最近，美國芝加哥一家水龍頭公司對19名員工做出“行政警告”處罰。原因竟是他們在10個工作日內如廁時間加起來超過60分鐘。這意味著，這家公司的員工每天如廁超過6分鐘，就要受罰。

對此，被罰員工忍無可忍，向美國勞工部門提出了投訴。

據悉，芝加哥節(jié)水水龍頭公司從去年冬天開始在工廠一樓的洗手間安裝刷卡系統(tǒng)，員工出入廁所都需要刷卡。公司也由此得以掌握員工上廁所的時間長度，并且列表統(tǒng)計。

芝加哥節(jié)水水龍頭公司甚至還想出了鼓勵員工縮短上廁所時間的獎勵機制。

如果員工能夠在工作時間內(既定的休息時間除外)不上廁所，每月可獲得最高20美元的購物卡，相當于每天獲得1美元的獎勵�？扑诡D表示，已經有幾位員工成功獲得了獎勵。

Spend more than 6 minutes a day in the bathroom at Chicago's WaterSaver Faucet company and you'll face disciplinary measures。

That's what a union contends the manufacturer is pulling: timing bathroom breaks and warning employees when they can't beat the clock。

Teamsters local 743 filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming WaterSaver unfairly disciplined 19 workers in June for "excessive use" of washrooms。

The company's human resources department described "excessive use of the bathroom as ... 60 minutes or more over the last 10 working days," according to the affidavit. Do the math and it works out to 6 minutes a day。

The controversy goes back to last winter when WaterSaver installed swipe card systems on bathrooms located off the factory floor。

The company said it had little choice because some employees were spending way too much time in there, and not enough time on the manufacturing line。

WaterSaver's CEO, Steve Kersten, said 120 hours of production were lost in May because of bathroom visits outside of allotted break times。

To recoup lost hours, WaterSaver has adopted a rewards system where workers can earn a gift card of up to $20 each month ($1 a day) if they don't use the bathroom at all during work time. CEO Kersten said a few workers have already earned them。

He said that so far no one has been suspended or terminated, although warnings were issued. The company has a three step disciplinary process that starts with a verbal or written warning, which can then lead to a suspension, and finally a termination。

The union said monitoring bathroom time is an invasion of privacy。

"The company has spreadsheets on every union employee on how long they were in the bathroom," said Nick Kreitman, the union representative at WaterSavers. "There have been meetings with workers and human resources where the workers had to explain what they were doing in the bathroom," he said。

It's unreasonable given that the human body can't always perform on cue, Kreitman said. Besides, he pointed out that the company's 140 workers don't have paid sick days. Workers who can't afford to lose a day's pay come into work sick, and may end up using bathrooms more, he said。

Kersten said workers should be able to take care of most personal needs during the breaks the company gives them each day that total one hour. That's when workers have unlimited access to bathrooms without the electronic systems。

He said he understands people may have to use the bathroom outside of those breaks。

"No one is stopped from going to the bathroom," he said. But he believes workers might be spending time on their phones in the bathrooms。