There has been a lot of news circulating online lately about Amazon's treatment of its employees. Usually, the news isn't positive. It's been said that some of the company's employees work in exhausting and unsafe conditions. In fact, a former Amazon warehouse worker in California sued the company for not allowing employees to take full mandatory meal or rest breaks, despite deducting their pay for the time they allegedly spent there.
See also: Amazon: Cameras inside delivery trucks – drivers are unhappy
The lawsuit, which is currently being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was filed by Lovenia Scott, a former logistics specialist who worked at Amazon’s Vacaville, Calif., warehouse for more than two years. According to Scott, Amazon did not allow her and other employees to take legally required 30-minute breaks for every five hours worked or 10-minute rest breaks for every four hours worked.
See also: Wikipedia: Will it charge Google, Amazon and Apple for its content?
Amazon appears to deny the allegations.
The former employee claims there are a number of reasons why she and other employees were unable to take their full 30-minute breaks. First, according to Scott, Amazon does not schedule meal breaks as part of each shift. It also does not have a formal written policy on meals or rest time that encourages employees to take their breaks. It also requires employees to listen and respond to requests via walkie talkies during their breaks to ensure the smooth running of their work.
According to the lawsuit, the lunch break interfered with the actual break by “stealing” time from it. Scott claims that the lunch breaks were organized in such a way that many people took breaks at the same time. This resulted in delays in meals. However, returning to work late was not acceptable.
Scott said Amazon automatically deducted from her paycheck the equivalent of 30 minutes of work. Those 30 minutes were for a lunch break, even though she and other employees didn't take the full break.
Regarding the 10-minute rest breaks, Scott claims that Amazon did not schedule rest breaks and imposed so much work on each employee “that it was unlikely that an employee would be able to take their breaks if they wanted to complete their work on time”She also said that Amazon had told workers to take a break if and when “they could.
“However, the sheer volume of work that needed to be completed prevented employees from taking their break,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Amazon's practices resulted in lower pay for Scott and other workers, as the company deducted 30 minutes from their paychecks for a lunch break that they didn't take in full. In reality, working during meals and rest breaks should mean additional pay.
Finally, the lawsuit also refers to Amazon's practice of forcing Scott and other employees to use their personal cell phones for company work, without covering the costs, etc.
The accusations against Amazon are numerous.
Last week, a news story came to light that said Amazon drivers are being forced to urinate into water bottles as they don't get time to take a break.
Learn more: Amazon: Denies that its drivers are forced to urinate in bottles!
The company categorically denied this claim.
Source: Gizmodo
