Amazon employees are held to a strict set of rules when they begin working at Amazon, such as being required to schedule their own PTO and only receiving 80 hours a year for sick days.
In addition to these rules, Amazon employees are also held to TOT (Time Off Tasks). But what is their policy for TOT, and how does it work? If you’d like to find out, keep reading this article to see what I learned!
Amazon TOT Policy
Amazon’s TOT policy requires their staff members to clock in and out every time they take an unprecedented break from their work tasks, such as using the bathroom or waiting for equipment to work. If employees do not clock out, they will have automatic warnings sent, which can cause terminations if they’re unheeded long term.
If you’d like to learn more about how TOT works, how long TOT is, if TOT is scheduled fairly, and more, keep reading this article to learn more facts, tips, and information gathered on this topic!
How Does TOT Work?
When Amazon warehouse workers begin their workday, Amazon has each individual employee on an automated tracking and termination process.
The TOT system automatically tracks their productivity throughout the day and will generate any warnings or termination alerts in reference to an employee’s quality of work without any formal warning from a manager or supervisor.
However, supervisors at Amazon are able to override the TOT system. Therefore, employees may not be terminated depending on the circumstances surrounding their lack of productivity.
What Are Amazon’s Rules for Taking TOT?
Amazon has a vague set of rules for taking Time Off Tasks, which can cause a variety of issues among staff who are being written up.
However, the base rule for the TOT system is that employees are expected to keep on track with a specific productivity rate.
Once employees stop packaging items, the system will send alerts if the employee stops for too long.
Amazon’s productivity rates will change regularly depending on the number of employees working at a certain division, the number of packages they receive per day, and other similar factors.
Therefore, Amazon’s rules about how often employees can take unprecedented breaks, such as needing to use the bathroom, may change on a daily basis.
Amazon warehouse employees are therefore encouraged to discuss the TOT system with their supervisor on a regular basis to ensure they are keeping up to date with expected productivity rates to prevent receiving TOT alerts.
Can Amazon Fire You for TOT?
Amazon’s TOT system is set up to send alerts to warehouse staff when they are taking too long of a break. If the alerts come in too regularly, the system will automatically generate a termination notice for the employee.
However, Amazon staff should note that supervisors are authorized to override the system, meaning some supervisors may be more lenient about TOT warnings depending on an individual employee’s circumstances.
Therefore, potential staff members who are concerned about TOT warnings should communicate unique reasons for unprecedented breaks to their supervisor, such as illness fatigue, anxiety attacks, and similar ailments that may cause them to take more regular breaks.
However, employees should be aware that not all supervisors at Amazon will be lenient with TOT termination warnings.
Therefore, they are advised to carefully consider accepting employment if they require more small breaks than other staff members.
How Long Is TOT at Amazon?
Amazon’s TOT software will send productivity alerts to staff members who are not working consistently, though Amazon does not currently say how much time passes between each alert.
However, according to a former Amazon employee, the TOT software will issue an automatic termination if an employee has not worked for two hours.
What Are TOT Work Hours?
Amazon has not clearly stated how long their staff members are allowed to take breaks for TOT before being written up.
The hours may vary depending on an employee’s schedule for the day and how many hours they work per week.
However, if employees take up to two hours off of work during the day, the TOT software will generate an automatic termination notice due to a great lack of productivity.
Are All Amazon Employees Required to Take TOT?
Amazon employees who work in the Amazon warehouses are all required to be on the TOT alert system. This system may also apply to employees who work in the Amazon Fulfillment Center.
However, other Amazon employees who work higher up in the company may not be held to this requirement.
Therefore, potential staff who are applying for non-warehouse jobs at Amazon are encouraged to ask about whether or not TOT applies to workers in other positions.
Does Amazon Schedule TOT Fairly?
Amazon is known for holding its employees to strict rules. Therefore, many current and former staff members consider Amazon’s TOT system to infringe upon their rights due to the limits on bathroom breaks and other essential pauses in their workload.
As well, news outlets and other media have ridiculed Amazon over the years for how their TOT system works and have expressed concern about the lack of consideration for other staff.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to conclude that Amazon still does not schedule its TOT breaks fairly.
If you are currently working at Amazon, you can also see our posts on Amazon’s VTO policy, Amazon’s break policy, and Amazon’s termination policy.
