Obvious challenges that come with huge warehouses such as those owned by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are the risk of losing precious commodities to unscrupulous workers. Workers are hence forced to endure gruesome screening after their shifts through security checkpoints that take about 30 minutes. This is what has ultimately made workers of the online retailer to file a lawsuit against their employer, demanding for payment for the time they spend in line.
These security checks definitely take up a lot of time because of the high number of employers in the facility. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) workers, just like it is in other huge warehouses, are not permitted to bring to the workplace personal belongings like cell phones, any electrical devices, or books.
As a result the workers are complaining that they have no means at all to make good use of the time they stand on the line and feel they need to be compensated for time wastage. The employees are bent on seeing this lawsuit through to protect their rights. This is especially so because the security checks are undertaken after clocking out from the job thus eating into their personal time.
The Supreme Court will be hearing the arguments from the plaintiffs on October 8 and make a decision on whether the time spent on the lines count as work. The law suit is projected to have a nationwide impact as it has been filed as a collective action under the federal fair labor standard acts. In addition, in some states the suit will be filed as a class action act that will see the workers receive more protection.
Needless to say, it is not Amazon alone that’s facing this kind of plight as Apple Inc. too is facing a class action lawsuit with the company’s employees charging that they are forced to wait in line for close to 30 minutes after clocking out. Another company being sued for this reason is the Urban Outfitters.
The Integrity Staffing Solutions Inc. who is the staffing agency that provides the majority of the workers for the Amazon warehouses around the nation is also a defendant in the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) case. Integrity says it doesn’t owe the workers any money because the screenings weren’t directly related to the jobs.
The plaintiffs however feel that there is so much that their employers can do to save their time during the security checks, including hiring more security officers. Otherwise, the employer should be ready to pay for their time moving forward.
This article has been written by Victor Ochieng.
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