
Amazon's Return-to-Office Mandate Sparks Complaints from Disabled Employees (yahoo.com) 83
An anonymous reader shared this report from Bloomberg:
Amazon's hard-line stance on getting disabled employees to return to the office has sparked a backlash, with workers alleging the company is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as their rights to collectively bargain. At least two Amazon employees have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the National Labor Relations Board, federal agencies that regulate working conditions. One of the workers said they provided the EEOC with a list of 18 "similarly situated" employees to emphasize that their experience isn't isolated and to help federal regulators with a possible investigation.
Disabled workers frustrated with how Amazon is handling their requests for accommodations — including exemptions to a mandate that they report to the office five days a week — are also venting their displeasure on internal chat rooms and have encouraged colleagues to answer surveys about the policies. Amazon has been deleting such posts and warning that they violate rules governing internal communications. One employee said they were terminated and another said they were told to find a different position after advocating for disabled workers on employee message boards. Both filed complaints with the EEOC and NLRB.
Amazon has told employees with disabilities they must now submit to a "multilevel leader review," Bloomberg reported in October, "and could be required to return to the office for monthlong trials to determine if accommodations meet their needs." (They received calls from "accommodation consultants" who also reviewed medical documentation, after which "another Amazon manager must sign off. If they don't, the request goes to a third manager...")
Bloomberg's new article remembers how several employees told them in November. "that they believed the system was designed to deny work-from-home accommodations and prompt employees with disabilities to quit, which some have done. Amazon denied the system was designed to encourage people to resign." Since then, workers have mobilized against the policy. One employee repeatedly posted an online survey seeking colleagues' reactions, defying the company's demands to stop. The survey ultimately generated feedback from more than 200 workers even though Amazon kept deleting it, and the results reflected strong opposition to Amazon's treatment of disabled workers. More than 71% of disabled Amazon employees surveyed said the company had denied or failed to meet most of their accommodation requests, while half indicated they faced "hostile" work environments after disclosing their disabilities and requesting accommodations.
One respondent said they sought permission to work from home after suffering multiple strokes that prevented them from driving. Amazon suggested moving closer to the office and taking mass transit, the person said in the survey. Another respondent said they couldn't drive for longer than 15-minute intervals due to chronic pain. Amazon's recommendation was to pull over and stretch during their commute, which the employee said was unsafe since they drive on a busy freeway... Amazon didn't dispute the accounts and said it considered a range of solutions to disability accommodations, including changes to an employee's commute.
Amazon is also "using AI to parse accommodation requests, read doctors' notes and make recommendations based on keywords," according to the article — another policy that's also generated internal opposition (and formed a "key element" of the complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
"The dispute could affect thousands of Amazon workers. An internal Slack channel for employees with disabilities has 13,000 members, one of the people said..."
Disabled workers frustrated with how Amazon is handling their requests for accommodations — including exemptions to a mandate that they report to the office five days a week — are also venting their displeasure on internal chat rooms and have encouraged colleagues to answer surveys about the policies. Amazon has been deleting such posts and warning that they violate rules governing internal communications. One employee said they were terminated and another said they were told to find a different position after advocating for disabled workers on employee message boards. Both filed complaints with the EEOC and NLRB.
Amazon has told employees with disabilities they must now submit to a "multilevel leader review," Bloomberg reported in October, "and could be required to return to the office for monthlong trials to determine if accommodations meet their needs." (They received calls from "accommodation consultants" who also reviewed medical documentation, after which "another Amazon manager must sign off. If they don't, the request goes to a third manager...")
Bloomberg's new article remembers how several employees told them in November. "that they believed the system was designed to deny work-from-home accommodations and prompt employees with disabilities to quit, which some have done. Amazon denied the system was designed to encourage people to resign." Since then, workers have mobilized against the policy. One employee repeatedly posted an online survey seeking colleagues' reactions, defying the company's demands to stop. The survey ultimately generated feedback from more than 200 workers even though Amazon kept deleting it, and the results reflected strong opposition to Amazon's treatment of disabled workers. More than 71% of disabled Amazon employees surveyed said the company had denied or failed to meet most of their accommodation requests, while half indicated they faced "hostile" work environments after disclosing their disabilities and requesting accommodations.
One respondent said they sought permission to work from home after suffering multiple strokes that prevented them from driving. Amazon suggested moving closer to the office and taking mass transit, the person said in the survey. Another respondent said they couldn't drive for longer than 15-minute intervals due to chronic pain. Amazon's recommendation was to pull over and stretch during their commute, which the employee said was unsafe since they drive on a busy freeway... Amazon didn't dispute the accounts and said it considered a range of solutions to disability accommodations, including changes to an employee's commute.
Amazon is also "using AI to parse accommodation requests, read doctors' notes and make recommendations based on keywords," according to the article — another policy that's also generated internal opposition (and formed a "key element" of the complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
"The dispute could affect thousands of Amazon workers. An internal Slack channel for employees with disabilities has 13,000 members, one of the people said..."
Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:2, Funny)
Er wait... they did?
Re: Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:5, Interesting)
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An account is required to post as an Anonymous Coward. Tell us who you really are, Coward.
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You can't compare all disabilities with her. Not everyone has a huge support network. Often visible disabilities get good Samaritan support, often immediately whilst chronic pain etc gets close to zero support.
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Since Amazon has amply demonstrated that WFH is easy for it to do, it's going to be hard to lawfully deny disabled people this accomodation.
Lawfully? In what states/jurisdictions is it a requirement for any company to allow WFH? You folks have lost your grip on reality.
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There are lots of laws against discrimination of disabled persons and lots of clear definitions of disability.
This is an easy slam dunk case of discrimination against disabled persons.
Lots of good evidence that WFH is effective for employers and employees.
Requiring disabled employees to overcome the many hurdles to physically transport themselves to an office is clear discrimination when they could WFH.
Re: Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:1)
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Workplace accommodations means providing that
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So you think what happened to you was acceptable and that everyone else in a similar situation should suffer equally rather than ever improve things. A lot of us feel differently. Also, what if you weren't there to drive her into work every day? Should she just get fired and starve quietly?
Re: Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:1)
Re: Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:2)
If they were able to work in the office prior then they have no excuses.
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I guess you've never had a health issue that gets worse over time. I'm going through a similar situation with my employer. I started to work from home in 2020 due to the virus. My employer permanently closed our local office around that same time. Since then, a neurological disease that I've been fighting for years has gotten worse and I can only safely drive short distances, or longer if carefully timed around medication. The next closest office is at best, well over an hour away, each direction. I w
That doesn't matter. (Score:5, Insightful)
We all know that working from the office was once the norm. That fact by itself tells us nothing about how much the workers liked it. Nor is it relevant to the modern day which includes excellent technological solutions for remote work and widespread evidence that it does not harm productivity.
So, the suffering that some people face, today, in dealing with a work-from-office mandate are not in any way addressed by saying "well people used to have to work from the office regardless." We don't live in the past, and the tribulations of the past aren't relevant to the present.
Of course, I don't expect Amazon to show any compassion. Why would they? They succeed, in part, by exploiting workers, so they don't care if there is some suffering involved. They believe (right or wrong doesn't matter) that their bottom line benefits from this policy, so they will push it. Workers who don't like it can push back if they choose, risks and all.
Personally, I approve of worker pushback and wish we had more of it, because power is not in balance and being a worker sucks in general.
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10M at Amazon scale for a few hundred people is nothing. The whole matter is a giant threat to all the others to show what happens if you don't do as asked.
Back to office orno job for you.
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We all know that working from the office was once the norm. That fact by itself tells us nothing about how much the workers liked it. Nor is it relevant to the modern day which includes excellent technological solutions for remote work and widespread evidence that it does not harm productivity.
There is a difference between a liked or preferred solution and an alternative workable solution. The ADA doesn't necessarily allow a preferred choice among workable solutions, just that accommodations be made.
This separate issue concerning whether current technology facilitates additional solutions is a worthwhile discussion but is still different from the legal question surrounding the ADA.
Re:Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Disabled people didn't exist before 2020 (Score:4, Insightful)
They may have joined after 2020. It's been more than 5 years since the pandemic started. They may also have become disabled since then. People get injured, conditions worsen.
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Magic 8 ball told me so.
Re: Funny (Score:2)
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When talking about slips, wouldn't you rather the employee premises pay the insurance?
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Re:Funny (Score:5, Interesting)
Funny how all these disabled people worked in the office just fine before.
FYI, before you hate on me, I am a disabled person.
Actually, the ratio of disabled people in the workplace increased during the pandemic and then levelled out when RTO mandates began. It's almost as if disabled people had more trouble getting and holding jobs when they had to come to the office every day.
https://www.bls.gov/news.relea... [bls.gov]
My experience as an unemployed person who is that officially disabled but encumbered by a heavy health management load is that companies with RTO mandates don't care about candidates health issues and likely believe that ADA doesn't require them to. And they are likely right about the latter.
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Funny how all these disabled people worked in the office just fine before.
FYI, before you hate on me, I am a disabled person.
Whether you are disabled or not is not really the question. There are many types of disablement (and yours may not be same as the claimants). But while "reasonable accommodation" is required, remote work has never been adjudicated as a necessary and reasonable accommodation, making this claim somewhat of a long shot. But it does deserve to have it's day in court to clarify the requirements.
Re: Funny (Score:4, Insightful)
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It doesn't.
Re: Funny (Score:2)
As a disabled person I absolutely agree with you
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Maybe they did not? It have been 5 years, don't you think some got hired during these years?
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Funny how all these disabled people worked in the office just fine before.
Slavery and child labor "worked just fine" before, too.
The fact is "just fine" isn't really fine for many disabled people, and years of working remotely proved that remote work is feasible and practical.
Funny how all these remote workers worked just fine before, until the PHBs called for everyone to return to office, then somehow remote working isn't fine anymore. While at the same time, outsource to India is still fine for the same PHBs. You cannot get more blatantly double standard than this, unless all
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What the hell is a PHB?
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Re:Funny (Score:5, Insightful)
No. Not "worked in the office just fine"
Bullshit. They suffered quietly. Not just the visibly disabled, the wheelhchair-bound that suffered.
Those who loathe crowds suffered. Those who loathed the daily commute suffered. Those who get home with their nerves in tatters after a day of bullshit suffered.
COVID's utter disruption showed worker and boss alike what can be done remotely. It exposed the modern office for the useless sham it is in the interconnected era.
To those who keep prattling on about RTO and how it's necessary: fuck you.
I'm not going back. You'll have to plug my casket into the network before I go back. I'd rather be dead than go back to a stupid office 5 times a week.
Re: Funny (Score:2)
WFH is great for the planet, too.
Going to try hard to stay "fully remote". Just doing my part...
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FYI, before you hate on me, I am a disabled person.
Being part of a demographic doesn't prevent you from making a jackassed statement about said demographic; there is no force field that prevents you from making such statements just from being in a particular demographic.
Won't Matter (Score:2)
The EEOC and NLRB were impotent prior to Jan. 2025 and are even worse now (the NLRB can't even rule because they lack a quorum).
Amazon is following the letter of the law, which means they can grind this down until people quit. Accommodation is suppose to be a "good faith" effort between employer and employee. It seems neither is approaching this in that spirit.
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Capitalism working as designed.
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Yum, boots!
Remind me, what percentage of PPP loans got repaid?
You'll wake up when there's a boot on your neck (Score:2)
Distributing the grift according to need is called Socialism.
Concentrating the grift into the pockets of the wealthy is called Capitalism.
Libertarians hate both because they don't like paying taxes.
Fascists love both because they love grift, plus they killed or deported all the undesirables, so no need to worry about hand outs to illegal trans Democrats.
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Since when do you have the right to work from anywhere you want, employer's requirements be damned?
Rights at Amazon? Please. (Score:2)
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Reports depicting the grueling work conditions in Amazon warehouses=
None of those issues are part of this particular complaint (they may be part of a different complaint in some other jurisdictional forum). In practice, while "reasonable accommodation" is required, most warehouse jobs are not going to be viable for those with certain disabilities, and no industry are likely required to make such accommodations (just like airlines are not required to hire pilots who cannot see).
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'ttesty' likes to hear/see themself whine on /. Talk about somebody with a "personal vanity" issue.
Like a person that posts a Google comment on a Google Map pin for a hospital asking for a medical diagnosis of their "condition" or where the nearest cheep hotel is located relative to the hospital.
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People are free to look for another job.
In fact, when my wife's employer said they would soon be calling people back to the office, she went out and got another job, with a 40% pay increase too. So, I know it's possible.
Guidelines rather than rules (Score:2)
I quite liked the days when, generally speaking, guidelines outnumbered rules, and the whole employee-company relationship was less brittle.
I understand that clear rules with clear consequences avoid misunderstandings. But this is more necessary with children than it is between gentlemen, as it were. What's changed...?
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But this is more necessary with children than it is between gentlemen, as it were. What's changed...?
Amazon is largely populated by employees who got there as their first job out of college and don't know any better. So more children than gentlemen.
Amazon (Score:2)
Is a career hellscape for anyone. Most of the people I've talked to who work there say, oh I'm just writing here until I achieve X and then move on. As far as I know you are part of a big corporate machine that cares nothing for individuals.
They want you to quit (Score:3)
Isn't it obvious enough yet?
Find a new better job.... (Score:1)
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I just don't see the point of commuting through rush-hour.
To sit behind a pc in another office, with a worse setup then I have myself.
Whatever accommodations were reasonable in 2019 (Score:1)
Why work for Amazon? (Score:2)
I thought the assumed deal with faang companies is long hours in exchange for great pay and benefits. Am I wrong about that?
Amazon is famous for treating it's employees like shit. As soon as a recruiter mentions them, I'm not interested. Why do people return their calls?
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The pay is fantastic, and as most of the Amazon employees working in an office are AWS employees working in "Sales", it's great for people who can babble and bullshit but with no real skills - particularly as their sales people don't work on quota and can do a very large number of things that contribute to looking busy but accomplish nothing. Even skilled people struggle to get anything done there due to their "gotta follow the rules" formulaic "success criteria" culture. This is partially why you end up wi
The point is, you shouldn't have had to (Score:1)
"Disabled" or "Disability"? (Score:1)
Let's not conflate things here.
It's trivial to click the "I've got a disability" box when applying for a job, and it doesn't necessarily mean you're disabled or have a disability, except per the definition of law.
Eg. things like alcoholism, prior or current, ADHD/autism, prior cancer, anxiety disorders, and/or being morbidly obese.
Also covered under the ADA, would be something like ripping a tendon or breaking a knee in a sporting activity and needing to (temporarily, albeit for more than several weeks) wal
I hope Amazon lose the inevitable court cases (Score:1)
"One respondent said they sought permission to work from home after suffering multiple strokes that prevented them from driving. Amazon suggested moving closer to the office and taking mass transit, the person said in the survey. Another respondent said they couldn't drive for longer than 15-minute intervals due to chronic pain. Amazon's recommendation was to pull over and stretch during their commute, which the employee said was unsafe since they drive on a busy freeway... Amazon didn't dispute the account