He stays in the bathroom for more than twenty minutes and Amazon gets a fine: suspension from work for one day. The labor inspectorate blames the multinational founded by Jeff Bezos, considers the company’s decision disproportionate and cancels it. And the Filt CGIL, which followed the employee in the appeal against the company, rejoices: “Amazon workers are timed to go to the bathroom and are punished with disciplinary sanctions if the times do not comply with the algorithm”, explains Luca Iacomino of Filt Cgil. But the e-commerce group in turn replies: “We don’t monitor breaks and we don’t time. It’s a question of safety.”
The worker is a parcel shipping agent at the Torrazza Piemonte site, in the Turin hinterland. The facts date back to January. The company disputes the removal from the station at 1.15 am without notifying the managers. In addition, the woman would have stopped to talk to a colleague on leaving the toilet. The inspectorate agreed with the worker, also because during the conciliation procedure, what she was accused of was also downsized by the same representatives of Amazon.
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It would not have stopped for 20 minutes, but according to the same assessment of the Amazon managers, the break would not have lasted for more than 15 minutes. And in the end the same clerk would have explained that “between going, staying and returning from the bathroom it would not have passed more than 10 minutes”.
The company, during the conciliation, stressed that there are no maximum times for going to the bathroom, but that the employee had not advised that she had left the workstation. This would have been one of the faults, but the clerk has a job for which it would not be necessary to notify those responsible. And according to the union, the pause times linked to a physiological need cannot be contested.
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“We are determined to move forward in the defense of rights and in making workers recognize the correct application of labor regulations, the national labor contract and safety in the workplace with the utmost attention to the rhythms and workloads”, says the CGIL. Position that convinced the inspectorate: faced with the company’s “no” to reconcile and reduce the sanction, he decided to cancel the disciplinary measure against the Torrazza Piemonte worker.
However, Amazon replies to the CGIL’s position and tries to frame the facts. “While respecting the decision of the arbitration panel, we nevertheless believe we must disagree with what has been reported, reiterating that Amazon does not monitor breaks or even time its employees”. And he adds: “The working conditions of the people employed in our warehouses not only comply with the provisions of the national sector contract but are well above industry standards”. The problem for the e-commerce group is related to safety in the workplace: “For this reason we ask everyone to inform their manager before leaving the workstation. It should be considered that we employ over 1500 workers and it is essential that people follow the procedures. Failure to do so could have significant consequences in the event of an emergency or evacuation. “