Unisex toilets in new office - dread going into work

[SocialMol]

The company I work for moved to a new office a few weeks ago. It is brand new and shared 50/50 with another company. We have our own side of the floor, key card protected so completely separate.

However, the toilets are in the middle of the block so are shared with the other company. These are unisex - several cubicles with shared area for sinks/dryers etc.

The other company is a sales one (they run a call centre there) and the demographic of their workforce is mainly young men in their 20’s.

There have been several instances of inappropriate comments made to staff in the toilets. Crass stuff like ‘give that cubicle 5 minutes’ to cruder comments directed at or about women - the men will often be talking about their own colleagues in a derogatory way in front of us.

The final straw for me was this afternoon when I walked out of a cubicle and a spotty young lad said he will ‘join me next time’ 😷

Our company are aware of our concerns but said there’s nothing they can do, as the toilets are designed to be ‘inclusive’ and similar to the other modern office blocks they viewed.

I don’t really know what I’m looking for by posting this to be honest, just wanted to know if anyone else finds this sort of set up completely ridiculous?

That is absolutely unacceptable and I would be working from home until it was resolved!!!!

Can you?

Our policy is we must be in at least 60% of time so no way to WFH permanently. Manager says there is no resolution possible, they don’t own the building so can’t dictate changes and they’d also be costly/possibly impractical.

Report the spotty kid to the police for threatening behaviour for a start. Tell your company at work you need a safe female only place to toilet and you will not be returning to work until it is done.

Oh, for goodness’ sake! I assume you are a grown woman? Just deal with it. Tell the oikish twerps to show a bit of respect and get on with your life. The human race somehow managed to survive when whole streets shared outdoor loos. I’m sure sharing cubicle toilets in a modern building won’t kill anyone.

I thought this was not allowed under the workplace regulations?
I believe workplaces have to provide single sex toilets by law unless the unisex provision is a fully enclosed room with washing facilities etc.

Surely something will be changing in line with the EHRC ruling?

Your bosses need to make the other company aware of what's going on. You also need to nake it clear to yourvown managers that they have responsibilities to you. It may be shared toilets but it is still your workplace.

Actually women fought for separate facilities because of extremely high rate of sexual assaults in the days they were forced to share.

Are they allowed to do this ? We have non-sex specific toilets, but they are fully enclosed cubicles, with their own sink & dryer, that open onto a corridor.

Here’s the regs, see point 3 https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/workplace-facilities/health-safety.htm

I'm no fan of unisex toilets, but I think the real issue here is that the company sharing your space seems to be staffed with feral young misogynists who clearly haven't recieved training on sexual harassment laws. Hopefully your own employer has and will realise they now have a preventative duty to you. Raise it with your manager, name it for the sexual harassment it is, and your employer is legally obliged to find a way to make it stop.

Are these toilets floor to ceiling OP?

If you are in the UK your employer has to provide single sex toilets as per the previous post.
Are you in a union?

The building will have an owner or a facilities manager who coordinates everything, your manager (or their manager) needs to raise the behaviour of their other tenants with them on behalf of your company…the situation with the separate cubicles (as long as they are private) probably won’t change however the behaviour of the users can!

If the unisex toilets were being used by men who had a normal standard of manners and common decency, it wouldn’t be such a problem.

Your company should be complaining about the attitudes of the men from the other company and the fact that they seem to have a culture of making inappropriate comments, not the fact that there are unisex toilets.

It would be better if the sinks were contained in individual cubicles though.

The issue is surely the behaviour and language of these oiks which is unacceptable wherever it's happening. Are there any other spaces shared with the other business? Speak to your manager and get this stopped. Immediately.

sex-matters.org/posts/publications/workplace-toilets-know-your-rights/

Op hope this helps it’s up to date as well

I would be making* an immediate complaint to the other company, as well as your companies HR and advise them it needs to be sorted pronto

its totally unacceptable

Given the comments etc it is not outside the realm of possibility that these are the kind of men who put cameras in toilets. So I think

1 - you are not prepared to go back into the office until the toilets have been swept for bugs / cameras. And this may sound over the top but the other company need to have a long hard look at their workforce culture.

2 - the toilets need to be designated single sex and it sounds like the ladies will need to be locked with a radar key or similar so these men are unable to access it

Or you go onto another floor for the toilet and see if the people in those companies are more civilised.

If this is true, your work place has a misogyny and sexual harassment problem, not a toilet problem.

Your workplace is legally obliged to provide single sex toilets, or self contained toilets with a sink inside.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/workplace-facilities/health-safety.htm

I wouldn’t want to share toilet facilities with men even if they were polite and not sexist pigs.

OP right at the bottom of my link there’s a bit abt your employers responsibility re toilets. It states:

“Under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers are required to provide “suitable and sufficient” sanitary conveniences. This includes providing separate facilities for men and women, except where each convenience is in a self-contained room with a door that can be secured from the inside. These obligations are not optional and are legally an obligation

OP it’s up to the owner of the premises to provide these facilities and not have facilities that are illegal. A cubicle is not a self contained room.

(Also you shouldn't have to travel an unreasonable distance, and a cubicle is not designated as being suitable for women unless it contains a sanitary waste bin.)

You can make a complaint online;

https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-a-health-and-safety-issue.htm

No it’s a toilet problem and breaking the law problem. That’s why we have the law to protect women from men.