On May 16, after their team’s 30-minute tea break ended, a 24-year-old worker in one of Amazon India’s five warehouses in Haryana’s Manesar was asked to take an “oath” that they would not take toilet or water breaks until their target is achieved.
Also Read | Alexa used most often to control lights by Indians, Amazon revealsAmazon has faced such allegations abroad too.
As Haryana has amended its work hours to less than 10 hours a day, the company now has its employees working from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm.
We provide adequate provision of water and hydration, as well as regularly scheduled rest breaks in a cooler environment, and we ensure additional breaks when temperatures are high.
Employees are free to take informal breaks throughout their shifts to use the restroom, get water, or talk to a manager or HR,” the spokesperson said.
On May 16, after their team’s 30-minute tea break ended, a 24-year-old worker in one of Amazon India’s five warehouses in Haryana’s Manesar was asked to take an “oath” that they would not take toilet or water breaks until their target is achieved. The target: unloading packages from six trucks, measuring 24 feet each.
Over the past month, the “inbound team” at the warehouse has taken the oath around eight times, particularly on hectic days when the workload is more, employees confirmed to The Indian Express. The “outbound team”, which took the pledge once, is reminded of their targets daily. The outbound team takes care of articles meant to be shifted/shipped out of the warehouse, while the inbound team deals with articles received from other sources.
An Amazon India spokesperson, when asked about this, said, “We’re investigating these claims, but to be clear, we’d never make these kinds of requests on our employees as part of standard business practice. If we discovered an incident such as the one that’s been alleged, we’d immediately put a stop to it and ensure the manager involved was re-trained on our expectations of team support, health, and safety. We’ll continue to investigate.”
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The 24-year-old, who works five days a week, ten hours a day, and earns Rs 10,088 a month, said, “Even if we work without any breaks, including the lunch and tea breaks that are 30 minutes each, we can’t unload more than four trucks a day.”
“Just two days ago, we took a pledge that we would forgo water and washroom breaks to improve performance and attain the target,” he claimed, adding that seniors even go as far as to check washrooms and other places to ensure workers are not spending unnecessary time there.
“The worst affected are women. The trucks are hot from being parked outside, and when they unload articles, they get exhausted quickly,” he said.
Also Read | Alexa used most often to control lights by Indians, Amazon reveals
Amazon has faced such allegations abroad too. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the US had in 2022 and 2023 issued citations against the company over unsafe working conditions, ergonomic hazards and failure to properly report injuries at six warehouses, The Guardian reported.
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In India, labour associations have alleged that rules under the Factories Act, 1948 are flouted at the five warehouses that operate in and around Manesar. As Haryana has amended its work hours to less than 10 hours a day, the company now has its employees working from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm. As per the Act, if a factory worker works for more than nine hours a day or over 48 hours a week, he is entitled to twice his ordinary wages. However, workers’ rights groups claim this is not being fulfilled.
The Act also fixes intervals for rest: “… no worker shall work for more than five hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour”.
A woman working at the Manesar warehouse said there is no restroom on the premises. “If we are unwell, the only option is to go to the washroom or locker room. There is a sick room with a bed, but workers are asked to leave after 10 minutes,” she claimed. Her department, of customer returns, took the oath as well. “Say it after me, we will attain the target, we won’t go to the washroom, we will not drink,” she repeated the oath.
She alleged that on one occasion, when she was caught resting in a washroom, the supervisor took a photograph of her ID card and threatened to get it blocked. The woman, who earns Rs 10,088 a month and has to check returned items to see if they are eligible for refund, said, “I stand for nine hours a day, and am supposed to go through 60 small products or 40 medium-sized products every hour.”
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Dharmender Kumar, convenor of the Amazon India Workers’ Association, said that factories and warehouses in Haryana to cater to customers in Delhi help the company cut costs. “The minimum wage in Delhi is Rs 21,000-23,000 while in Haryana, it is Rs 11,000-13,000. The targets are unrealistic and there is no seating arrangement, which is violative of provisions of the Factories Act. Labour inspectors can ask employers to rectify this, but there is little will,” he said, adding that not having a union makes it difficult for workers.
The Amazon spokesperson said the safety and well-being of employees is their top priority. “All our buildings have heat index monitoring devices and we constantly monitor changes in temperature, especially during summer months. If we do find increasing heat or humidity inside our buildings, then our teams take action to provide comfortable working conditions, including temporarily suspending work. We have cooling measures in all our buildings, including ventilation systems, fans, and spot coolers. We provide adequate provision of water and hydration, as well as regularly scheduled rest breaks in a cooler environment, and we ensure additional breaks when temperatures are high. Employees are free to take informal breaks throughout their shifts to use the restroom, get water, or talk to a manager or HR,” the spokesperson said.
