December 16, 2008

Undercover reporter uncovers Dickensian conditions at Amazon warehouse

by

A Times of London reporter who went undercover as an employee of Amazon.co.uk has come back with a startling report. As Claire Newell and Daniel Foggo report, their undercover reporter at Amazon’s enormous warehouse in Bedfordshire found that workers were:

  • Warned that the company refuses to allow sick leave, even if the worker has a legitimate doctor’s note. Taking a day off sick, even with a note, results in a penalty point. A worker with six points faces dismissal.
  • Made to work a compulsory 10½hour overnight shift at the end of a five-day week. The overnight shift, which runs from Saturday evening to 5am on Sunday, means they have to work every day of the week.
  • Set quotas for the number of items to be picked or packed in an hour that even a manager described as “ridiculous”. Those packing heavy Xbox games consoles had to pack 140 an hour to reach their target.
  • Set against each other with a bonus scheme that penalises staff if any other member of their group fails to hit the quota.
  • Made to walk up to 14 miles a shift to collect items for packing.

In response, an Amazon spokesperson told the newspaper that “anyone not willing to work ‘many hours’ should not accept a job with the company. He confirmed workers would be penalised for being sick”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

  • M. Hooper

    How well were they paid?

  • M. Hooper

    How well were they paid?

  • Alan

    I work at the mk warehouse and let me tell you everything in the article is true! We don’t get paid that well – in fact we have not had a payrise for 18 months because the co takes no notice of company performance in assessing the pay rates, just what they call ‘the local market’. Even then they aim to be in the top half of payers for similar roles. BUT they also include in their analysis PRP which is neither guaranteed nor predictable, and share options which are only available to people with 2 years service.

    In any case, the vast majority of workers at this time are agency on short-term contracts who barely receive the national minimum wage. I suggest you look at the original article on the Times website, and be assured “Believe what you read not what amazon spokespeople in the US say.”

    Also everytime we mention a union, we get veiled threats of closure as happened in the US.

  • Alan

    I work at the mk warehouse and let me tell you everything in the article is true! We don’t get paid that well – in fact we have not had a payrise for 18 months because the co takes no notice of company performance in assessing the pay rates, just what they call ‘the local market’. Even then they aim to be in the top half of payers for similar roles. BUT they also include in their analysis PRP which is neither guaranteed nor predictable, and share options which are only available to people with 2 years service.

    In any case, the vast majority of workers at this time are agency on short-term contracts who barely receive the national minimum wage. I suggest you look at the original article on the Times website, and be assured “Believe what you read not what amazon spokespeople in the US say.”

    Also everytime we mention a union, we get veiled threats of closure as happened in the US.

Stories from related categories