Diversity obligations gone mad

[Flick of the Elbow]

It's one thing to dry outer clothes that have become soaked through in a rain storm on the way to work but to use the premises as a laundry is taking the p***.
Why can't they put soiled clothes into the bag they took their clean clothes in with?
It sounds as if some members of staff have been overstepping the mark and management is simply clamping down a bit.

No laundry. Just airing damp clothes from the morning commute so they are dry for the ride home.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

It surely isn't your employers problem to supply showers and changing facilities?

Yes it is. Encouraging your staff to cycle to work benefits them, it benefits the community, it benefits the employer.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

The way some people are responding to this, it's like they have a miraculous ability not to sweat when doing exercise. Either that or they just don't care about the odours they will be sharing with their colleagues once sat at their desks.

 

[Brandane]

once sat at their desks.

Which implies that we all work at offices, and that is not the case. Some employers are very small organisations working in premises with limited space, and supplying a shower and changing facilities might simply not be practical from a cost and/or space factor.
A couple of years ago I worked in a small shop in Greenock, 14 miles away, and that was the case. I occasionally commuted by bike which involved a 6 mile climb over the Brisbane Glen before dropping down to Greenock. I always showered before leaving home and took some baby wipes, deodorant, and a clean shirt with me. Odours were never an issue - and that 900ft climb would make anyone sweat!

 

[Brandane]

So which genders should be catered for and which should not?

OK, here we go. This might not be the wisest thing to do on a strangely PC forum such as this, but IMHO employers should cater for the majority of their workforce, which in most cases will be a mix of male and female. They shouldn't be restricting those facilities and spending vast amounts of money to pander to the tiny minority who decide to mess with nature - but that's a whole new topic probably best discussed in you-know-where (which means I won't be taking part).

 

[jefmcg]

No the drying area that they are complaining about is for drying clothes - they don't want their shorts/bras etc pressed up amongst lots of disgustingly smelly men's kit. To say nothing of being freely available for close inspection by pervs.

Fascinated that someone who thinks mamil is a hate word, is completely comfortable characterising his wife's male colleagues as disgusting, smelly perverts.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

[QUOTE 4668353, member: 9609"]what sort of work is that people are doing who need to get showered before they start their shift ?[/QUOTE]
Well I've given a bit of a clue by mentioning desks.

 

[Brandane]

So if the majority of the workforce are men, what should employers do? I don't think this is really anything to do with 'political correctness', is it?

Possibly not; it's more to do with my own beliefs. As I said, "IMHO". Then again, I didn't say it was anything to do with political correctness; I just hinted that I find this forum a tad overly PC and a number of contributors who enjoy finding something to be offended about.
Nature intended us to be one gender or the other, and I think that is all employers should be required to cater for.

 

[Brandane]

I don't think you understand what gender is. Or PC.

The state of being male or female, according to my dictionary.

 

[Brandane]

That is sex. Gender is a social construct, masculinity, femininity, etc, things that change across cultures and societies, unlike sex which is biological and universal (and not as completely binary as you might like to think). HTH

It's always an education on here; I thought sex was something completely different.

 

[jefmcg]

I just hinted that I find this forum a tad overly PC

To quote John Oliver, "congratulations on your white penis"

 

[JoshM]

Do you work with many 'pervs' OP? I'd also love to mention the 'diversity obligations' that have prompted such a change to my employer. Could you state what legislation I need to quote at them?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

It will be one of those Brussels laws, I expect.

Let's take back control of our changing rooms.

 

[Firestorm]

In my 40+ years of working I have never worked anywhere with showering and changing facilities, on the occasions that I have run or cycled to work I have had to join a local gym for a shower.
given the number of people I seen in the mornings emerging from offices or walking around in cycling gear , carrying shirts or suits, my employers are not alone.

 

[Drago]

The word 'gender' has manifold meanings. Its common usage until the work of John Money in the Fifties was simply a means of reference to the physical characteristics of either sex. Since Money's work some people take it as a as a social construct in the manner referred to by Tiny.

Who is to say the more recent meaning of the term is the correct one? It's simply one of several conventions, one that happens to be fashionable in some quarters at the present time.