[jrochkind1]

wait, you're sure there are many industries, white and blue collar, where workers routinely pee in bottles as a job requirement?

Really? In the U.S.? You're pretty sure about this, eh? Many industries?

I'd be curious to hear an example of one industry where "white collar" workers routinely pee in bottles as a job requirement, official or unofficial.

[gascan]

as a job requirement

If truckers are doing that, it's probably not a job requirement per se. My shallow understanding of the industry is you get paid by the load, especially if you're independent.

Turning an old racing adage on its head- the faster you are, the more money you make. How much money do you want to make?

[philbarr]

My dev team are all forced to use the same bottle to save time. The one who tops it off and has to go off to empty it is docked pay.

[louisswiss]

My dev team each have their own bottle. It's the most expensive bottle on the market and is provided/cleaned/maintained for free as an employee benefit.

It is an IOT bottle, connected directly to the employee's primary work station/laptop. Cleaning/emptying of the bottle is automatic and triggered by employee engagement (eg LOC written/pushes to Github). It can also be triggered manually by the team lead.

Employees who wish to take the bottle home/on vacation with them may do so (same trigger rules apply).

Since implementing our new bottle infrastructure, we've been able to acquire several new key hires from companies where employee benefits aren't taken so seriously.

Furthermore, assigning the emptying of the bottles to our management team has helped balance the company and improve morale significantly (now that we've switched from a unilateral to bilateral flow of excrement).

[dsfyu404ed]

My dev team used to have urinals in our cubes but HR didn't think it was a sufficiently gender-equitable solution so now we are back to trash cans.

[balls187]

What if someone breaks the build?

[atrexler]

Sure, I can't tell you about white collar folks pissing in bottles, I may have exaggerated there.

But in healthcare (for nurses, therapists, aides) its quite prevalent that people don't drink/eat enough at work nor do they take proscribed breaks because productivity standards are so high.

Look I'm not saying its right or fair or good. I'm simply pointing out that its not unique to Amazon.

[marsrover]

Not eating or drinking enough is a whole different ballgame than pissing in a bottle.

[creep]

You're right: not eating and drinking enough is damaging to your long-term health and well-being, while pissing in a bottle damages your pride.

[billmalarky]

>not eating and drinking enough is damaging to your long-term health and well-being, while pissing in a bottle damages your pride.

You're forgetting the end game here where employees simply consume less water in order to have less bathroom breaks.

Constant dehydration is quite damaging to ones longterm health.

[Spooky23]

Nope. Pissing in a bottle is a signal that older workers who lack the ability and women who lack the anatomy not welcome.

[hajile]

Quite true (especially for CNA, techs, etc). I worked that job for a while in my late teens. Never take breaks, clock out for lunch then go back to work. Finish your 12.5 hour shift, but have to spend a bit more time off the clock finalizing everything and handing off to the next person.

All that said, it's apples and oranges. Healthcare is that way because the government regulates and pays. They'll basically tell a nursing home that they have to take care of a person and then tell that same facility how much they will be paid. Government regulation of facility standards and market costs dictate that part of the equation. The only part that can be flexed is the worker, so the workers are stiffed and mistreated to make the budget balance.

This is not the case with Amazon. They don't have a government dictating all the rules forcing the workers into bad situations. They simply do it to profit off their worker's misery.

[rebel]

Not the parent comment but I have heard that it is fairly common among UPS/FedEx drivers. I do agree the notion sounds pretty outlandish. To play devil's advocate, I would say it is likely more common than many people would initially expect.

[Spooky23]

Do you think that GM halts an assembly line that costs $100k an hour when some random dude needs to take a leak?

Anything where output is measured directly and challenged will result in this type of behavior with nasty management.

[usaphp]

Where did OP say about job requirement to pee in bottles?

[didibus]

Article is about the UK, not the US.

[java_script]

Is pro gaming a white collar industry?

[creep]

Lol, are jokes not allowed on HN? Geeeeez you guys.