A UK Government office has implemented a 10 minute toilet rule to prevent civil servants from spending too long in the bathroom, in a bid to drive productivity and save millions of pounds.
A UK Government office has implemented a 10 minute toilet rule to prevent civil servants from spending too long in the bathroom, in a bid to drive productivity and save millions of pounds.
In the West Midland office, timers have been installed to prevent civil servants from spending any longer than ten minutes in the toilet, at which point a hidden sensor switches off the toilet light, reports the Daily Telegraph.
“This was brought in without any staff consultation and is both humiliating and degrading,” said one worker from the offices in Birmingham. “Can you imagine the indignity of being in a cubicle, letting nature take its course, when suddenly the lights go out, and you have to fumble in the dark to make yourself decent, before struggling to make your way out towards the main door to the toilets where the switch is?”
“All the while you are praying someone doesn't enter the toilets and see you struggling in the dark with your trousers round your ankles.”
Dozens of workers have reportedly been caught out by the new efficiency strategy.
A spokeswoman for the government office defended their toilet light switches insisting they save money and energy. She said: “We have introduced a range of measures across Government Office buildings to reduce avoidable energy consumption and we are continuing with that work.”
