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As a general rule, most employers expect someone to work 2 hours, take a 15 minute break (which include a rest room break), work two hours, take a 30 minutes lunch break (which includes an opportunity to use the rest room), work two hours take another 15 minute break (which can include a rest room visit), work two hours and then go home.
There is NO Federal or State rule as to breaks except in manufacturing and mining. Those rules do NOT apply to retail workers. Thus the above rule is considered what employers expect of employees.
If he has a bladder problem that requires more frequent breaks, he had two options (and can do BOTH at the same time). First is to file a Americans with Disability Act claim saying his employer is NOT "accommodation" his disability by permitting him more rest room breaks. he has to have some MEDICAL evidence of his bladder problem (Testing by his doctor to determine if he has a weak bladder or other medical condition that would require more rest room breaks. Be careful, the employer may use the ploy that the employee can NOT do the job with his disability. Walmart is KNOWN for that ploy, for example requiring ALL employees to gather carts, thus if you have a disability that prevents you from gathering carts, BUT capable of doing all the other parts of your job, Walmart calls gathering Carts an "Essential" part of the job that they MUST have EVERY Employee do, and thus if you have a disability that prevents your from doing that job, Walmart will not hire you and terminate you for being unable to do they job. The ADA act permits employers to discriminate against disabled people if it can be shown that the disabled person just can NOT do the job. This exception in the ADA Act was geared for someone with epilepsy from driving a truck, when the epilepsy would cause him to wreak the truck of he or she drove one and had a epileptic fit. Walmart has used this except to make sure it hires the least number of people who come under the ADA.
The second thing he can do is apply for Social Security Disability (if he is unemployed, the test for Social Security Disability is that a person claiming to be disable is earning less then $1000 a month, please note that is GROSS salary NOT take home). If someone is off task more then 6 minutes an hour over and above normal breaks (the 15 minute morning break, the 30 minute lunch break, and the 15 minute afternoon break mentioned above) do to MEDICAL PROBLEMS THAT CAN NOT BE CONTROLLED, such a person may be eligible for Social Security Disability. The burden is on the person making the claim, there MUST be medical evidence of the restriction, it must continue to exist with all reasonable medial treatment, and last more then one year in duration.
It is difficult to convince Social Security that something clauses you to be off task more then 6 minutes an hour, and for that reason such a person is almost always turned down on the initial application, then must file the appeal and appear before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). At the ALJ hearing, a Vocational Expert (VE) will be hired to testify what is expected of an employee by an employer (And all of the VEs I have come across use the rule that if someone is off task more then six minutes an hour in addition to the normal breaks mentioned above, such a person is unemployable. VEs will also testify that if someone is missing more then two days of work per month for any reason, such a person is unemployable).
Please note, the above rules applies to people with no skills. Collage Graduates and below (Most of my cliets have been High School Graduates and below) but people with SKILLS are in higher demand and thus employers are more tolerate of such a person being off tasks (i.e. the above rules do NOT apply to some one with advanced skills, I do NOT mean someone who is a hard worker, but some one with clearly defined professional skills, not someone who just went to High School or Collage).
I must warn him, that if he applies to Social Security, he better make sure he has a medically determined causation before he does AND that the medical problem is known to cause the problems he is having. If he does not have BOTH, he will lose. I advised him to see someone who has some background in this matter before he makes his Social Security claim (Or if he is discharged, make the Social Security Claim at that point AND make a claim for Unemployment, there is NO law saying you can NOT do both at the same time).
Remember in any month that he is earning more then $1000 a month, he is NOT disabled by law, no matter how disabled he is. Thus it would be a waste of time for him to apply for Social Security if he is earning more then $1000 a month (Mininum wage is $7.15 an hour, 7,15 times 40 is $286 a week or $1154 for a four week period, thus if he is earning minimum wage and working at least 40 hours he can NEVER be disabled under the Social Security Act).
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