Amazon warehouse workers in the UK are so scared of being punished for taking bathroom breaks that they use bottles
A separate survey also found that some workers who reported feeling sick — even through pregnancy — were penalised for not turning up or taking breaks
By Shona Ghosh
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos might be the richest man in the world, with a net worth of around US$112 billion (£78.4 billon), but those working on his warehouse floors are so desperate to keep their jobs that they don’t even take time to go to the toilet.
Rushed fulfilment workers, who run around Amazon’s warehouses “picking” products for delivery, have a “toilet bottle” system in place because the toilet is too far away, according to author James Bloodworth, who went undercover at a warehouse in Staffordshire, UK, for a book on low wages in Britain.
Bloodworth told The Sun newspaper: “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.”
Amazon is famous for tracking how fast its warehouse workers can pick and package items from its shelves, imposing strictly timed breaks and targets. It issues warning points for those who don’t meet their goals or take extended breaks.
A survey of Amazon workers, released on Monday, found almost three-quarters of fulfilment centre staff are afraid of using the toilet in case they miss their targets.