Amazon faces another employee lawsuit over workplace conditions

STAFF at the internet giant Amazon are suing the company, claiming they don’t even have enough time to grab a bite to eat for lunch.

Amazon has faced many accusations of worker mistreatment.

AMAZON has been slapped with yet another employee lawsuit.

The online shopping giant is the target of a lawsuit filed by seven former employees of its South Carolina warehouse which accused Amazon of not giving them their full, legally mandated lunch breaks, according to The Huffington Post.

The suit alleges warehouse employees were often required to continue working past the start of their unpaid 30-minute lunch break. They were also required to wait in line to go through a security screening and take the six-minute walk across the warehouse to get outside for their break.

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One of the key things at stake here, and in other legal actions against Amazon, seems to be that every minute of an employee’s day is accounted for during a shift.

If you think quibbling over a few lost minutes for lunch is no big deal, keep in mind Amazon warehouse workers spend hours on their feet, snaking their way around a giant warehouse. They walk several kilometres every day within the confines of the building.

Amazon warehouse workers striking in Germany.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the claim raised in the South Carolina suit, and others, that time spent by employees going through security screenings during their unpaid breaks should be compensated by Amazon.

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The suit also claimed supervisors would approach warehouse workers during these unpaid breaks to admonish them or issue them with written warnings for not meeting productivity goals.

The plaintiffs in the case said the squeeze on employees’ time contravenes federal laws.

Big online retailers have been accused by many former employees over worker treatment. In Germany, Amazon workers have gone on strike numerous times.