Amazon Workers are Peeing in Bottles in the UK Warehouse to Avoid Punishment for Breaks!
Amazon in fact, is known for tracking the time a worker takes to pick and package the items and have strict timing for the breaks. They also have to maintain their targets.
Working for an e-commerce portal is a work of pressure and when you are for a company like Amazon, the pressure is only going to be more. A new set of allegations have revealed that workers in Amazon UK's warehouses have resorted to peeing in bottles because they did not want to miss on their targets. They have a fear that they would be penalised if they take bathroom breaks! An author and investigator called Jared Bloodworth has revealed these shocking details. The particular Amazon warehouse is 700,000 square feet and the toilets are on the ground floor of the four-storey building. So by the time the workers reach the loo, they lose a lot of time.
James Bloodworth wrote a book Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain. He worked in the warehouse worker for six months while writing his new book. "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 [bathroom]," he said.
The workers were monitored for wasting their time and thus have started using the bottles instead. Bloodworth also mentioned how strictly the workers are monitored. He called it airport-like security. There are scanners through which the workers are checked if they have stolen something. Hoodies and sunglasses are also banned in the warehouse. It is not even allowed to carry mobile phones as a security measure. Amazon in fact, is known for tracking the time a worker takes to pick and package the items and have strict timing for the breaks. They also have to maintain their targets.
A spokesperson from Amazon has denied such claims stating that they ensure the associates can easily access the toilets. However, a survey conducted on the workers has quoted one of the workers saying, "[Targets] have increased dramatically. I do not drink water because I do not have time to go to the toilet." It is a sad state of workers in the highly pressurised environment, which is apparently the most sought after places to work in UK!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 10:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).