Norwegian boss insisted on red bracelets for menstruating employees

Finally, a reason to be anything but totally jealous of Norwegians and their utopian, fully-insured, clear-skinned society: one employer in Norway was apparently so deeply concerned about worker productivity that he decided it would be an awesome, totally not awful idea to label female employees who were on their period with red bracelets. And he was only sort of deviating from standard practice by doing it.

A recent study found that 66 percent of employers in Norway, concerned about work time lost to potty breaks, monitored employee bathroom trips by restricting access unless workers specifically asked for an electronic key card. Hence one man's brave innovation to have women literally wear their bathroom excuse on their sleeve, while stopping short of the classic "sharpie on the forehead" method. Tactfully, the Norwegian consumer ombudsman said that he "hope[s] and believe[s] that this is not representative of the Norwegian working life in general."