How to deal with a toilet where a coworker constantly leaves urine on the rim?

Question

I'm having kind of a silly issue at work, but I'm being 100% serious. I work in a very small business, 11-13 employees in on any given day. We have one single stall restroom for the whole office. Very often there is pee on the toilet bowl, right in the small area where the actual toilet seat does not cover. Like this one.

Every Monday we get together and discuss business stuff, project status, etc. Two weeks ago I brought up that we should try to keep the toilet a little cleaner. In an effort to be professional and not get too descriptive, I kept it at that. Then over the week, I noticed there was no change.

I brought it up again at the next meeting, when I was actually asked if we were doing better with our toilet hygiene. I said no, and this time I explained that there is a small area not covered by the toilet seat and this is what needs to be wiped up after you go.

This next day after this meeting, I go to the bathroom and lo and behold, pee droplets all over this area. This time, however, I did notice who came out of the bathroom right before this. Later, I went to the restroom after this person AGAIN and same thing.

This person is a 50-60 year old man, who has a handicap. He can walk, but has a bit of limp. He definitely has less trouble standing up and sitting down than another overweight employee that works with us, so I would not assume that he cannot bend over wipe up his mess. The restroom is basically a handicapped friendly as well, with bars to help you get up and down if needed.

Now that I know who it is, what the heck do I do? I have been wiping it up, using copious amounts of toilet paper, but its really gross and should be kept clean, especially if we have high profile clients in the office, which this person probably wouldn't be to aware of.

As a note as well, there is a small chance that he is doing it on purpose as I am the one bringing up the issue - he is a software developer and I am the UI designer, and maybe he secretly hates what I do and/or has an issue taking instruction from a much younger person. EDIT: Not pulling the sexist card or anything here, there have been some times where he would not listen to or disagree with what I'm explaining to him, and another employee would have to come over and have to help us communicate. However I doubt this is the issue. It may also be a cultural thing for toilet sanitation to be less important, as this person is from a different country.

EDIT: Our restrooms are actually very clean, always except for these little pee incidents.

Answer 1

I wouldn't expect any sane person to pee on the toilet seat on purpose. It's probably that he doesn't have to seat on it to pee, so he's naturally less bothered about the hygiene than you.

This said, your claim is totally reasonable and the issue should be dealt with. I wouldn't throw direct accusations, that would be humiliating and a also little creepy. Things I would do:

• stop cleaning it so that your colleagues realize the issue affects them, too. Try not to go to the restroom after your problematic colleague, let others see the mess.
• take an actual photo of the toilet before and after, and print a poster "I want to see this but not THIS", which you would put on the wall or door.
• once you raise awareness and get supporters, go talk to your boss. He may be able to convey the message better than you do (he's certainly in a better position to do so).

Answer 2

Very often there is pee on the toilet bowl, right in the small area where the actual toilet seat does not cover.

This is a public service announcement. Maybe you're using the toilet seat cover backwards like I used to. The right way to use it: :

I have been wiping it up, using copious amounts of toilet paper, but its really gross and should be kept clean, especially if we have high profile clients in the office ...

Sadly, this doesn't just happen in unisex restrooms, but also happens in a Men's and Women's rooms. Why? People suck. Since you are the only female in the workplace, I recommend approaching from the hygiene and company image perspective. I agree with the other answer that suggest you to take a picture of the problem to show the team.

Every Monday we get together and discuss business stuff, project status, etc. Two weeks ago I brought up that we should try to keep the toilet a little cleaner. In an effort to be professional and not get too descriptive, I kept it at that. Then over the week, I noticed there was no change.

I brought it up again at the next meeting, when I was actually asked if we were doing better with our toilet hygiene. I said no, and this time I explained that there is a small area not covered by the toilet seat and this is what needs to be wiped up after you go.

This next day after this meeting, I go to the bathroom and lo and behold, pee droplets all over this area. This time, however, I did notice who came out of the bathroom right before this. Later, I went to the restroom after this person AGAIN and same thing.

This company doesn't seem like a very healthy environment. You are making a small request and they are not honoring it. This bleeds over to other parts of the company as well. I personally wouldn't stick around.

If you have to stay, my guess is the guys are too lazy to put the toilet seat up. Maybe the solution is to leave the toilet seat up and/or just hover.

Answer 3

Can't you just bring it up in another meeting,

"Can you blokes stop peeing all over the toilet seat like drunken monkeys please. My kids learnt how without a problem and quite frankly it's unhealthy and disgusting. I'm happy to bring some spare nappies over for you's if you'd like."

Or words to that effect.

Answer 4

Maybe you can bypass the direct approach and go with the indirect. Is there anyway you can get toilet seat covers for your office? If so, maybe it will make you feel better. You might also want to get one of those wet towel packs from the drug store.

I'm guessing based on your question that you are the sole woman at this office? Have you spoken with other females at the office to ask their opinion? If two or more individuals arise then it would make a stronger case than you alone but then again I do not know how things are structured there to give good advice. It may be that you are the only person who would be concerned with this. If so, I would avoid talking to the group and instead talk to your manager and explain your concerns. At the very least he sounds somewhat concerned since he asked you the following week on how they did. Since you weren't direct maybe he thought you meant the cleaning person didn't do a good job so he told them to clean up better and thought he resolved the case.