A contractor’s TikTok of a homeowner berating him for using her home’s bathroom while he was on the job went viral.
In Alex’s (@alexvueltas0) video, his co-worker puts down tiles in the home, and a woman standing over the co-worker, presumably the owner of the house, tells him he’s prohibited from using the facilities in the house and that he needs to go to the bathroom on his own time. The TikTok amassed over 3.3 million views and sparked a litany of comments from outraged individuals who urged him to report the woman to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
@alexvueltas0 @Osha
♬ original sound – Alex
At the start of the video, the homeowner asks the worker if he’s doing his job. He informs her that he was using the bathroom. “Go to the bathroom at home,” she tells him.
“You can’t go to the bathroom here?” he asks.
“No, it’s not a public bathroom. It’s a house, and I don’t want anybody going to the bathroom,” she says.
She then adds that he’s able to use the restroom when he takes his break. The woman hovers over Alex’s co-worker, who is laying tile, and tells the TikToker that she’s the one who pays them.
“You have no right to be yelling at someone,” he tells her as she hands his co-worker a tile. “Just because we’re Mexican you have no right—”
She cuts him off to say, “I’m a Mexican, too.”
“Exactly, and you think you’re above everybody,” he tells her.
“You need to leave right now; you need to leave now!” she says to Alex, and he tells her again that she shouldn’t be yelling at anybody. She points off-camera, presumably to the front door of the home.
“I’m the one paying you, and you need to leave right now, I’m going to call the police,” she tells him.
“Go ahead,” he tells her.
“You don’t want to make a scene with me. You need to leave now. Wait outside,” she says.
Alex then turns to walk outside of her house. He then swings around to tell her that workers have rights like being entitled to a 15-minute break while they’re working.
His co-worker continues to work on the tile.
“You wanna work, or you don’t wanna work?” the woman asks Alex at the end of the video.
“What legal action can I do?” the text overlay asks viewers.
Many viewers responded to the question and expressed they felt sorry for the man who continued working.
“Sue employer is suppose to provide portable potty,” one said.
“Law states job sites need to have a bathroom like a porta john,” another argued.
“I feel so bad for the other guy too… the way he just slowly went back to work, u can see he can’t lose that job so he will endure her treatment,” a third said.
When another TikToker asked Alex why she was hovering over them as they worked, he said that the woman “wants it all perfect.”
Alex explained why he was reluctant to leave the premises in a comment, saying, “I’m her employee she she took me there w company truck I would be in the middle of no where”
According to OSHA, “Employers must: Allow workers to leave their work locations to use a restroom when needed. Provide an adequate number of restrooms for the size of the workforce to prevent long lines. Avoid imposing unreasonable restrictions on restroom use.”
Under these guidelines, if there was no porta potty or restroom provided to employees on the job site, the homeowner, who is the employer in this instance, could find themselves in violation of OSHA regulations. Also, the fact that the woman was recorded stating they couldn’t use the restroom unless they were on break, also appears to violate these guidelines. The guidelines state that workers are allowed to use a restroom when it’s required. Fines are usually levied against business owners/employers for not abiding by OSHA guidelines.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Alex via TikTok comment for further information.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/homeowner-doesnt-let-contractor-use-bathroom/