• ccunning@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    This looks like, and “Wellness room” sounds like, a gender neutral term for a lactation room.

    The description in that Wikipedia article sounds much nicer and more elaborate than what we actually had at my last office.

    • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 months ago

      Precisely what this is, with the added benefit (to the company) of being used as a prayer room or other various employee needs.

      Converting storage to these private/meditation/wellness (corporation dependant branding for them) rooms has been very common.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        Imagine the conflict when the woman who needs to pump breast milk and the man who needs to spread his prayer mat and pray meet at the door.

        Although I guess it would be easily solved by him putting on a sleep mask. (Earplugs if he finds the squirt squirt of breast milk arousing or distracting.) Or if the entry door is on the East end of the room.

          • Rolando@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            “Attention employees! The Wellness Rooms are at capacity! All employees are expected to lower their wellness standards until further notice. End of Message.”

        • PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          Why would the woman want to pump in the room with a co-worker? Don’t know, feels like your trying to imply something about the man here. Or am I missing something?

          • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            I’m not saying either would choose to be in there together. But having been a nursing mother, I know there’s no rescheduling the milk when it’s letting down. And I believe Muslim prayers need to be done on schedule. The man would no more choose to have a woman in the same room than she’d choose to have him in there. It’s the corporation I’m faulting, for deciding to make it multipurpose rather than providing separate places. Or, you know, adequate postnatal leave.

            • PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works
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              5 months ago

              I see, thanks for clarifying. Adequate postnatal leave is definitely what’s needed, and I mean like 2 years not 3 months. I had to use up all my PTO for each of my kids births because there was no paternity leave. My wife only got a couple months. Fun emailing about work when you’re in the NICU.

        • Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Although I guess it would be easily solved by him putting on a sleep mask. (Earplugs if he finds the squirt squirt of breast milk arousing or distracting.) Or if the entry door is on the East end of the room.

          I will pay you 10 dollars to delete this sentence and never say it again

          • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            Like him, if you find something upsetting or distracting you can turn away from it rather than insisting the world change to please you.

            A breastfeeding/pumping woman and a man praying to Mecca could share the room if he protects her privacy. Having eyes and ears covered should help him focus on his prayers anyway.

            Luckily you don’t have a tiny room, you have the whole Internet to run away screaming in.

            • Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              not what I was insinuating but okay.

              I said that cus you said “Squirt Squirt” and mentioned someone potentially being aroused by breastfeeding and it took me out of it 😭😭 I was just messin with you, dw :’ )

    • BedbugCutlefish@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Those do usually need a fridge and sink though. Not sure if it’s a code requirement, but all the ones I’ve seen had that.

      Might be why the call it a ‘wellness room’, instead of a mothers room; doesn’t meet the legal requirements.

      • ccunning@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Maybe it varies state by state. This is what I found when looking for federal requirements:

        a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express milk

  • superkret@feddit.org
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    5 months ago

    My former employer had a relaxation room that looked like this.
    It was sound-proof and had a massage chair in it.

    The door to the room was within direct line of sight of the boss’s desk.
    I tried going in there once, but the boss called me over and gave me more work.

  • ArchRecord@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    The first thing I did the moment I saw this was imagine seeing this in Portal, and hearing GLaDOS say something like “Welcome to the Aperture Science wellness room, where test subjects can de-stress after a long day of testing”

  • AShadyRaven@lemmy.zip
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    5 months ago

    im almost certain this is a breastfeeding/pumping room, but given a neutral name

    Either way, it seems like a nice place to take 10 and scroll on my phone for a minute so i support it

    the real question would be what sort of limitations does your employer have around it?

    Ive worked at places that had ping pong tables and videogame stations in the break room but if you only get a 30min break for a 8 hour shift when are you meant to use these “happiness and welness” facilities

    • ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      when are you meant to use these

      You aren’t. They are solely there to provide a chance for HR to claim it’s awesome slaving for this company, either as a hiring lie, or as a retention lie.

    • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
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      5 months ago

      I love how some forms of inclusion can be so multiple purpose.

      I absolutely can believe this started as a breastfeeding room but it easily doubles as social-break room for autists/introverts.

      This one even has room to pace back and forth, thats like all i am doing when i am really stressed.

    • GoosLife@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      At my workplace, you really just use them whenever. I’m a developer and we are encouraged to change environments when we are stuck or working on solving a problem. Or any time you just need to recalibrate your brain for 10-15 minutes.

      Obviously, you can’t just sit there all day, but sometimes we like to go there when others go for a smoke break. And sometimes nothing works and everything is annoying, then you can just say: “I’m gonna take 10 and come back with fresh eyes”.

      • AShadyRaven@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        I work in an entirely different industry than you, but we have “going for a walk” when we need a moment to clear our minds

        I love taking a little 10 minute stroll about the place as a “break”

  • Default_Defect@midwest.social
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    5 months ago

    Place I used to work at had a room labeled “Safe Space” that I can only assume was mandated by corporate because the store manager hung a framed photo of a snowflake on the wall in it. He wasn’t there for very much longer, wonder why?

  • thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    The chair gives +15 comfort and the painting gives +20 inspiration and if there’s at least one empty tile next to it the effect covers a 50m radius so I don’t see the problem???

    You pepper a few of these on every floor and as long as you don’t overuse Crunch Time, this will carry you through the midgame with basically zero upkeep.

    Wellness rooms are OP if anything tbh.

  • BodePlotHole@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I am an engineer that does power design for commercial spaces. These “wellness” rooms show up a lot. They are there simply so your corporate overlords can tick a little box under “workplace atmosphere” and add it to the list of bullshit features on their website no employee ever actually uses. It’s very similar to “mother’s rooms”, only those can be considered code compliant based on your location. Sometimes they are also called “phone rooms.”

    I think architects upsell them into designs to boost their self esteem.

    It’s a lot like when old apartment buildings gut a storage room, put a few pieces of shitty gym equipment in it, and then add “on site fitness center” to the website, and also tack a small monthly fee on your rent.

    If I had a dollar for every existing office space I’ve surveyed that ended up just piling office supplies in them, or found them covered in 3 inches of dust… I’d probably have like $100. Not a ton, but enough to definitely make them seem ridiculous.

  • yourgodlucifer@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I used to hide in a literal storage room when i worked at walmart (I wanted to be away from all people on my breaks). At least this has a comfy chair.

  • TechNerdWizard42@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    It’s a literal requirement in many commercial buildings. They’re for breastfeeding in the code of many municipalities, but you can’t call them booby rooms so they’re “wellness rooms”. A commercial space I was looking at required 2 nursing/wellness rooms because of the size. For a team of 10 dudes. Ridiculous

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      A commercial space I was looking at required 2 nursing/wellness rooms because of the size. For a team of 10 dudes.

      The premise of these rules is that they apply regardless of gender, in order to avoid incentivizing an all-male office specifically to avoid regulations. Now, if you do decide your company doesn’t need to be a pure sausage fest, you won’t be on the hook to build out a new room specifically to accommodate someone of the opposite gender.

      And, in the meantime, you’ve got a space to take a private phone call or pop an advil and close your eyes for a minute, if you feel the need.

      • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Ding ding ding. It’s not about the current state of your workforce. It’s about what your workforce could be in the future, and ensuring that future candidates aren’t discriminated against just because of decisions made by employees who don’t even work there anymore.

    • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      You need to fit all the requirements, regardless of the current composition of your company. Are you saying that you will never hire women? If a woman interviewed there, she would be put off by the lack of accomodations.

      2 rooms is a bit much for 10 people, but one is totally understandable if you ever intend to hire women.