it this way, because they actually give you quite a bit of time to use the restroom; if you are taking two breaks, plus lunch, plus 6 extra minutes (which is at least 2 potty breaks if you are responsible with your time), that is at least 5 potty breaks in an 8 (or 9) hour day. plenty. and you can even pee at the beginning of your lunch AND the end. so that is "going", six times in an 8 hour period. even if you were having triplets that should be enough. AND if you need more, it's completely fair that they shouldn't have to pay you for it. they're not saying you can't go. they're just saying choose between that and getting paid for that extra 3 minutes (that you would not be working). makes sense to me.

if you're grown-up enough to make a person, you should be grown-up enough to be responsible and act like an adult. i should probably apologize- i guess i'm being harsh, sorry. but as one of the thousands of mothers on here, a huge number of whom have been in your position, i'm pretty offended that you're on here complaining about this. the rest of us did it and handled it just fine.

the world does not stop because you are pregnant. your company should be understanding - and they are giving you a very fair option. but they should NOT have to bend the rules for you.

ETA: i agree with the poster who mentioned that after your SWH you should be grateful to have a job. and with your attitude that the world should work around you because you are pregnant, you should be very lucky you don't work for me. i actually expect people to pull their weight at work, not look for excuses not to. if you don't do the work, you shouldn't get paid. period. not. one. person has said you should not be able to pee when you need to. i am sorry that only a couple people gave suggestions you liked and empathized with you. and i'm very sorry you were under the impression that was what this forum is for. it's for real answers sweetie, not just the ones you want.

I'd just go pee when I needed too and dont tell everyone about it. I worked at a huge factory for 10 years, the rules were "2 fifteen minute breaks and 1 1/2 hr lunch".... none of us followed that rule, we went to the bathroom when needed, there is usually always a friendly co worker that will step in for you for 5 minutes while you go pee.
Sometimes we need to learn not to take rules so seriously. If you are feeling targeted it could mean you have been a liability to the company already.
Rules are always "guidelines" for the most part and are generally flexible. BUT, the good thing about rules is that if an employer needs them to fire a person, they are there for that reason as well.
I don't know of any employer I've ever worked for that would treat pregnant employees bad unless the employee was already bad prior to being pregnant.
Have you talked to other ladies there? Have others been given those same rules while they were pregnant?
I'm sure leniency is available.

You get more/longer breaks than I ever did as a young, first time mom.
Yes pregnancy is annoying, uncomfortable and all of that but it's NOT a disability.
Unless your pregnancy IS, in fact, a certifiable disability? Then by all means document it as such.
Otherwise, don't use being being pregnant as an excuse for extra breaks. That just hurts all of us.
And based on the language/spelling of your SWH you're lucky to have a job at all, so be responsible and GRATEFUL!

I like the idea of having your cubicle or work station moved close to the bathroom. That seems reasonable.

- Get to work 15 minutes early and potty then
- Morning potty break
- Potty at the start and end of lunch (whether you think you need to go or not)
- Afternoon potty break
- Potty as soon as you leave work

That's 6 potty breaks during an 8 hour day, not including your "bonus 6 minutes", which would make 7. Essentially, one per hour. If you are going more than that... well... learn to hold it.

This is pretty doable, so no I would not file a complaint. You would not win when you consider the fact that you are given fair and reasonable breaks during the day.

This is not a battle to fight... you aren't going to win this one.

- I would suggest you see if your cubicle/station can be moved to the spot nearest the bathroom

- Depends/adult diapers.

- leave it for now, if it becomes a huge issue later (like you're losing several hours a day) they'll probably fire you, so it will be a moot point. (See #2), but if it not hours a day, you're risking your job for $20?

1) There are a couple of Troll Responses on this thread that will get pulled soon enough.

2) Here in WA, they are required to let you use the bathroom WITHOUT firing you (although since we're an 'at will ' state, they can fire you at any time for no reason... What that really means is that they cannot threaten to fire you if you go, or tell you that you cannot go). They are NOT required to pay you.

3)
-before work
-first break
-beginning of lunch
-end of lunch
-second break
-shift end
- 3 minute dash
- 3 minute dash

For most people, 8x in 9 hours will be enough. I had a condition towards the end of my pregnancy where I was peeing every 10-20 minutes, and it took me 5 minutes per to waddle and heave myself about . Using the shortest periods... 2/3s of my day... I'd only be working for just over 2 hours a day on a bad day!!! (In an 8 hour day). I would have loved to have been able to have been paid for those 2 hours, but it would have been unreasonable to expect to be paid for 8 hours!!!

.

I I'm not sure what problems you have with this pregnancy, but I also had a medically difficult pregnancy. I had to drink a gallon of water a day. In order to function and not be peeing every 2 seconds, I had to time block my water intake. I would drink a lot for a while, take a break, drink a lot for a while, take a break, and so on. When I would drink a little her and there continuously, I had to pee continuously. Drink a lot, go pee and empty your bladder, drink a lot go pee, etc. Don't just sip all day. That's what causes all the potty breaks.

And...think you are kind of missing the point. They ARE allowing you bathroom breaks, which you requested. Discrimination would be, if they did not allow you breaks. They do not have to pay you, for extra breaks. They only have to give you breaks. You have to remember, call centers are a different beast. Minutes are micromanaged, because every minute counts. They are accommodating you, just not in the way you want. Why do you think you should get paid, to get more bathroom breaks then every other person? I'm just curious.

You said you were pregnant, but you don't say what your "disability" is. So it's a little hard for the rest of us who have been pregnant while having morning sickness and drinking water and have not asked for extra break time, to empathize with you.

What is your disability and why do you need to drink all that water? Just make sure it's worth it to you to file a complaint, before you do so, if you need that job.

Is there some medical reason outside of normal pregnancy that you need to drink all that water? I've had 4 healthy pregnancies (including twins) and never needed to water log myself, and using the restroom never interfered with my workday. With a normal pregnancy, the 8 times a day (2 breaks, to bathroom breaks, twice at lunch, when you're on your way into the building and on your way out) that you have time to use the restroom in your 8 hour day should be more than enough time to take care of your needs. If you have some kind of medical issue on top of pregnancy, then I would make sure that that is documented.

FWIW, I still don't think you should be paid extra for that time off the clock, but if you check your state laws you'll at least know whether or not you have a case to make a complaint.

Mindy it could be she has some kidney type of issues or other medical problem.

I'm sorry if there is some additional problem you haven't told us about. You work for a giant call center and are asking for almost another seven hours of break time per month...what if everyone did this at your business? I'm not unsympathetic but that is a large loss of productivity. It sounds like they are making the reasonable accommodations for you and many of the moms pointed out that you really have seven opportunities to use the restroom. I would just clock out and understand that you have a loooong time to go with this pregnancy.

why can't you apply your 30 minutes of daily breaks towards your bathroom time? then you also have 45 minute lunch to pee, that should wrap it up;

that adds up to 81 minutes of peeing

I suggest that this is not discrimination. They are allowing you to take the extra time. They're just requiring that you check out and in when you do it. What does state law require" Yes, it feels awkward and time consuming and you do lose a small amount of money. I suggest that they may find that doing this does not work and will eventually drop the requirement. I would just go along with it and see how it works.

Approach the situation in a co-operative, we're in this together, so lets problem solve manner. Think thru some alternative ways to manage this which allows them to still be in compliance with the law.

I became a police officer when women were just breaking into law enforcement. I found that improvements were made when I worked with management to find a compromise. I focused on understanding their needs while expressing my needs. No need to take an adversarial approach.

I have also observed over the years that it's people demanding their "rights" that has created more rules and laws in an effort to protect everyone's rights. All that it has done is make it difficult for management to be flexible. Management has to be sure to do everything by the book so that they're prepared to win a law suit.

I remember when pregnant women were given an extra long break in the afternoon and employers were required to provide a cot for a nap, all while still on the clock. Pregnant employees had to be reassigned to a desk job if being on their feet was difficult. People considered that was discrimination against the other employees and that requirement is no longer on the books. We all must have our "rights" even when it hinders the workers who do need accommodation.

I see from some of these posts that many women want to not be treated differently because they're pregnant. They don't think that pregnancy should require accommodation. There's one reason for less willingness to accommodate.

Try this out and if it doesn't work you can always file a complaint later. Research the laws and be sure that your employer is not in compliance before you stir up trouble. You want to be sure that you'll win once you've begun the process. It's human nature to be less helpful with someone who is fighting us.

Why should they pay you to use the restroom? You decided to her pregnant.
Added I worked in surgery while pregnant with my 1st pregnancy. Did I file complaints saying I couldn't be on my feet for a 6 hr procedure? No because it was my job to be there.

I would follow up with the discrimination complaint. You should have reasonable time to get to and from the restroom whenever you need to. If you were someone who had chronic bladder infections or problems with your bladder, they would have to accomodate you. I would go back to your doctors and tell them they are harassing you about this and saying you have to clock out every time. Ask the doctors what else you can do. They may be able to help you write the note differently. Best wishes. Don't let them bully you! One other thing, document everything they say to you. If they said you have to clock out every time its more that 6 minutes of the day, then you tell them to send it in writing to you by email so you clearly understand what they are asking. Then you can take that to the complaint board.

Are you on FMLA? I think my company requires that pregnancy prenatal appts, etc. come out of FMLA, which is unpaid. The requirement that you clock out every time you exceed the standard amount allowed sounds like what would be required on FMLA. The upside is that they have to allow the extra time without losing your job, the downside is that time is unpaid (except in a few States, like CA). My suggestion is to ask HR why you have to clock out and specifically ask about FMLA, as well as the possibility of making up the time by starting a few minutes early or leaving a few minutes late. Personally, I would NOT file anything against your employer with the State. At 20 minutes a day, you're talking about less than 2 hours lost wages per week. Your employer has to accomodate your need without punishing you on performance reviews or diciplining you. However, they also do not have to pay you for the time that you are not working.

How long does it take to pee? I know that we don't all have the same pregnancy experience. I would just run in and run back out...couple of minutes. If somebody suggested moving closer to the restroom, that sounds like a plan. I think that you should show them that you want to be part of the solution by thinking outside the box of some ways that you can work through your pregnancy. I don't know how flexible they can be with the clock, but maybe you can clock in earlier and later and then have more "break" time in between. Pregnancy is not a disability, but you are treating it like one by forcing them to make all the adjustments.

Keep in mind, too, that you're gonna want/need them to be accommodating once you have a baby at home to care for, so it might go a long way to show them now your willingness to be flexible.

When I was pregnant, I took no time off. Close to the end, I was about 30 minutes late. When I self-reported, I was told, "I don't care. You never called in, so I can overlook your being late one time toward the end of your pregnancy." I don't take real breaks, including lunch; I eat at my desk. Sooo, when I came back and was pumping three times a day, they didn't feel like I was missing.

Don't focus so much on what your rights should be. Think more about how you can remain a good productive member of the team.

ETA: I'm sorry, I didn't consider what goes into working in a call center. Maybe you can spend part of your day doing some of the away-from-the-phone duties that your department may have. Find out what they are and how you can contribute.

Wow - I am amazed by the tone of some of these answers.

I think you could make some adjustments by when you drink the water (more before and after work). Also, you could try a hydrator that is safe for pregnant women and helps more water be absorbed by the cells and NOT have to be peed out so much. I can get you the ingredient list and you could show it to your doctor. I think they want the water to be ABSORBED but excessively peeing doesn't do that - it just makes you get rid of at least half of what you drank. No benefit there.

I would think you have personal and sick time which perhaps could be used so you aren't docked for the time. You may want to save your sick time for maternity leave and your personal time for doctor visits, but it's worth considering.

You also will be using your 2 breaks and your lunch break, right?

And why would someone else get in trouble if you file a complaint? If they are doing something illegal (and your commission against discrimination can advise you on state law), why wouldn't you want it challenged. And do you think you are the only pregnant woman who works there? Guaranteed, this is affecting others.

Good luck!

I don't see where the discrimination was. They would accomodate your extra breaks just not pay you for those extra breaks because YOU aren't working. You do understand that in most states, and I believe Washington is one of them FMLA is NOT paid. Making an accommodation does not mean paying you for it.

Also, I don't know what your maternity leave policy is but if you are using FMLA for these breaks, remember that time is being used and you only get 12 weeks unpaid for FMLA. So you also need to keep track of your time. Your employer should give you a print out of your time used for FMLA once a month.

I think contacting Human Rights in WA because your employer would not PAY you to go pee is silly and quite frankly takes away from those other citizens that really need their assistance. You have an accomodation.

Call centers can be a rough place to be. There are employment laws for maternity. You might want to understand them all, and what all your company's policies are. If you are considering breast feeding and going back to work you are going to need extra time to pump. :( There has had to have been other pregnant women that have worked at your company, may be a good idea to search them out for their experiences.