Amazon delivery drivers have to ‘poo in bags due to working illegal hours and earning less than minimum wage’
Some drivers said they didn’t have enough time for toilet breaks, according to an undercover BBC investigation
AMAZON delivery drivers work “illegal” hours without toilet breaks, according to a BBC investigation.
Some drivers admitted to breaking speeding limits to keep up with their 200 parcels per day and others were paid less than minimum wage for their work.
Amazon denied the allegations and said that it expected delivery drivers from independent companies that it uses to be paid £12 per hour "before bonuses, incentives and fuel reimbursements".
An undercover BBC reporter took on a job as a driver with AHC Services, one of the many agencies that suppliers drivers to Amazon Logistics.
During his two week stint as a driver in Bristol he claimed that he worked more than the legal limit of 11 hours per day.
Colleagues told him that they had to “defecate in bags” and “urinate in bottles” because they didn’t have enough time for toilet breaks.
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In his first week he was paid £93.47 for three days' work and after he deducted cash for optional van hire and insurance it worked out at an equivalent to £2.59 per hour.
He was paid the equivalent of £4.76 per hour in his second week when he worked for four days, or set of deliveries, and was told by an agency supervisor that he “didn’t have to worry about a seat belt”.
One former driver said the pressure to deliver parcels left him with no choice but to drive quickly.
A ex supervisor from AHC, who left the company a number of years ago, said she told one driver, who fell asleep at the wheel, to stop driving because she was worried he would "end up killing someone".
A spokesperson from Amazon said: "As independent contractors of our delivery providers, drivers deliver at their own pace, take breaks at their discretion, and are able to choose the suggestion route or develop their own."
A spokesman added that it requires independent delivery providers to ensure drivers were fully licensed and insured and obeyed "all applicable traffic and safety laws".
In the past six months, drivers drove a daily average of 8.5 hours and were on duty for 9.1 hours, it added.
A spokesperson from AHC told the that the claims were based on "historic and based on isolated examples which occurred over a year ago".
It added: "Since then we have made changes to the way our checks are carried out and taken a number of steps to improve our ways of working."
It also said that it took the safety and welfare of contracted drivers “extremely seriously”.
Inside Amazon – a BBC Inside Out Special will be on tonight, BBC One at 7:30pm and on the BBC iPlayer.
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