'We want to use restrooms freely'

Members of the Korean Federation of Service Workers' Unions rally in front of the National Human Rights Commission building in downtown Seoul, April 22, to condemn the restriction on the use of customer restrooms. Yonhap

Sales workers banned from using 'customers' toilets'

By Bahk Eun-ji

Going to the restroom is a basic need. But for some, it is a daunting task even though they have access to restrooms nearby. At department stores and duty free shops, sales people are banned from using the same restrooms as customers.

They are told to use one of the limited number of “workers-only” restrooms, leading to long lines and added discomfort.

Members of cosmetics companies' labor unions and the Korean Federation of Service Workers' Unions (KFSWU) rallied in front of the National Human Rights Commission building in downtown Seoul on April 22 to call for the right to use restrooms that the department stores and duty free shops designated as “customers only.”

The unionists mainly belong to luxury brands such as Shiseido Korea, Bluebell Korea, ELCA Korea and LVMH.

“The department store prohibited sales workers from using restrooms on every floor of the building, saying those are only for customers,” Kim Yeon-woo, head of the Shiseido Korea union, said during a press conference in front of the commission.

“Many workers have a hard time using the designated staff toilets because they're not located close enough to the sales counters and there are not enough of them.”

According to the laws on public toilets, there is no mention of “customer-only” restrooms. Washroom facilities at large commercial buildings over 2,000 square meters, such as department stores and duty free shops, are considered to be public toilets, meaning they are available for use by the public as well as store employees, according to Kim.

“However, department stores go as far as to give regular education to the workers not to use customers' restrooms, because consumers may feel uncomfortable when they encounter sales workers there,” Kim said. “I can't believe we have to demand such basic rights in the 21st century.”

A cosmetic sales worker, who wanted to be identified only by her surname Choi, said the rules mean she doesn't even drink water during work hours.

“The staff restroom is too far from our counter and we don't have enough time to go there. There is no choice but to avoid the situation,” Choi said, adding many sales workers suffer illnesses such as cystitis, plantar fasciitis and even depression due to their poor work conditions.

Park Ga-young, a union head of Bluebell Korea, said staffers usually give up on going to the bathroom when there is a long line in front of the staff toilet, which has only one or two stalls in the whole store.

“Some of my colleagues have suffered from skin inflammation because they can't change sanitary pads during working hours,” Park said. “We really don't understand why we can't use the restrooms near our sales counters.”

According to a survey of 2,806 cosmetics department workers at department stores and duty free shops across the country last year, more than 95 percent were women in their 20s to 40s and they suffered various ailments more than their peers who don't work in the service industry.

About 20 percent had been diagnosed with cystitis in the past year, a rate 3.2 times higher than those not working in the service industry. The number of service industry workers suffering panic disorders was 12 times higher than those in other lines of work, and their rate of depression was 3.5 times higher, according to the study by Korea University health science professor Kim Seung-sub.

Kang Byeong-chan, a director of the KFSWU, urged department stores and duty free shops to stop using the words “customers-only restrooms” to change the social perception toward workers' rights.

“Those words were only made by those stores for their convenience,” Kang said. “We urge them to stop using the words and allow all workers to use toilets freely, to protect their rights.”

Kang said the organization has been demanding workers be given the right to use any available restrooms. Of the major department stores, including Lotte, Shinsegae and Hanwha Galleria and duty free shops such as AK, Lotte, Shilla and Dongwha, only Hanwha Galleria has so far responded that workers are free to use the same restrooms as customers.

The KFSWU filed a petition with the rights watchdog to request it help guarantee the workers' rights.

In response, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday it will soon conduct inspections at department stores and duty free shops. It also said it would release guidelines about proper establishment and management of restrooms at such facilities and carry out stronger monitoring to see if the guidelines are followed.