Your bladder is tight, but the innkeeper refuses to let you visit his sanitary facilities. Is he allowed to do that? And shouldn’t the use of the toilet be free anyway?
The most important things at a glance
Are you on the go and urgently need to go to the toilet? Many restaurants and bars charge up to two euros for the use of toilets by non-guests. And in some shopping malls or department stores, customers have to pay if they want to go to the toilet. Is that allowed?
Why do I have to pay to use the toilet?
That depends on where you need to go to the toilet. If there is a so-called toilet lady or a toilet man, for example in a shopping mall, a shopping center or a discotheque, this person is usually employed by the owner of the mall or the discotheque. So the cleaning staff get their wages from him – so the fee for using the toilet is not their salary.
Now it depends on what is noted in the employment contract of the cleaner. In some cases, the women and men are allowed to keep the toilet money as additional income, in other cases they have to use it to finance their cleaning utensils. In some cases they have to hand over the received money to the owner of the toilets.
In many restaurants and bars, however, there is no cleaning staff who only watches the toilets. And yet the innkeepers demand toilet money. With this money they finance the water, the electricity, the toilet paper, the cleaning and of course the salary of the cleaning staff. In addition, the fee should also serve to ensure that the toilet in the restaurant is not misunderstood as a free, public toilet.
What is toilet money?
According to some judgments, toilet money can be equated with a tip (see judgment of the labor court in Gelsenkirchen, judgment of 01/21/2014 – 1 Ca 1603/13). Unless the visitors are asked to pay a “compulsory user fee of a certain amount”. Then it is not a tip.
This means that if you see a note at the toilet entrance that states a usage fee, it is not a tip.
Is there a right to use the toilet?
No. Theoretically, you could refer to the violation of human dignity or failure to provide assistance (fundamental rights) if a restaurateur or bar owner refuses to use his toilet. It is not certain whether you would stand up to this in court.
Because the toilet owner has the house right. This means that he can also decide whether you are allowed to use his sanitary facilities or not. Regardless of whether you want/can pay for toilet use or not.
For example, if there is a public toilet in the immediate vicinity, you will have to use it – even if it may not meet your hygiene standards.
Do I have to make my toilet available?
You don’t have to make your private toilet available to anyone either. Neither the craftsmen nor the parcel carrier. But it would certainly be a great relief, at least for the craftsmen, if they were to renovate their house and accordingly also had the opportunity to relieve themselves.
Do I have the right to go to the toilet for free?
If the owner of the sanitary facilities demands a toilet fee or usage fee, you must pay it. Even if you are a consuming guest in the restaurant or bar. As a rule, however, the owners do not charge a fee and record the free use of the toilet for their paying customers as “good service”.
If you only sit down briefly so that you can then go to the toilet, you are not a consuming guest and the owner can theoretically refuse you use of the toilet. You must have the intention of having a drink or something to eat on site.
If you need to go to the toilet and you don’t have any money with you and you are not a guest of the restaurant or bar either, you have to hope that the owner will be kind enough to allow you to use his sanitary facilities.
