Bathroom break at work? Swiss court upholds watchmaker's rule to do it on your own time

GENEVA (AP) — A court in Switzerland — where time is money for its famed watchmaking industry — has ruled that a dial manufacturer was justified in telling workers: If you need a bathroom break, clock out and take it on your own time.

An investigative report by public broadcaster RTS over the weekend revealed how a regional court in western Neuchatel ruled that watch dial maker Jean Singer & Cie SA was within its rights to require staffers to punch out for toilet time.

The case has bared what some say is a labor-law loophole in a rich Alpine country with a reputation for running like clockwork.

Word of the clock-out requirement leaked to labor inspectors on a site visit during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, according to the ruling, which was delivered in June but made public late last month.

They subsequently ordered the company to end the practice, alleging a violation of federal labor law that protects workers' personal needs and arguing that it could cause workers to “hold it in or not hydrate, which could lead to serious physiological disorders,” the ruling said.

In its legal action against the order, Singer insisted its staffers had “a great deal of freedom" during their breaks — whose length was “left to the discretion of each employee” — and the clock-in system didn't involve telling managers why staff took breaks.

Pascal Moesch, a lawyer for the 105-year-old family-run business, told RTS that the company believed the issue was generally about "an interruption of work — whether a toilet break, meal breaks, rest breaks, phone breaks, (or) a nature walk. So regardless of the reason for the break, it requires clocking-out.”

The court said that while Swiss law was clearer on issues like the hygiene of restrooms and the rights of company leaders to make decisions suited to the specific needs of their businesses, a “loophole” remains when it comes to bathroom breaks — a hint that lawmakers might need to intervene to fill it.

In its ruling, the court wrote that “Swiss law does not mention the right of employees to go to the toilet, even though this is a basic physiological need.”

Jamey Keaten, The Associated Press