Amazon has announced that parents and grandparents working in its UK warehouses can now have access to “term time-only contracts” to allow employees to juggle childcare responsibilities with work more easily.
That means six weeks off in the summer, and two more at Easter and Christmas, when schools are closed. Amazon says that this won’t impact a worker’s entitlement to full-time benefits which, according to the Jobs at Amazon site, include health and financial insurance plans, matched pension contributions and employee discounts.
Amazon’s regional operations director Neil Travis says the move is partly designed to encourage people back into the workplace.
“We spent a lot of time listening to our employees and one of the things that we were learning is that they really wanted more flexible opportunities,” he told the BBC.
While flexible working is undoubtedly popular, the GMB union says that higher take-home pay would be preferable.
“I don’t think this is what they’re looking for right now," GMB senior organiser, Amanda Gearing told the BBC. "They want more money in their pocket, what they’re telling us is they can’t live on poverty pay."
The GMB is seeking formal recognition from the Government’s Central Arbitration Committee at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse, where it has already held strike action over employee wages. It is demanding the base hourly rate to be increased from £11 to £15 per hour.
The £11 figure already represents a 10 per cent increase on the starting 2022 wage, with two 50p increases and a one-off cost of living payment of up to £500 already secured.
“We continue to focus on engaging directly with our employees and we continue to offer a really attractive rate of pay and comprehensive benefits,” Travis said.
Amazon employs more than 70,000 people in the UK, the BBC reported.
It said that Amazon did not believe that union recognition was appropriate.
According to the BBC, Amazon said that it preferred to talk directly with its staff rather than go through a union.
