SoylentNews

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Amazon may be owned by the world's richest man, but some employees at the company pee into bottles to avoid missing their targets by going to the toilet, says an author who went undercover at the firm's UK warehouse.

According to James Bloodworth, who applied for a job at Amazon's warehouses in Staffordshire to complete his book on low wages in the UK, the workers "picking" products for delivery do not go to toilet, as it is too far away.

"For those of us who worked on the top floor, the closest toilets were down four flights of stairs. People just peed in bottles because they lived in fear of being disciplined over 'idle time' and losing their jobs just because they needed the loo," Bloodworth said, as quoted by the Sun.

Source: https://www.rt.com/business/424256-amazon-workers-pee-into-bottles/

Also reported at CNET, The Verge, and Business Insider:

A separate survey found almost three-quarters of UK fulfillment-center staff members were afraid of using the toilet because of time concerns. A report released Monday with the survey's findings said 241 Amazon warehouse employees in England were interviewed.

The survey anonymously quoted one person as saying targets had "increased dramatically" and "I do not drink water because I do not have time to go to the toilet."

[...] Amazon disputed the allegations. The company said in a statement to Business Insider:

"Amazon provides a safe and positive workplace for thousands of people across the UK with competitive pay and benefits from day one. We have not been provided with confirmation that the people who completed the survey worked at Amazon and we don't recognize these allegations as an accurate portrayal of activities in our buildings.

"We have a focus on ensuring we provide a great environment for all our employees and last month Amazon was named by LinkedIn as the 7th most sought after place to work in the UK and ranked first place in the US. Amazon also offers public tours of its fulfillment centres so customers can see first-hand what happens after they click 'buy' on Amazon."

Amazon said it didn't time workers' toilet breaks and set its performance targets based on previous worker performance. The company said it provided coaching to help people improve and used "proper discretion" when it came to sick leave and absences from work.

Original Submission