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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

This is some BULLSHIT - female toilets at work

163 replies

HonestlyPromisely · 02/02/2022 06:28

Main building and separate smaller building

Smaller building (where I work) is very very old. Roughly 60 women and exactly TWO men work in there.

Female toilets are constantly blocked out of use. When this happens we have to traipse over to the main building. They’ve been out of action for two weeks now and maintenance have put an email around to say they will not be fixing them as building is due to be torn down in 6 mths and they will just keep breaking.

Women will have to walk over to main building (about 50m away) to use the loo

Why the fuck can’t the men go to the main building and we have the mens toilets which apparently work absolutely fine?! They have 3 cubicles and 2 urinals, we have 3 cubicles.

AIBU here? Shouldn’t the two men be asked to go over to the main building given there’s only bloody two of them?

OP posts:

SNUG2022 · 02/02/2022 07:52

Be careful, they'll just make them "gender neutral" meaning unisex. I would rather walk to a single sex toilet than share.

Backtomyoldname · 02/02/2022 07:54

Whilst 50m isn’t that much of a problem its a matter of principle.

I feel that you need to target your anger towards your management. Its not a men vs women thing but a lack of consideration.

Is the 50m outside, what about inclement weather?

Are also potential issues when you move buildings? Have welfare provisions been skimped on?

BarbaraofSeville · 02/02/2022 08:05

There's recommended standards that will say whether 3 cubicles for 60 women is considered sufficient. Look those up. It doesn't sound like very many, but might be legally 'enough'.

Definitely question why the toilets keep getting blocked - are some of the women flushing sanitary protection, wipes or anything else other than the 4 Ps - pee, poo, (toilet) paper or puke? If they are, they need to stop. Or of course, it could be inadequate plumbing, a broken drain or overuse due to lack of capacity.

I'd suggest that, on the grounds of efficiency, the women use the existing men's toilets and the men use the main building. Men generally need to go less often than women anyway, unless they have medical issues, so it's less of an inconvenience to them.

Or they could be allowed to keep on using facilities and share, as long as they are civilised toilet users, ie not pissing all over the seat or going in there for an extended sit down.

getsomehelp · 02/02/2022 08:10

proclaim yourself transgender

leafcuttingwhale · 02/02/2022 08:13

Get a sign on the men's that can be turned around to say when there is a woman in the toilet, so that they the men know not to enter when a woman is in there.

I guess there would need to be a sign to say if a man is in there too.

So its a 'unisex' loo - but only one sex in it at a time.

You'll all have to remember to turn the signs around to empty when you have left though...So have a sign on the inside of the door saying ' 'TURN THE BLOODY SIGN AROUND AS YOU LEAVE'!

borntobequiet · 02/02/2022 08:13

Or they could be allowed to keep on using facilities and share, as long as they are civilised toilet users, ie not pissing all over the seat or going in there for an extended sit down.

Sensible. With maybe a notice that could be flipped over as suggested by others. And while having to walk 50m to another building to use the toilet might not be a big thing generally, there have been times in my life when it would have been a worry and uncomfortable for me and I expect for other women too.

Mybestyear · 02/02/2022 08:15

@Tiramysu

Anyone who can't be bothered can just identify as a man for a bit?

@Tiramysu I like your thinking!

steppemum · 02/02/2022 08:17

@Tiramysu

Anyone who can't be bothered can just identify as a man for a bit?

I woulod so be doing this. Use the men's loos and say I am identifying as a man for the purposes of toilets only.

Penners99 · 02/02/2022 08:18

HSE say 51-75 workers should have 4 toilets and 4 washbasins, so the company is breaching regulations already.

MrsWobble3 · 02/02/2022 08:22

Not necessarily. Do HSE say the toilets have to be in the same building? It’ll depend how many people and toilets are in the other building surely

starfishmummy · 02/02/2022 08:25

@cakeambush

It is a long walk if you have continence issues.

Or mobility issues.

rifling · 02/02/2022 08:27

If it's only the women's toilets that keep on breaking, it's probably because they are used a lot more and the plumbing is the same for the men's. They probably think that if you all start using them, they'll break too.

SofiaSoFar · 02/02/2022 08:32

Just point out to them how much working time will be lost - time it takes for 1 person to use the toilets in the other building = 10 minutes versus 5 minutes in the current building.

Don't do this.

You'll be either advertising that you're shit at maths or get lost easily.

It's 50m, FFS, if that adds 5 minutes to the trip there's something very wrong.

StripedMousse · 02/02/2022 08:37

Well if it’s the wome

IntermittentParps · 02/02/2022 08:40

@PinkWaferBiscuit

Why are you making this into a man vs women thing when surely you should all instead be demanding proper maintenance. It's not the fault of the men who work there that your toilets are not working and if it was the other way round you'd probably also be furious that the men had been given your toilets and the women had to walk to the other building.

You need to all keep contacting whoever sent the email and get them to fix the toilets.

Yes, this. You can't leave staff without loos.

StripedMousse · 02/02/2022 08:41

Yay first time ever posted too soon.

If it’s the women’s that are broken then they need to be fixed. Meanwhile use the mens as there’s only 2 of them they won’t be in there most of the time!

Livelovebehappy · 02/02/2022 08:45

Can’t you just discuss with the two men? Just suggest what you’ve said, and they will probably be absolutely fine with just sharing. If only two men, it’s hardly going to be a chore dodging when they’re in there if women feel uncomfortable. But tbh, it’s the company at fault and I would be picking it up with management.

gettingolderandgrumpy · 02/02/2022 08:50

But the mens toilets aren’t broken so why do you think they should walk to the other toilets ?
To me 3 choices

they fix the toilets
the toilets are unisex
you walk to the further toilets as it’s only temporary Yanbu to be annoyed at the situation but to tell the men they need to be the ones inconvenienced I don’t get .

Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat · 02/02/2022 08:52

I imagine a quick poll of everyone in the building will throw up that a unisex toilet for six months would be the best solution.

If people are uncomfortable with that they can always go over to the main building (men or women).

We used to have stuff like this in a previous job I did. Everyone was getting their knickers in a twist over stuff but when I emailed everyone and asked for their opinion there was usually a quick fix.

Take control of the situation. Don't be a whingeing Wanda.

Holly60 · 02/02/2022 08:53

@TheReluctantPhoenix

It is 50m outside! That is a long way if it is pouring and 2 degrees.

With 60 women and 2 men, men should have to compromise.

Eh? Please could you explain your reasoning. But just for fun can you take sex out of it. Explain why the fact that facilities for group A are broken, means that in actual fact, it is group B who have to find alternative facilities….

misspercy · 02/02/2022 08:54

If the plumbing is old, it definitely won't cope with tampons being flushed down the toilets, and a lot of women still don't know they shouldn't flush them. It would explain why the women's toilets get blocked so often and the men's don't.

I'd be annoyed too, but is there any chance that at least one of the men has toilet issues and can't walk the 50m in time? Is there a disabled toilet in your building?

BarbaraofSeville · 02/02/2022 08:55

It's not about inconveniencing the men, or not, it's about business efficiency, plus the impact on the toilets in the other building.

The 'person hours' lost by making 2 men walk to the other toilets is thirty times less than having the women do the same.

Plus there might not be enough toilet capacity in the other building to add 60 extra women using them, whereas there will almost certainly be enough to add two extra men to the men's toilets without overloading them.

Of course, they should first look into why the women's toilets block so often and if there's anything that can be done to fix them, such as changing behaviour or fixing the drains, because it might be a drainage issue rather than the toilets, and deciding not to do anything about it might be a false economy if there is impact on the business due to the time lost.

ancientgran · 02/02/2022 08:55

@Thatsplentyjack

Yes, and I'm sure if this situation was the other way around, the 2 women in the office would be delighted if they were told they could no longer use the women's toilets because they had to give them to the men in the office.

Very true. In a discussion about toilets I once said I worked in an old building, I was the only woman based in that building but other women visited. There was a women's toilet but the men had to walk across a yard so one of the men approached me on my first day and told me they had been using the women's toilet as no women worked there previously and would I object to them continuing I said no it was fine but a woman who came into the building for 5 minutes 2 or 3 times a week objected. I was told on here that I was being unreasonable, it was unfair for me to force that woman to share toilets. It was a real pile on.

SeasonFinale · 02/02/2022 08:57

Surely the answer is tape off the urinals and use the cubicles as unisex.

Has this been suggested as the way to go?

Findwen · 02/02/2022 08:57

@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat

I imagine a quick poll of everyone in the building will throw up that a unisex toilet for six months would be the best solution.

If people are uncomfortable with that they can always go over to the main building (men or women).

Take control of the situation. Don't be a whingeing Wanda.

I'd be really careful of this.. in six months:

"Having unisex toliets has worked out so well, we have decided to keep them forever !"

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