Today’s Labor Updates:

Chicago Company Disciplining Employees For Bathroom Breaks, Says Union

France: Obligations to disclose details of directors’ remuneration – SA companies

Chicago Company Disciplining Employees For Bathroom Breaks, Says Union

By Jared Keever, Tue, July 15, 2014

A Chicago union has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against a local company they claim is only allowing employees 6 minutes a day to use the bathroom.

Members of Teamsters Local 743 build sink stations at WaterSaver Faucet Co. Recently some members have been disciplined for spending more than the allotted 30 minutes per week in the bathroom.

Nick Kreitman, senior business agent for the Teamsters, told the Chicago Tribune that 19 workers have been disciplined with either written or oral warnings. The union represents about 140 workers at the plant.

“[The company’s] philosophy is that they feel like people are getting an extra break in the bathroom,” Kretiman said. “It’s a company that doesn’t grant paid sick leave, so it’s more than a coincidence that [the owner] started to discipline workers after we asked for paid sick leave.”

The company reportedly installed a tracking system that requires employees to swipe identification cards to get in and out of the bathroom. That system was installed earlier this year but members of the union said managers began issuing the warnings just last month.

Steven Kersten, who owns the company, said the current contract allows for a 10-minute break in the morning, a 30-minute lunch and 15-minute afternoon break. Beyond that, he said, he fears employees are using time in the bathroom as additional breaks.

“Our point of view is that anyone can go to the washroom when they need to but what bothers us is extended periods of time and multiple trips that cause lost productivity,” he said.

He cited one worker who was tracked taking six bathroom breaks during one shift, including one just minutes prior to his scheduled morning break. Kersten said he estimates the company lost 120 hours of productivity in May to unscheduled breaks.

Employees aren’t buying it. Some union members believe the new bathroom policy has more to do with current contract negotiations between the union and the company.

Progress Illinois reports the company only began enforcing the policy with the tracking system after the union presented its list of contract demands. Among other things, the union is asking for the new contract to reflect a $15 minimum wage and paid sick days. Workers currently make between $11 and $16 an hour.

Union members picketed in front of WaterSaver’s headquarters last week before reporting to work. They were demanding better contract terms but at least one member was complaining about the bathroom policy.

“Right now, you’ve got to write in and write out to go the bathroom,” said Rudy Dixon, who has worked at the plant for 33 years. “Then when you go to the bathroom, you’ve got to punch in and you’ve got to punch out. That’s not right. You can only use the bathroom twice a day.”

“I’m 61 years old,” he added. “How are you going to tell me how to use the bathroom?”

France: Obligations to disclose details of directors’ remuneration – SA companies

Sophie Brezin and Emma Rohsler

July 18 2014

New rules are in force in France to require larger employers to provide a database to the French Works Council in order to effectively consult on the strategic orientation of the company. Inter alia, this database must include a detailed breakdown of the remuneration of individual directors of the company.

• The measures apply from 14 June 2014 for companies with 300+ employees (and from 14 June 2015 for companies with less than 300 employees).
• The information must cover the current year, the two previous years and the next three years – i.e. ultimately a six year period in total.
• For SA (Société Anonyme) companies, the obligation to provide remuneration information will require providing the following details relating to individual directors’ remuneration: total remuneration and benefits of any nature paid during the financial year in question to each officer, including whether by way of stock, options etc. The report must also cover details of remuneration and benefits which the officer has received during the financial year from other companies within the Group which are subsidiaries of, or holding companies of, the entity in question.
• The report on remuneration must state which elements are fixed, variable and exceptional, setting out the criteria under which they have been calculated or the circumstances under which they were established. The information must also set out any engagements entered into by the employer in relation to remuneration, indemnities or benefits due in relation to taking up the office, its termination (e.g. any liquidated damages arrangements etc.) or change in the office.

The offices held by the individual in each group company must also be listed.

Actions for employers

The database of information must be put in place by the deadlines referred to above.

The obligation to provide such information may be particularly sensitive for employers facing the requirement to make collective redundancies and may give rise to an obligation to carefully manage employee relations.