Amazon workers are beginning to speak out about the treatment they receive while working for the company. One such worker is Lauren—who chose to use a pseudonym to mitigate the chance of retaliation from the company. She’s decided to testify about Amazon working conditions, which include forcing injured workers back on the job before they’ve healed from an injury and terminating them when they can no longer work to Amazon’s standards.
Lauren works for the TPA1 fulfillment center in Ruskin, Florida, where the Amazon warehouse injury rate is as high as 5 or 6 workers each day. Employees note that management frequently uses intimidation toward workers who voice grievances about their health or demand that they receive treatment. Lauren was one of those workers.
She reported that she suffered from injuries for a year, was denied medical attention and was required to continue working in the same position. Now, after fighting through Amazon’s workers’ compensation system, Lauren faces termination.
During her interview, Lauren explained that injured workers aren’t sent to a doctor or allowed to fill out any paperwork. Rather, management tries to coerce injured workers by threatening to revoke pay, keep them out of the warehouse or terminate their employment.
Lauren’s struggles began soon after she was hired by Amazon to be a picker. Her responsibilities included gathering products to be shipped, labeling merchandise and maintaining stock capacity. Injuries are quite common given the nature of a picker’s job—lifting, stacking and unloading.
After Lauren was originally injured, she was told to go to Amcare—Amazon’s on-site emergency medical clinic. The problem, according to Lauren, was that “Amcare doesn’t have any legitimate doctors; the people working there don’t have any medical title. Some of them are security people, etc. They don’t have nurses or any physicians.”
Because of the pressure to return to work even while injured, Lauren had to compensate for her hand and arm injuries. This led to additional injuries to her neck. Lauren felt her injuries were serious enough that she would need to seek other medical care. After numerous complaints to her managers, she was finally sent to an Amazon specialist—3 months after her injury.
At her appointment with the specialist, an MRI of Lauren’s neck was performed. The next day, however, Amazon’s insurance company, Sedgwick, contacted Lauren and stated that their findings showed her neck injury didn’t occur at work, and they were closing her case.
Furthermore, a representative for Amcare told her that she needed to continue working, and workers’ compensation wouldn’t cover her injury. If she felt she needed further treatment, she would have to consult her own physician.
Once Lauren was informed that Sedgwick had closed her case, she was required to take unpaid leave. During this time, she took more control over her medical care and sought a second opinion. She learned that she had a herniated disc in her neck and problems with her hands from heavy lifting. Her personal doctor stated that her injuries were caused by her working conditions.
After several months, Lauren was called back into work. However, this time, she was assigned to light-duty work, taking employees’ temperatures. This was all well and good, but she still needed reimbursement for the time she previously took off. Since her personal physician stated that she was injured at work (and she had proof), she felt she should be compensated.
Unfortunately, Sedgwick and Amazon’s workers’ comp caseworkers stonewalled her. Lauren sent multiple letters to Sedgwick without receiving a reply, and when she called workers’ comp, she was told she needed to send more documentation.
Recently, Amazon informed Lauren that she needed documented proof of her injuries from an authorized company doctor or her employment would be terminated.
This kind of treatment is not only bad for workers’ health, but it’s also bad for worker retention and worker recruitment.