This Company Started Allowing Employees to Masturbate at Work. Here’s What Happened

How masturbation breaks have impacted a workforce

During Masturbation Month last May, Barcelona-based indie adult filmmaker Erika Lust made news when she announced that she would be allowing her employees to masturbate at work — and would even be providing a special place in the office for them to do it. It’s been a year since Erika Lust Films implemented this unique workplace policy and I caught up with Lust to find out how it’s been going and why she decided masturbation breaks are an important perk to offer employees.

What made you decide to allow your employees to masturbate at work? Why did you feel that was important?

Much as changing porn starts from within, destigmatizing masturbation starts from making time for it in our daily schedule. So to celebrate Masturbation Month last year, my team and I came up with the idea to schedule breaks to masturbate during work hours, not only in May, but all year long. My team and I wanted to encourage open talks and joyful enjoyment of masturbation both for self-care and pleasure — even in the middle of the day, even in the workplace.

We learned last year that our workplace is an excellent place to start normalizing talking about sex in our society; the new masturbation benefit went viral all over the news as soon as we implemented it — and other business owners followed.

“When your employees feel good, productivity rises in the name of wellness.”

This year, I wanted to take the next step and pass the mic to people from the Lust community, inviting them to our studio in Barcelona to share their self-pleasure journey in a series of videos. I loved sharing with people of different genders, ethnicities, and ages the ways we experience and discuss self-pleasure. When you talk about “taboo” topics with other people within a safe environment, you feel supported enough to realize there’s no reason to feel ashamed about your own pleasure. I’m grateful to these people for joining us to normalize shame-free discussions on self-pleasure.

How did your employees initially respond when you told them this was a benefit you’d be offering in the workplace?

I’d say they were pretty amazed at the idea. It’s quite an unusual benefit to implement at work, just as a pretty important one, in my opinion. I’ve always celebrated Masturbation Month, but in order to more effectively promote it, I felt like we needed to actually embody it. I guess my employees felt both appreciated — knowing that I want them to have time to pleasure themselves, to take care of themselves — and a part of a bigger, relevant change. In the sex negative culture we still live in, I see this as a political act.

What are the logistics of the office masturbation station? Do employees need to schedule time in there, or can they go whenever they feel like they’re in the mood to masturbate?

We have a calendar where each of us schedules our self-love 30 minutes breaks; this way, we make sure our sessions don’t overlap and can be enjoyed with no stress. And if we are working from home — we have a flexible work schedule — we just need to schedule our breaks out of meeting hours and enjoy them in the comfort of our homes.

“I’ve always celebrated Masturbation Month, but in order to more effectively promote it, I felt like we needed to actually embody it.”

Since you started allowing your employees to masturbate at work, how has it been going?

I’d definitely say it’s worked. It’s good to see the relaxed faces of our colleagues coming back to work after their session. This is something that we’re trying to do in general in our company — make people happy to do the work they do. Masturbation makes you feel more relaxed and focused, it’s good for creativity, and increases your drive to get things done. It helps to decompress and relieves tension and stress. Basically, it’s the perfect medicine for a stressful day at work.

Have there been any challenges or problems that have occurred since starting this?

There’s a very sex positive environment in our offices, so if we create a nice and relaxing space for us to masturbate, none of us will fear being mocked or harassed by coworkers, as it might happen in many workplaces where sex is a no-go topic.

How many employees take advantage of being able to masturbate at work? How often? Do they bring toys or engage in mutual masturbation?

All of them — if and when they want to. It’s obviously not mandatory to embrace the benefit every day, every week. The masturbation break is an alone time, so no mutual masturbation is involved. If we are in the office, we use our masturbation station — which is a small, intimate chapel with a bed, a big mirror, erotic paintings on the walls, and a dim, warm light to help us get into the mood. We have access to a sex box, which includes sex toys and lubricants — that need to be thoroughly washed after their use, of course. There are sanitizers to be used before and after the session. The station is located in a secluded space in the office away from our desks, so our privacy is guaranteed.

“Destigmatizing masturbation starts from making time for it in our daily schedule.”

Is this an arrangement you think would be a good idea for other employers to adopt? Do you think this would work in sectors outside of adult-oriented companies like yours?

When we decided to go for this new idea, we wanted everyone to join us in regulating masturbation in the workplace. That’s why I challenged other business owners to do the same. Masturbating means wellness above all, just as much as a healthy lunch or a work-subsidized gym membership.

However, it’s important to stress that the only way for this to work is by building a strong foundation of a safe, shame-free mindset around pleasure and sex beforehand. There were many people commenting on the news last year saying that these breaks were only happening because we are an adult film company. I disagree with that. If you are able to educate your company to create a safe, nonjudgmental environment where all people can feel safe to openly talk about sex, this will only have good effects on everyone’s mental and physical health.

What would you tell employers that are considering doing something similar to what you’ve done in your workplace?

Don’t forget that when your employees feel good, productivity rises in the name of wellness. Believe me, you’ll see results because you’ll all be doing better work.

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