Laws about toilets at work

briskbeats

I work at a supermarket. Yesterday, the female loos were out of order due to a leaking pipe. Normally the customer toilet is working and can use this. But this is broken. That meant to use the male toilets. Some female colleagues are uncomfortable with using the men’s. I shouted something and nobody was responding. So ok to enter the loos.

So what is the law about separate gender toilets? 

TBagpuss

I don't think there are any, it's not uncommon to have gender neutral facilities. It sounds like a reasonable arrangement as a short term measure which they are getting the ladies ' fixed.

Obviously if any staff member were to behave inappropriately that would be something to  report, whether that was a male worker behaving inappropriately to women colleagues or vice versa. 
 

warby68

Easiest way to keep it more discreet would be to make an engaged sign for the outer door so only one person in at once but I have no idea of the number of people needing to use the toilets at any one time and whether queues would be too long.

I doubt there's a law covering emergency plumbing problems.

TELLIT01

As some schools have talked about introducing 'Gender Neutral' toilets there is clearly no law preventing that setup.

Undervalued

It was a requirement (maybe still is) that a place of work that employs more than five people (and has both male and female staff) must provide separate facilities. It can (or could) have some "neutral" toilets as well. That was the setup in a place where I used to work although part of the building was grade one listed so that may have prevented some changes.

That said, in an emergency situation the supermarket can only do the best it can, as it seems they were doing. Are you hoping they should have closed and sent everybody home on full pay? 

TBagpuss

I think the requirement for separate facilities doesn't apply where there is a door which can be fastened from the inside - so if there are lockable cubicles then they can be mixed.

It is possible that they don't count as separate if the cubicles have big gaps under the doors or partitions  but if they are floor to ceiling then they are effectively separate rooms, even if they are in a larger shared space. 

Grumpy_chap

Depending on the layout, the only thing that might be done additionally would be to close (tape off) the urinals, so that everyone has to use the cubicles and does what needs to be done in private.