I live in a state that does NOT require a 15 min break on either side of lunch. Here's the verbal warning I got today…
“OP,
Following up on our conversation today, I wanted to recap what we discussed. Break times are consistently exceeding 20 minutes per day. While we allow everyone to take breaks throughout the day, they must be reasonable. There have been eight instances of breaks exceeding 20 min this month and 52 instances year-to-date, totaling nearly 35 hours this year. This is considered time theft and must be stopped immediately. Any further discrepancies will result in disciplinary actions, up to and including termination.
If you have any question, feel free to reach out.
-Manager”
None of those times exceeded 25 minutes and are per day – not me stepping away for 20 minutes.
Edit: To be more specific, I'm looking for ideas. A response does not need to be written. For instance, someone just stated to get a doctor's note allowing me to use the restroom as often as needed.
The limit they want break time set to is no more than 20 minutes per day.