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Original poster

Mixed changing room

94 replies

cakedup · 26/02/2019 19:26

My friend works in chain coffee shop. There is only one changing room.

One time she arrived and the men were already changing in the room so she waited until they finished and ended up being 3 minutes late for her shift. The manager told her if she was late again she'd get the sack. She told her she could have got changed in the toilets but these were very busy with customers. So the manager told her she is an adult, don't make a fuss and just get changed with the men!

This would be especially uncomfortable for her given the fact two of the men there are pestering her and she is not interested. Well one of them is no longer pestering her but giving her the cold shoulder because she rejected his advances.

This can't be right can it? I suppose they can ask her to arrive in plenty of time to allow for the changing room to be free but she is going straight from another job to this one so it's not always possible.

OP posts:
CosmicCanary · 26/02/2019 22:00

No it is not a separate thing.

Wow can men do no wrong in your eyes....its all the flirty womens fault Hmm

Nicknacky · 26/02/2019 22:02

Of course it’s a seperate issue. Unless she would be happier getting changed in front of other male staff and not these particular two?

CosmicCanary · 26/02/2019 22:02

You have already been told by posters that the coffee shop are not required to provide changing facilities

Sorry do posters work in this coffee shop?
The OP has said no such thing.
I have worked in cafes and coffee shops where uniform was put on at work not before.

As for me being rude...try reading what I post before you try to be clever and pull me up.

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:03

Are you an idiot?

The men who have harassed her are not responsible for the single room. One has nothing to do with the other. How does that statement translate into me blaming her for being flirty? Where on earth did I say that, suggest that or even hint at that?

The company have not done anything wrong in their set up of the rooms, unless they are the only coffee chain who don't let their staff wear uniform outside.

The men harassing her, that is a problem and she needs to inform them and go above her managers head if the manager does nothing. But it doesn't have anything to do with them having one room which should be used at different times. Again, that was the manager who suggested that so again, the manager is the problem. And those men are a problem.

Nicknacky · 26/02/2019 22:04

cosmic But you can’t speak for all coffee shops up and down the country.

Of course the harassment is a seperate issue. Unless she would be happier getting changed in front of other male staff and not these particular two?

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:09

Building a second room would not remove the problem of harassment from those men.

Sacking the men harassing her would not solve the problem of being told to use the single room together.

That means they are, in fact, separate issues. How do you get to it being her fault for being flirty from me saying they are separate issues?

She needs to deal with them both, but they can't be solved by one solution. The men will harass her anywhere so they should be sacked and HR should be involved.

The single room is fine. If there is a policy of changing at work then the manager needs to be educated on allocating different times. If there is no policy, then they don't have to do anything and it's up to the girl to sort herself out.

CosmicCanary · 26/02/2019 22:11

Are you an idiot?

Yes obviously seen as I am the one saying the woman needs to just deal with:

Changing in front of men who pester her.
Get to work earlier than the men so she can get changed.
Wear extra clothing so she does not need to undress in front of men.

Oh sorry no they were your suggestions Hmm

I will repeat the law again.
WOMEN HAVE A LEGAL RIGHT TO GET CHANGED AWAY FROM MALES.

If the workplace does not provide single sex provision then it cannot punish a worker for being late because they had to wait for a single sex place to be available.
That is sex discrimination regardless if you are male or female.

Weetabixandshreddies · 26/02/2019 22:14

Maybe there are times allocated for changing. Maybe the men were changing in the allotted time and the woman was late and so missed the female changing time?

CosmicCanary · 26/02/2019 22:15

If there is no policy, then they don't have to do anything and it's up to the girl to sort herself out.

Wrong.

Single sex changing rooms and toilets are law.
Company policy does not matter.
The OP said this is a changing room so we must assume people use it to change. The law trumps company policy.

Weetabixandshreddies · 26/02/2019 22:16

Just to clarify Cosmic - if the situation were reversed and it was a man having to wait, would you still be shouting sex discrimination?

Motherofcreek · 26/02/2019 22:16

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TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:16

Her 2 problems at work are 1)being harassed and 2) not having allocated time in the changing room.

They are separate issues and need to be dealt with separately. And your response to that is to say that it's all her fault for being flirty? Is that what I said?

No. You're an idiot.

Coffee chains really don't care if you wear uniform outside. So they don't need to provide any changing spaces. There is clearly a staff room, which they can use or not use if they want to change but it's a choice. If it's in use, then she can wait or go to the toilet. But if she'd been in there first, then the men would need to wait or go to the toilets. Same problem for both men and women.

Take turns. It's not sexist. It's not an attack on women.

If they do have a policy, then they only issue here is the manager for telling her off. And that manager should be informed that she must be given time to use it alone. But the changing room isn't the issue, it's the manager.

The men harassing her - completely different issue. They shouldn't be working there anymore. Full stop. Having another changing room won't remove them from the workplace. They just need to go.

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:18

@CosmicCanary

NO COMPANY NEEDS TO PROVIDE ANY CHANGING ROOMS AT ALL IF THEY DO NOT HAVE A POLICY OF "NO UNIFORM OUTSIDE WORK".

If they do not have that policy then they do not need to provide any room for her to change in at all.

Weetabixandshreddies · 26/02/2019 22:18

The easiest thing for companies to do is to remove changing rooms, unless they insist on staff changing at work.

RockyFlintstone · 26/02/2019 22:19

I have to admit, I don't know the ins and outs on the law on this.

Is it law that if a changing area is provided, steps have to be taken to ensure it is single sex? Obviously if there isn't room for two then there is just one room, but then presumably the 'steps taken to ensure it is single sex' would be allowing time for waiting if the opposite sex is using it?

CosmicCanary · 26/02/2019 22:19

This reply has been deleted

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Weetabixandshreddies · 26/02/2019 22:21

Oh charming

CosmicCanary · 26/02/2019 22:21

The read the OP.

This was a changing room.
People were changing in it before the OP's friend arrived to change in the changing room. I think we can say its a changing room Confused

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:22

It's not company policy. It's the manager in this one instance. It was the one manager who told her to change with the guys. The manager was wrong. The company is not.

If they have a policy that uniform cannot be worn outside, then the manager needs to give her time to change alone. If they don't have that policy then they don't have provide her a thing. They can still have a changing room as a courtesy if they want too, but they don't need to allow her extra time to change when she could have done it at home. It's one of those things; if the room is busy then it's busy, but you can change in the toilet or at home. The men would be in the same situation if she was there first.

Not everythuht is sexism, no matter how hard you try to make it.

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:25

I have a changing room in my art studio. But it's a courtesy. I don't care if my staff where their branded clothes outside or not, but I have a changing room incase anyone wants to use it. If they are meant to start at 10am and they come in, but a man is already in the changing room then she just needs to wait and if she's late, that's not my fault. She made the choice to change at work, she had to wait her turn, she ended up late. Not my fault. Reverse the sexes and it's the exact same. Not my fault. And I don't need to provide anything extra.

RockyFlintstone · 26/02/2019 22:25

But if somewhere provides a changing room, surely they still need to ensure that it's single sex?

Motherofcreek · 26/02/2019 22:26

Wow comic I think you need a break from this thread Grin

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 22:29

@RockyFlintstone

It just needs to be able to lock. If guys are in then she can't use it. If women are in then the guys can't use it.

If the company allow her to change at home so they don't NEED a changing room, then they don't need to allocate times or make sure she gets a shot in the room before her shift starts. It's there for use, but it's not needed for the work so they don't need to get her in there before her shift starts.

If it is company policy, then they need to make sure she gets allocated time before or when her shift starts.

Weetabixandshreddies · 26/02/2019 22:29

But if somewhere provides a changing room, surely they still need to ensure that it's single sex?

It was single sex though because only a single sex was using it - in this case it happened to be the men but could just as easily have been women in there first.

RockyFlintstone · 26/02/2019 22:46

It was single sex though because only a single sex was using it - in this case it happened to be the men but could just as easily have been women in there first.

It's not clear if the room had a lock though? If there is no lock it's not single sex is it? It states that plural men were using it, so presumably its a room for multiple people to use, rather than a toilet/cubicle set up?

And the timing thing, I see what you are saying with the policy, but then again you can't state that you are providing a single sex changing facility if you are going to penalise someone for having to wait to use it unless they go in with the opposite sex iyswim? Can you?