Here is a site that specifically mentions “preventing food contamination” and “employees wearing proper clothes”. Warning:PDF format. See chapter one. Scroll well down. I believe these are the same standards that restaurants must abide by as well. You might also check out these two sites, that link to each other, and also the site above. FDA Food Code and National Restaurant Association
She’s a health hazard, if she does indeed, sit, BARE on the counters! Report her, don’t let “guilt” stop you, she’s more than old enough to know better, and she’s doing this anyway. If you must, speak to your manager about the fact that she sits on the counters, and doesn’t wear panties. (Tell him she’s admitted it etc.) If he doesn’t take action, or she ignores him, then go further up the chain if she’s not fired. This is a matter of doing the right thing, and stopping a possible NASTY illness, due to what contacts that counter. (Not just cooch, anus area too.) She’s old enough to take care of herself, and old enough to know right from wrong, so if she gets punished for this, she’s got no one to blame but herself.
I’m a bit unclear on that. If I remember right, she told me about a camping trip in which she went commando out of necessity, decided she liked it, and made it daily habit. I could have misunderstood or remembering wrong, but I think she believes it’s healthier. For her, I guess. Not necessarily for those eating off our counters. I also don’t know why she has to wear a dress while going commando. In public, for cripe’s sake! I just really don’t understand it. But then who am I? Just a prude who wears underpants…
BTW, Zabali_Clawbane, thanks for the links. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything about undergarments, just “outer clothing.” My guess is that: letting it all hang out is just not that common; and/or it’s not a health issue so long as one doesn’t put their hoo-hoo or ass where it would contaminate food/prep tools or play with themselves without subsequently washing up; and/or it’s sense that is so common, they hadn’t thought of specifically including under garment requirements. Who knows…
Yes, but bald guys don’t have to wear hairnets, do they?
Is this maybe part of the problem? Would anybody have trouble telling this woman to cover it up if she was fat and fifty?
I can certainly understand a man being intimidated by a young woman’s sexuality. But I don’t understand why other women wouldn’t just be vocally indignant.
If I visited this place as a customer, seeing her at work would make me wonder what else the management wasn’t supervising properly.
Most of the conversation on this thread treats this question as a health issue. There are other possible ramifications.
Is having an employee who (inadvertently or otherwise) exposes herself to staff or customers likely to put the employer at risk for a sexual harrasment lawsuit? If so, then the manager is being seriously negligent for not putting a stop to this behavior.
Did the term “going commando” originate with the “Friends” episode, or is it older then that?
I can’t find the link, but the last time this was asked here, the consensus was the term originated in the WWII practice of British Commandos not wearing clothing under their wetsuits.
At the risk of offending someone, yes, that would disgust me to a greater degree. But remember, I haven’t actually seen anything (and don’t plan to), so there’s very little difference with regard to me being offended.
My ex (to whom I was certainly attracted at the time) used to go commando as a recreation mgr at a well-known hotel. His uniform shorts were thin and white and left not a whole lot to the imagination. I frequently derided him for dressing inappropriately. So attractiveness (or lack thereof), in my estimation, does not qualify any degree of propriety.
Is it really intimidation? If I were intimidated, I might feel the need to compete with her. I don’t. I’m offended though. Offended that one would resort to such tactics for attention (as many of us believe). Offended that one would not accept that it is socially unacceptable. Offended that it is one example of her not taking her job seriously. Offended that one would disregard the negative effect the action has/may have on others, including unsuspecting customers, their children, and co-workers.
Exhibitionist? Perhaps, but then I’m not a psychologist. It’s interesting though as she seems to find this most amusing and scandalous.
Hairnet nothing! If she’s sitting on the countertops, then bodily fluids are being leaked out onto where plates of food are served, and all the microbes that grow around the human rectal area may also be transmitted. retch
I’d say that this phrase from the first site I linked in my previous post,
(which seems to be a paraphrasing of Federal health codes), covers wearing panties. Bolding mine.
It’s not a stretch to think that the wording there tacitly means that the genitals should be covered. I think the legislators felt it didn’t need to be directly said, but nevertheless it’s still tacitly said, and therefore I’d say “covered” by the codes. No pun meant there.
If nothing else, copy, paste and print out the posts here and show them to your boss, in an effort to persaude her to take action. (Tell her you posed a hypothetical question if you need to.) This needs to be stopped, for more than one reason. It’s a health hazard, and the restaurant/restaurant workers are at risk of getting into trouble if it’s not. Good luck.
Get a grip. If she’s leaking fluids enough to soak through her skirt, then a thong or other undergarments won’t be enough to make a difference. The only real complaint in here is that she’s sitting on the counter - if that’s even a legitimate complaint. The manager should tell her not to sit on counter and table tops. Otherwise it’s none of your business is she goes commando. If you catch a glimpse of her nether regions when she bends over, then get over it. Why the conniptions over seeing a body part?
While this may be an enlightened viewpoint, in the current legal climate, it is a risky one for the employer to take.
My understanding of harrasment law is that if any other employee finds the repeated viewings of her nether parts unwelcome, reports it to the employer, and the employer takes no action to prevent such viewings, then the employee has the makings of a substantial lawsuit.
IANAL, so my understanding may not be correct. But can the manager afford to take the risk?
hell, call the local TV “problem solver” guru as a ‘complaining customer’.
Or get some shots of her (not her genitals, but flirty) on the sly (friend with a camera phone and have the friend start a ‘web site’ and send the links to corporate.
Okay, even if you don’t go that far, at least have documentation of when you spoke to the manager if this comes up and your ass is in a sling because hers wasn’t and you “apparently” didn’t do anything.
If her skirt is short enough to display the goods when she bends over, it’s short enough to slip above her nether regions when she sits. Trust me. There’s contact.
A lot of people aren’t enthusiastic about seeing genitals without prior warning; even more people aren’t willing to combine their food preparation with the visible genitals of a stranger (others, I guess, would probably pay good money for a naked chef). What’s wrong with that attitude? I’d be a little repulsed to see her hoo-ha hanging out, the same way I’d feel revulsion at seeing my male server’s nutsack hanging out of his jogging shorts. It bespeaks a certain carelessness that could carry over into the kitchen.
She doesn’t want anyone to look at her cootchie, but she skips panties and wears short skirts? She is either cosmically stupid, or, as has been said in this thread, she has an exhibitionism issue. Discussing her feelings of “concern” and being “creeped out” with you was just another way of flashing.
I would think that the problem isn’t so much the lack of underwear, as the ocasional exposure of genitals. The health issue is not so much with lack of underwear as siting on the counter. No one, no matter how much underwear they have on should be sitting on food serving counters, that would be almost as bad as standing on such counters. She should be required to avoid any risk of exposure, and be told she will be fired if any customer makes a complaint about the issue. If she wants to change job, she might find a position at a nudist venue where exposure would not be considered problomatic, but there would non the less be great exception taken if she sat on a counter at such a venue.
It sounds as if the manager will not do anything unless she is forced to, so why not make it come to that? Enlist the help a a friend to come in and complain. If that still doesn’t work, maybe you could try to shame the gal by having a customer complain of the smell.
“Waiter! This soup smells like ass.”
