I Have An Employee Who Spent 26% Of His Shift In The Bathroom.

Location: michigan

I manage a restaurant and have hired a younger fella who has constipation issues. Last summer when he worked (before I knew) I just saw him using the bathroom for like 30 minutes regurarly. I pulled him aside and asked him what's going on, when heregularly his issue. So I kinda just accepted his longer bathroom times and moved on.

Fast forward to this summer (hes seasonal with college), I'm starting to get the feeling he's taking advantage of my understanding. Perfect example, he worked for 4.5 hours yesterday. He was in the bathroom for 55 minutes, over the course of the shift. He also got his 15 minute break. So for about 26% of his shift, he was in the bathroom. And from what I'm hearing from the other manager and other employees, this isn't outside the norm. I'm literally paying him to use the bathroom.

So, I don't know what to do. Genuinely, I always try to be understanding when handling situations revolving around medical issues, stress, anxiety, ect. And I've talked to him a few times already just asking if everything's okay.

But I don't know what legally I'm allowed to do if he's gonna be using the bathroom for such a long period. Can I have him clock out if he has to use the bathroom longer than 30 minutes? Or adjust his hours?

I don't want to fire him, but when you're running a restaurant in the summer and you're short 1 person for a large portion of a shift, it makes life harder in everyone else who has to pickup the slack. It's a medical issue, so I obviously haven't told anyone WHY he's allowed to take such long bathroom breaks, it's none of their business. But they are complaining a lot to me about how it's screwing them over.

Help?