13 Secrets of Amazon Warehouse Employees

Mental Floss put together this interesting list of facts about life as an employee in the warehouses of Amazon. One aspect addressed is the metal detectors by which warehouse workers must be scanned prior to leaving the premises for lunch or at the end of the work day. 

Charlee Mided, who worked in an Amazon warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona, said there was a huge rush among the workers to get in line for the security scan, particularly at lunchtime. He elaborated,

“If you’re way over on one side of the warehouse and lunch is called, you have 30 minutes from that point to clock out, eat, and come back. You’re spending half your time waiting to be scanned out so you can be sure you’re not stealing anything. It leaves you with about 10 minutes for food.”

When it's time to clock out, there is the same hurry to get in line for the metal detectors. The minutes spent in line is time for which the employees aren't paid, according to a Supreme Court decision on the matter issued in late 2014.

Read 12 other facts about work in Amazon warehouses here.  

Image Source: Reddit 


Comments (4)

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So that's how TSA does it. Thing is, you're no longer allowed to lock a suitcase. There are warnings at airports that TSA will cut the locks to inspect luggage.
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Actually you can still lock your suitcases. It's not illegal. However, TSA does have the right to cut the locks at any time to gain access to the bag for security checks. In order to avoid having your locks destroyed, you can purchase special TSA approved locks that are able to be opened by TSA agents without being broken. You can find info about this on the TSA website and other places. I had them on my bag for a trip to Chicago from Los Angeles and agents at multiple airports commented positively about them. It seems many people dont even know they're available.
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"special TSA approved locks that are able to be opened by TSA agents without being broken"

OK, but what if it's the TSA agents I'm worried about? They've been caught stealing from people's luggage.
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My aunt went to Trinidad and Tobago to check out a fabric distributer. While there she was given a "gift" of two bottles of wine, which she put into her luggage before boarding a plane back to Canada. Once seated on the plane she was confronted by T&T officials who removed her from the plan stating she was smuggling two bottles of liquid cocaine. She spent two years in prison in Trinidad and Tobago for drug trafficking, but claims she had no idea the "wine" was liquid cocaine. Be careful out there.
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One way is to stabilize your lock in place. You can zip it up to the area around the handle, and then rope it, chain it, secure the lock to the handle. This way IF it were to be tempered with, then can't reseal it unless they shift the lock around. Now you have some sort of evidence of tempering.
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