In one or two paragraphs, explain whether you feel it is morally acceptable for the management of Amazon warehouses to treat workers as they do.

Then, provide specific evidence from the case to support your position:

• with consequentialist/ utilitarian reasoning (the ends justify the means no matter what the actions are),
• with Kantian/rights-based reasoning (actions are neither right or wrong based on a moral standard, but instead whether or not they fulfill the responsibilities and duties of the position- i.e., are managements actions acceptable based on whether they are engaging in the established duties and responsibilities of management),
• or both.

Amazon Warehouse Employees Speak Out

The holiday season is a hectic and crucial time for all retailers, not to mention a chaotic, trying time for retail workers who have to deal with Black Friday stampedes or ramped-up online orders in the run-up to Christmas. But Amazon occupies a unique spot in the retail industry, thanks to its size and influence. During the holidays, Amazon employees regularly put in 60 hour work weeks. In recent years, Amazon has been accused of pushing their employees too hard. Time Off Each year, Amazon workers get a certain amount of unpaid time off, or UPT. When workers dip into "negative UPT," when they have taken more than their allotted UPT, Amazon can be ruthless. According to one Tennessee warehouse worker, "If you go negative, you're gone. I've seen people that have worked there five years, they went negative unpaid time, and they got rid of them just like that. Layla Ahmed, a former Amazon worker in Minnesota, said she was fired on November 26, four days after Thanksgiving, because she went into negative UPT. Ahmed said she used up much of her unpaid time off last year caring for her grandmother. After a string of 60-hour workweeks, including shifts on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, she came down with a fever. She called into work, explained why she couldn't come in, and requested a call back from the fulfillment center's human-resources department. But Ahmed said the call never came. When she got back to the warehouse in Shakopee, Ahmed worked two 12-hour shifts before she was called to a manager's office and dismissed. After over two years at Amazon, Ahmed was escorted out of the building. "The intent behind UPT is to ensure associates have a bank of time available to handle unexpected issues or emergencies. Full-time associates are allocated up to 80 hours per year of unpaid time (the equivalent of two work weeks), in addition to paid time off for vacation, personal time, and holidays. "If an associate does run into a negative UPT balance, in each case we have a seek-to-understand conversation to recognize the associate's situation and any mitigating circumstances." Amazon reports that when Ahmed appealed the decision, the decision to fire her was upheld by an internal panel at Amazon. Compensation As required by U.S. law, employees at Amazon are paid time and a half for the overtime. In addition to cash, Amazon workers can be rewarded with "swag bucks," a kind of company currency that can be spent only inside Amazon. The incentives are designed to further increase productivity and are popular with some employees. Using swag bucks, workers can buy items like T-shirts, lanyards, and water bottles from Amazon. The company currency is available all year round, but there's more up for grabs during peak, especially during what's known as "power hours." Power hours are when managers try to pump up warehouse workers to work even harder for 60 minutes, sometimes motivating them by saying workers in other departments have been talking smack or outperforming them. At the end of the hour, staff members can be rewarded with swag bucks or prizes. "I've personally won a 50-inch television," Keion Burgess said during the interview organized by Amazon. "It's been great. We can win power hours in teams, or we can win them individually. It's a really great thing for us as associates. We love it." During that same interview, Angelina Tramontano added: "After you work eight hours and you're really, really tired, I use it as an incentive to push myself to challenge myself to see if I can do it." Others said they found the incentives less enticing. "It's insulting, because around this time of year the managers, if their targets are met or exceeded, they get a bonus," a warehouse worker reported. Other employees shared similar sentiments: "All the new employees that are clueless about the work culture, they buy into that. What they're trying to do is get more work out of you for the same amount of pay." Another associated added, "They can try to get you going try to be positive and really upbeat, and there's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes it seems a little excessive. I'm not going to get that excited about $16 an hour.