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Amazon to impose new unpaid leave restrictions for warehouse workers starting May 1st

beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,598
The COVID-19 outbreak is nowhere near over but Amazon don't care. They're going to take paid leave off the table for any workers feeling sick or in fear of becoming sick. Seriously consider cancelling your Prime subscriptions y'all.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/24/...se-workers-covid-19-coronavirus-policy-change

"On May 1st, hourly employees — a vast majority of which are among the company's 250,000 or so warehouse workers who cannot work from home — must request an unpaid leave of absence to continue staying home if they do not want to work out of fear for their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic."
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"Amazon now says employees must start reporting to work or request leave, and the requirements for leave include having an existing health condition or living with someone who does, the logic being such individuals are high-risk for complications due to COVID-10. Everyone else will need to report to work, according to Bloomberg.

It is unclear if workers who are not eligible for such leave but who choose to not show up for work anyway will be subject to termination. The policy will, however, apply to both part-time and full-time workers, Bloomberg reports. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
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And the extra $2 an hour per factory worker the company is making such a huge fuss about only goes until May 16th.

Did a search but didn't find a topic. Donate my blood, sweat, and tears to a second of Jeff Bezos' time if old.
 
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iXenon

Member
Sep 22, 2019
160
To think as soon as I started stocking shelves at Walmart, I almost quit to work at Amazon. At least (my) Walmart cares about me...
 
chefbags

chefbags

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,293
As a current amazon warehouse employee, this totally fucking sucks. Seriously no idea why Amazon is so damn evil in doing this, when there's literally an ongoing pandemic that isn't stopping any time soon.

The main reason I was using the unlimited UPT policy is cause I have a high risk family member and my building had 4 confirmed cases already. Now that I am forced to go back in or hope my leave of absence is approved is just some cruel bullshit.

I hope they turn it back but who the fuck knows at this point. My coworkers are all worried that they're being forced to come back when they or their loved ones have underlying conditions.

Sorry for the rant.



Edit - someone made this on Reddit and it's absolutely perfect to what Amazon is doing.

3fbr0xg5dtu41.jpg
 
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brawndolicious

brawndolicious

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,927
chefbags said:
As a current amazon warehouse employee, this totally fucking sucks. Seriously no idea why Amazon is so damn evil in doing this, when there's literally an ongoing pandemic that isn't stopping any time soon.

The main reason I was using the unlimited UPT policy is cause I have a high risk family member and my building had 4 confirmed cases already. Now that I am forced to go back in or hope my leave of absence is approved is just some cruel bullshit.

I hope they turn it back but who the fuck knows at this point. My coworkers are all worried that they're being forced to come back when they or their loved ones have underlying conditions.

Sorry for the rant.
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It's good that people like you can hammer this point home, Amazon doesn't have a shred of justification cutting something like this especially as they're doing more business than ever.
 
OP
OP
beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,598
chefbags said:
As a current amazon warehouse employee, this totally fucking sucks. Seriously no idea why Amazon is so damn evil in doing this, when there's literally an ongoing pandemic that isn't stopping any time soon.

The main reason I was using the unlimited UPT policy is cause I have a high risk family member and my building had 4 confirmed cases already. Now that I am forced to go back in or hope my leave of absence is approved is just some cruel bullshit.

I hope they turn it back but who the fuck knows at this point. My coworkers are all worried that they're being forced to come back when they or their loved ones have underlying conditions.

Sorry for the rant.



Edit - someone made this on Reddit and it's absolutely perfect to what Amazon is doing.

3fbr0xg5dtu41.jpg
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No need to say sorry. On the contrary, sharing your experience of what it's like for you and your coworkers on the ground floor is greatly appreciated.

If my read is correct, you should be eligible for unpaid time off, but all that means is they're willing to wait you out until you have no choice but to go in. And as you said, you have no guarantee that they would approve that time off in the first place. It's all absolutely unconscionable in light of how much money and business Amazon is making right now, but even if this somehow wasn't the case, Papa Bezos can spare the pocket change to keep an unlimited time off policy in place indefinitely.

I also hope that they change that policy but I'm not sure they will without significant outside pressure. I'm absolutely 100% done with them in light of this and have let them know that. I hope you stay safe. :(
 
Rangerx

Rangerx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,503
Dangleberry
I'm in complete disbelief that people still use this dogshit company given everything we know about their business practices and how they treat their employees.
 
elenarie

elenarie

Game Developer
Verified
Jun 10, 2018
9,824
It is fucking insane to me that one of the most valuable companies in the world cannot provide any resemblance of safety and security for the employees.

Yet here we are in a far, far less valuable company being told to take as much time as we need to sort out our lives and families, all while not having to work (nor having to report that as vacation of any kind) and being paid for it.
 
kyle mechlachlan

kyle mechlachlan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,305
elenarie said:
It is fucking insane to me that one of the most valuable companies in the world cannot provide any resemblance of safety and security for the employees.

Yet here we are in a far, far less valuable company being told to take as much time as we need to sort out our lives and families, all while not having to work (nor having to report that as vacation of any kind) and being paid for it.
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Obviously the country in which the company resides is important here. If Dice was based in the US this might be a different story.
 
Stopmotionkai

Stopmotionkai

Member
Oct 26, 2017
127
The unlimited UPT was the best thing they did for us, and now they are reversing it it. On any given day, a large amount of people were able to stay home and limit their exposure and work as much as they needed. Now we get both new and old hires all forced to congregate at the same time, or choose to work with pay for an extended time.
 
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Aegus

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,198
Every interview with Jeff Bezos needs to start with the question "Why is your company treating its workers badly?"
 
ss1

ss1

Member
Oct 27, 2017
805
I need to start ordering from alternative companies. Amazon has had multiple chances to change things and deal with what I thought were growing pains. But now it seems that like a fish it rots from the head.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Banned
Nov 14, 2019
2,943
elenarie said:
It is fucking insane to me that one of the most valuable companies in the world cannot provide any resemblance of safety and security for the employees.

Yet here we are in a far, far less valuable company being told to take as much time as we need to sort out our lives and families, all while not having to work (nor having to report that as vacation of any kind) and being paid for it.
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Just the same as one of the richest countries in the world cannot do it 🤷‍♂️
 
Lurcharound

Lurcharound

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,068
UK
I quit Prime and stopped using Amazon a while back and feel much better ethically since. I might use them in a pinch, mainly for small stuff like certain batteries I'm othrewiese struggling to find, but otherwise I intend to give them no business until they change their ways. And they would if people actually stopped purchasing from them and letting them know why; their behaviour is ultimately endorsed and emboldened with the custom they get while being this shitty.

Really this is just another example of the issue with large corporations, particularly in US with its weak (non-existent?) labour laws.
 
TP-DK

TP-DK

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,049
Denmark
elenarie said:
It is fucking insane to me that one of the most valuable companies in the world cannot provide any resemblance of safety and security for the employees.

Yet here we are in a far, far less valuable company being told to take as much time as we need to sort out our lives and families, all while not having to work (nor having to report that as vacation of any kind) and being paid for it.
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People buy products produced under terrible conditions in China. People dont care about that, I dont see why they would care about this either.
 
kamikazety

kamikazety

Banned
Dec 5, 2018
187
While what Amazon is doing is terrible I find it amazing this is the company everyone is focusing on. My company, all my friends who still have a job, and most the major are doing the same thing. If you cant work and don't have leave, it's either unemployment or leave without pay. This isn't just Amazon, this is a sign of how corporate greed is part of almost all large companies. Hell, most small business are just laying everyone off.
 
krazen

krazen

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,165
Gentrified Brooklyn
Regulate, Regulate. Regulate.
Let em have their shitty practices, but stop letting them hoovering up all of retail and e-commerce. Give workers a chance and a choice.
 
Aadiboy

Aadiboy

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,656
Everyone, if you have masks and are able to go to physical store to get supplies or groceries, please do so, it'll make workers' lives easier. It's hell working there right now with all the dumb dumbs ordering things online that they could easily buy in a store, and Amazon not having enough people to meet the demand.
 
Desi

Desi

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,210
kamikazety said:
While what Amazon is doing is terrible I find it amazing this is the company everyone is focusing on. My company, all my friends who still have a job, and most the major are doing the same thing. If you cant work and don't have leave, it's either unemployment or leave without pay. This isn't just Amazon, this is a sign of how corporate greed is part of almost all large companies. Hell, most small business are just laying everyone off.
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This is very true. The optics for being one of the biggest companies in America (with the richest CEO valuation) is still a very bad look. Not like shareholders will care unless this impacts profits. How much revenue does Amazon get from product day to day sales nowadays? I know they get a lot from their hosting services.

I know in Maryland a mandatory 40 hours of sick PTO must be provided. When an Amazon worker that qualified used up that time would they normally get Unlimited unpaid Time off or did that have a limited number of slots as well?
 
Mortemis

Mortemis

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,416
kamikazety said:
While what Amazon is doing is terrible I find it amazing this is the company everyone is focusing on. My company, all my friends who still have a job, and most the major are doing the same thing. If you cant work and don't have leave, it's either unemployment or leave without pay. This isn't just Amazon, this is a sign of how corporate greed is part of almost all large companies. Hell, most small business are just laying everyone off.
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Maybe I'm misreading the OP, but isn't it saying no more unpaid time off unless you qualify? As in work or get fired. They want to pack up their warehouses without a care about if the worker is afraid of catching corona virus.
 
Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,200
UK
kamikazety said:
While what Amazon is doing is terrible I find it amazing this is the company everyone is focusing on. My company, all my friends who still have a job, and most the major are doing the same thing. If you cant work and don't have leave, it's either unemployment or leave without pay. This isn't just Amazon, this is a sign of how corporate greed is part of almost all large companies. Hell, most small business are just laying everyone off.
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Amazon can afford to pay all of their employees to stay at home throughout this whole period many times over if they really cared. That's why they're under scrutiny.
 
Scerick

Scerick

Member
Oct 29, 2017
270
I got rid of all the amazon devices in my house, and canceled prime. Have been buying from other retailers as much as possible.

Fuck this bullshit.
 
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