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Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
101–110 of 129 posts
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#102That would be illegal in Germany: your regular work hours must not exceed 8hrs per day.
It can be contractually set to exceed 8h if the average of 8h is maintained (I think over 4 months for daytime work and 1 month for night work).
Not sure about night work, but for daytime work the averaging period can be extended to up to one year by agreement (Edit: And the default averaging period is six months).
Also note that the averaging is based on the official working week, which to this day still runs from Monday to Saturday, i.e. six days, so anything up to 48 h/week remains fully within the 8 h/working day average.
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty sure it would be, just have to pay more for the extra hours. I'm not a German but it would be surprising if it's any different than the rest of the EU countries.
oh. My employer is giving me flexible schedule as a perk to me . Would be hard to convince them to pay extra on top of it. They might just ask me to work regular hours.
Brief summary: The regular limit is 8 h per day, but can be extended to 10 h per day as long as the daily average doesn't exceed 8 h/day as measured across a six-month period (the averaging period can be extended to up to a year by agreement).
The thing to note is that the average is based on the official working week, which to this day still runs six days, Monday to Saturday. So as long as you're working less than 48 h/week, it's actually impossible to exceed the 8 h/average day limit and 3x10 h is perfectly fine from that point of view.
Extra pay and/or extra days off are only mandated for night-time work, anything else is a matter for wage agreements or your individual contract.
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#104That would be illegal in Germany: your regular work hours must not exceed 8hrs per day.
Really? That is interesting, although I can't say it would be preferable for me. I've had plenty of times when 4x10 was a good fit for my lifestyle. I've got a co-worker who currently does 3x12 and really seems to like it.
The daily limit is actually 10 h, the 8 h-limit only applies to the average daily working hours measured across the last six months (or a different period of up to a year by agreement). Additionally, the average working hours are calculated based on the official six-day working week, which means that anything up to 48 h/week still remains fully within the legal limit.
3x12 on the other would be illegal on the other hand, unless it includes a significant amount of on-call duty or falls within one of the other permitted exceptions (which probably wouldn't apply to your co-worker, though).
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a gig worker I hope it stays, gig work has been a massive quality of life improvement for me. I think if the unions want to compete with us that's fine but the state shouldn't get to pick the winner.
As a brand new account can you prove you're actually a gig worker, and not some PR firm working for Uber to manage the online conversation about this topic?
What are you expecting as proof exactly? Government issued ID and payment from a gig?
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#106I actually left an early job because it didn't offer a 4x10. 4x10 is amazing. Your work days are your work days, but the extra day off is amazing. You can actually go do stuff. My own view - everyone should switch to 4x10 or at least have it as an option. Now I'm working crazy hours so all a dream anyways these days. Note 4x10 shifts are not new in warehousing (or even in mfg).
Sure, a 4x10 would be workable if the hours fit roughly into a traditional household schedule. But 4x 1:20a-11:50a shifts per week would make it impossible to get your kids ready for school. And you'd be sleeping when it's time for dinner, or homework. Not to mention having time for a relationship with your spouse. Etc, etc. The shift they outline in the article sounds miserable.
I've come to realize that if Amazon does something, it gets a ton of coverage.
4x10 shifts are not a new concept. This article makes it sound like what is pretty standard warehouse stuff is a new diabolical amazon plan to create the soul crushing "megacycle".
And working nights is not new. Anyone who has had to deal with 24x7 staffing (police, guard, nursing, flying etc etc) has had come up with approaches for night shift work (which is definitely terrible). Heads up, the non-megacycle night shift is also no fun for a lot of people.
That said, night shift work is miserable. No question there!
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#107US is reverting to early 20th century labor market norms, thanks to 'gig' economy and megacorps subverting unions. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/tech/amazon-nlrb-union-el... Only thing missing is union-busting Pinkerton thugs... https://www.npr.org/2020/11/30/940196997/amazon-reportedly-h...
As a gig worker I hope it stays, gig work has been a massive quality of life improvement for me. I think if the unions want to compete with us that's fine but the state shouldn't get to pick the winner.
Not everyone has the luxury of meaningfully different choices. For many, the main task is finding the least bad out of a lot of bad options.
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#108I actually left an early job because it didn't offer a 4x10. 4x10 is amazing. Your work days are your work days, but the extra day off is amazing. You can actually go do stuff. My own view - everyone should switch to 4x10 or at least have it as an option. Now I'm working crazy hours so all a dream anyways these days. Note 4x10 shifts are not new in warehousing (or even in mfg).
Presumably this was an office job? It might be a little different with a warehouse job that has very productivity targets set from above.
Yes. No disagreement there.
However, I used to do some other work where I was on longer but thought less. In this other job I'd put headsets on and just listen to podcasts and music while working, and when I was done, I was DONE. Any problems were someone elses to deal with.
One problem I have with office work is that it can be hard to leave "at the office" when you are behind. People expect problems to be solved, and if you don't solve them they wait for you the next morning. This has really impacted me badly at times (trouble sleeping etc).
My dream scenario - 4x10 and then somehow have no risk of stuff hanging over me to get done the next week!
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that better/worse with manual labor? In software dev, I tend to fluctuate how productive I can be for an extended period, so being useful (instead of just ass in seat) for 10 hours seems rough. Granted some days I go for 12 but that's unhealthy and mostly because I get into a groove I am not interested in breaking.
I used to work 12 hour shifts 6 days a week throughout my summers in college landscaping. Honestly wasn’t as bad as you’d think. There was a shared camaraderie that you don’t find in white collar jobs that honestly made it pretty fun. Obviously not sustainable for someone with actual responsibilities but with that said I’d be far more miserable if I tried to pull that off in the office.
Yes - I once worked a summer job like that - one downside - talk about work hard party hard - you are with a group that can go just crazy on days off.
Re: Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers into Brutal 'Megacycle' Shifts
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that better/worse with manual labor? In software dev, I tend to fluctuate how productive I can be for an extended period, so being useful (instead of just ass in seat) for 10 hours seems rough. Granted some days I go for 12 but that's unhealthy and mostly because I get into a groove I am not interested in breaking.
I used to work 12 hour shifts 6 days a week throughout my summers in college landscaping. Honestly wasn’t as bad as you’d think. There was a shared camaraderie that you don’t find in white collar jobs that honestly made it pretty fun. Obviously not sustainable for someone with actual responsibilities but with that said I’d be far more miserable if I tried to pull that off in the office.
Working at a station, you can build up camaraderie. Working as a picker, moving around a warehouse on your feet at a fast clip, not so much.