Sloping toilet designed to stop workers spending too much time in the loo

18 December 2019, 17:48

A design for a new sloping toilet aimed at stopping workers spending too much time in the bathroom has been met with anger on social media.

The seat of the StandardToilet slopes downwards at a 13-degree angle. The tilted design means it is uncomfortable to sit on it for more than a few minutes

The designers have filed a patent application for the toilet and said the model "offers the ability to increase business efficiency and profits through reductions in social media usage."

They claim "the workplace toilet has become a private texting and social media usage space."

Pictures of the sloping toilet went viral on social media after American actor Dave Vescio tweeted: "Say goodbye to comfort breaks! New downward-tilting toilets are designed to become unbearable to sit on after five minutes. They say the main benefit is to employees in improved employee productivity."

Ash Presto, a Sociology lecturer at the University of the Philippines retweeted his post, writing: "Ohhhhh, capitalism doing what it does best— exploitation of workers. Imagine having a universal need like relieving yourself in the toilet made uncomfortable by your employers just to fully utilise your full labor power, which this system considers as just another commodity."

One Twitter user commented: "God forbid I spend 6 minutes in the bathroom instead of 5 minutes during my 8 hours shift."

Another social media user said: "The ruling class will never stop finding ways to squeeze every ounce of labor out of the workers. Gross."

Designer Mahabir Gill said: "It came from my personal experience where I stopped off at the motorway to go to the loo and realised there's a huge queue.

"I wondered what people were doing in there, some were coming out with their mobile phones."

On its website, StandardToilet says: "It is estimated that in the United Kingdom alone, extended employee breaks costs industry and commerce an estimated £4 billion per annum."

It also added that that medical studies have suggested "using traditional toilets can cause swollen haemorrhoids and the weakening of pelvic muscles."