Not allowing heavily pregnant woman to use a loo

If it's an insurance issue, can't they create waver cards that a customer can sign to say "if i get injured, I take full responsibility etc etc,"

Well I just retired from coop and we always let pregnant ladies and kids use the loo. We go with them even though they can't access the money or anything valuable. We leave that up the fucking shoplifters and their bags for life.

Sorry this happened Op, wishing you all the best when your new baby arrives. Don’t be too embarrassed to call back to the Co op , accidents happen.

I haven't claimed to know what all the coop policies are though. I am talking about insurance not policies.

Too many druggies hanging around outside my local Co-Op.

No way could they allow anyone claiming they were desperate for the toilet, to disappear out the back with a staff member.

Plus, most of the shops I've worked in keep the safe out the back.

YANBU. Whatever the rationale, it's a sad day.

I don't think it's a straight choice between letting customers use the toilet or having them piss on the shop floor.

But as has been said numerous times, letting customers use staff toilets, as well as likely violating insurance policies, involves having a staff member escort them to the toilet and be absent from their work for however long it takes them to complete their business and then clean up after them. That could be a considerable burden on a small business.

Judging by the comments here, who really believe what they're saying, the loss of humanity, commonsense and compassion is just mind-boggling.

exactly, this is now again the world we live in, much like dickens England were the poor were feckless and woman just don't matter - don't show any compassion or else they might want more

ffs the lack of compassion for other woman is awful, and it is a female issue. But of course because its a female issue town planners, insurance don't give a flying fig

no it's not entitled but it's also understandable that someone might not want to lose their job over breaking policy. Human kindness won't pay your bills and feed your kids. Some employers are bloody awful and supermarkets are among the worst.

what we need are public toilets everywhere. there used to be loads but people were so revolting in them that now we've lost them.

This! ^ What an utterly ludicrous comment @nappyvalley1992 ! As if everyone can afford to jack their job in based on their 'principals!' Principals don't pay the bloody rent/mortgage and bills!

I think you’re getting an unfairly hard time OP, what a horrible situation to be in & asking to use the toilet so you don’t wet yourself is not entitled. FWIW I also live in a small rural town with a coop, I’ve asked to use their toilet when I was heavily pregnant and was allowed to. So there might be a policy in place, I don’t know, but human kindness and a bit of sensible decision making is still possible despite what a policy says.

Well not everyone can afford to take the potential loss of their job so lightly.

@pelvicfloorisnomore I am really sorry that this happened to you, unfortunately I know that customers are not allowed 'back of house' under any circumstances. I have worked in many retailers across the years and this is a consistent rule across the industry.
I have even heard of women going into labour and giving birth in an aisle rather than taking the lady back of house - obviously, extremely isolated incidents and there's probably more room in an aisle than in the back rooms

@Sixteenandfourteen789 most convenience shops are around 3000 sq ft, which are the majority of co-ops, putting in toilets with such small footprints are just simply not viable as you would not get a return on this space making the shop unprofitable. Toilets are frequently put in bigger formats where there are cafes and much bigger floorplans so you can distribute the cost of the facility over a higher turnover space.
FYI, co-ops (and Waitrose) are consistently cited as the best retailers in terms of working with suppliers / farmers and paying them.

It's not co-op or any other company's fault there are no public toilets.

It’s not about effort, it’s about safety and security. Only certain people allowed on certain areas etc.

Look up the urinary leash. But yes, more toilets for all!

Women need more public toilets.

Keeping them clean and safe is a nightmare. So we need concerted political effort to solve this problem not just as an acceptable that that's life.

If society cared more about women then this problem would be on the agenda in a much bigger way.

It's also not a "feminist" issue that there aren't enough public toilets.

Whilst pregnancy and periods are a "female" issue, incontinence/Crohns etc is universal and prostrate issues are a "male" issue which can require the toilet more often

We should have more public toilets

this

and can someone show me where the insurance states that customers needing the loo are not allowed to use it? Where is it in the policy?

Surely its more effort to clear up urine from the shop floor

Exactly

Even within the workplace, staff aren't all allowed everywhere in some places

If they haven't had sufficient training or aren't wearing the prescribed safety ware or have had an incident in the past which caused an issue there then they won't be allowed in under the fact insurance will pull them up if there's an issue

You are nearly 2 decades to late with your campaign.

@wombat15
*
Have you worked for the Co - op in a managerial role in the last few months?*

No but I'm not claiming to know what their policies are.
Unlike you.

We've gone backwards and are very close to there being another urinary leash imposed on women, particularly in situations such as that encountered by the originator of this post. The real issue is the lack of public toilets, something that impacts more on women but something we should all be concerned about. Security, insurance and accountability means that just because there may be a toilet close by, doesn't mean it is for the public to use and sadly too many facilites get abused, or the staff would have to clean them up, so understandable they are not for the general publics use. There used to be a great many more public toilets and, I'd argue, that too many councils rely on someone other than themselves providing facilities. Yes, I know money is tight, but surely toilets are an essential in our society, aren't they?

Are we rolling backwards?
https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/History-of-Womens-Public-Toilets-in-Britain/

Well good for you. Presumably you don't have bills to pay and children to feed.