Oh, and DNB is Norway’s biggest bank (though this story concerned an insurance subsidiary, so the post is strictly speaking correct on that count).

Here’s the passage in Google books if you click the first link.
http://books.google.com/books?id=RMd3GpIFxcUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=snow+crash&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zBIpT4ifDe_MiQLSwOXYCg&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Bathroom&f=false

This kind of personal harassment and systematic infantilization sounds like something American business owners would pull. I never thought that Norwegians would.

http://cornellsun.com/node/30466

The answer is, of course, bad management – but how can management be this bad? Having a pleasant workplace can only increase productivity and managers who don’t realize that should be fired. If it goes all the way to the top, well, the CEO and other execs are idiots sitting on top of tons of wasted productivity – which would increase their already ridiculous paychecks, so you’d think it’s something they’d be interested in.

Presumably these kinds of policies result from people actually abusing the company’s time and spending a lot of time in the bathroom, or standing around the water cooler or whatever. Thing is, everyone – besides the managers apparently – knows who the people who do these kinds of things are. If the managers were any good they would know too, and can deal with the people directly (to be clear I’m not suggesting that workers should inform on their cube mates).

I know that if I worked someplace that tracked my every movement, I would spend more time figuring out workarounds out of spite than I would working.

There are a couple of other reasons I still use Firefox, but BB is actually the main one.

*perhaps I have a great movie to rewatch….

OSHA Regulation: 29 CFR §1910.141(c)(1)(i)

Official interpretation of the above

Basically, if your employer is prepared to time your bathroom breaks and penalize you for pissing incessantly (or whatever they say you’re doing), they also have to be able to prove that they’re right for doing this.

If your employer actually has the balls to dock your pay for bathroom use, you’ll need to contact your state’s Department of Labor and ask about that. The law varies from state to state, and there is no federal regulation on this matter. The DOL can help you out there.

I’m not trying to derail the thread, either. All these regulations just go to show that there are shithouse-crazy employers in EVERY country, not just Norway.

In my early 20′s I worked for one of the split off baby Bells processing new phone orders – just checking in the paperwork once phones had been installed. We had to raise our hands and be dismissed by a manager to use the restroom. We were allowed two minutes, and after those two minutes were up you were docked out of your two 15-minute breaks. They eventually were stopped by the union, but only for direct hires. Us contractors were still docked. Crazy shit.