Why does Amazon not put more bathrooms in the warehouses, so it doesnt take 10 minutes just to walk there and back? That's like a distance of more then half a mile...
Not drinking any water during ones shift doesn't seem a healthy solution.
Newer, robotized FCs have much more tightly packed, human-inaccessible storage zones and have restrooms a reasonable distance from static pick workstations.
Not my industry, but I wonder if building code requirements for contracted facilities construction has anything to do with this. Would be interesting to hear perspective of civil engineers on this, in particular, those involved with standing up fulfillment centers.
For example, a few observations from the 2017 Florida Building Code[1]:
Minimum 1 lavatory per 100 and 1 drinking fountain per 1,000 in occupancies classified for storage (per Table 2902.1). Natural inquiry that arises in my mind is what the specified occupancy of the fulfillment center in question is.
In occupancies other than malls, lavatories normally located not more than 1 story above/below the target space, path of travel not to exceed 500 feet (per 2902.3.2). However, there's a possible exception for factory and industrial occupancies which allow this requirement to be waived with approval. I wonder if Amazon has pursued this exemption when contracting the construction of their fulfillment centers.
[1] https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/FBC2017/chapter-29-plumbin...
Fulfillment center employees also searched for theft after their shift every day. Not only is this dehumanizing, but they don't hire enough security people. This results in 20+ minute lines. The employees are unpaid while waiting. There was a lawsuit about this that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and Amazon won.
Strange. I’m not totally sure what it is about waiting in a security line that makes it “not working”. Supposedly cleaning chemicals from the plant off your body does count as work. But participating in a workplace compliance process like a security line is not work. But I assume the screeners are getting paid? I guess it’s because screening is part of their job description.
I guess I’d have to read the opinions to find out where that line is. It’s not obvious to me.
“Am I free to go” would seem like a more obvious line... although then the chemical showers wouldn’t be billable. Since you’re free to leave dirty. I can see the legal dilemma.
All of this isn’t really any constitutional issue though, it’s just federal employment regulations. So good regulators in the executive could fix it.
They've already clocked out, but not yet left the premises. Technically speaking, they're choosing to wait in the security line on their own free time.
If working at Amazon means your time is free for corporations, then it should apply to everyone until it’s fixed.
Amazon reduces costs by only having the minimum number of bathrooms legally required regardless of the size of the warehouse.
Is there a formula for non adversarial job structures ?