# Plain Language Summary: Restroom Access Act of 2023

This bill requires retail stores to let customers with certain medical conditions use their employee restrooms when public restrooms aren't available. If you have a qualifying medical condition and can show an ID card proving it, stores would have to grant you access to their staff bathrooms during business hours—as long as a few conditions are met. The medical conditions covered include inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, ostomy devices, pregnancy, and other diagnosed conditions that require immediate restroom access. A doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other qualified medical professional would need to certify that you have one of these conditions to get the ID card.

For a store to be required to let you use their employee restroom, several things need to be true at the time you ask. There must be at least two employees working, the restroom can't be in a location that would create a health or safety risk, and there can't be a public restroom available to you at that moment. The bill applies to any retail business that sells goods or services to the public. Within six months of the law passing, the Department of Labor would set up a system to issue these special ID cards to people with qualifying medical conditions.

This change would mainly help people with urgent bathroom needs who currently have no access to facilities while shopping or running errands. It addresses a real problem for people with conditions like Crohn's disease or those using ostomy devices, who may face medical emergencies if they can't find a restroom quickly. Stores would need to balance customer privacy and medical needs with their own operational concerns, though the requirement only kicks in when public restrooms genuinely aren't available.

Restroom Access Act of 2023

Norton, Eleanor Holmes

Restroom Access Act of 2023 This bill requires retailers to allow a customer to use a nonpublic restroom if the customer has an eligible medical condition (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease) that requires immediate access to a restroom and other conditions are met.