Pointing to a study conducted last year that shows increasing barriers to workers' ability to take bathroom breaks when needed, Britain's Trades Union Congress has launched a campaign to fight back against employers' "Dickensian" policies. The 2002 survey showed that over fifty percent of British workers lack the time for bathroom breaks during the work day, and that twenty-five percent of workers avoid going to the bathroom at work because their employers failed to maintain the facilities. The TUC has also accused some employers of reducing workers' pay for going to the bathroom outside of official break times---a charge already under review by Britain's Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in at least one case.
See DAVID TURNER, Financial Times, February 20, 2003