Amazon "strongly refutes" claims that it exploits British employees, after reports of demanding warehouse shifts that see workers walking more than ten miles a day.
Amazon issued the denial in response to a BBC documentary, which follows an undercover worker, Adam Littler, at Amazon's Swansea warehouse. Segments of the documentary also appeared internationally, and in Australia on the SBS network.
Littler is shown racing a "scanner" which tracks how fast employees pick up items, bleeping if they make a mistake or are too slow. He is also shown jogging around Amazon's warehouse to collect items, clocking up almost 11 miles in a night.
According to the report, tracking data is shared with managers who will encourage slow workers to meet the higher "productivity targets" or else face disciplinary action.
"For those ten hours we are basically machines, we are robots," said Littler. "We plug our scanner in - we may as well plug it into ourselves."
Within the law?
Lawyers appearing on the programme suggested Amazon could be in breach of employment regulations due the strenuous nature of the work. Medical experts added that such menial work could lead to physical and mental illnesses.
But Amazon said its practices fall within the law.
"We strongly refute the charge that Amazon exploits its employees in any way," said the company. "The safety of our associates is our number one priority, and we adhere to all regulations and employment law."
"Amazon has retained an independent expert who has visited our buildings and associates," the company added. "In the independent expert's opinion, a picking role is similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness."
The company added that its scanner targets were "set objectively" and compared with its workforce's historic performance levels.
"We know that a variety of things could impact the ability to meet expectations in any given day or hour," the company said.
The company also pointed out that it pays above the minimum wage.
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