Ailing Amazon workers struggle to find Covid tests themselves

Workers also have a five-day excused absence period to get their test results back, meaning they won’t be disciplined for not being able to come to work.NBC News spoke to nine Amazon employees who recently contracted Covid-19 or suspected they might be sick. To help, we have offered incentives and hosted more than 1,800 free on-site vaccination events at Amazon facilities across the U.S., making vaccines and boosters available to our employees and their household members.”Amazon workers who spoke with NBC said that they believe the company’s efforts are still falling short, and that it remains difficult to get in touch with support staff who can help when they test positive or think they might have the virus.“I started calling from 9 in the morning to literally 6 at night when my husband came home,” said a worker in Illinois who recently contracted Covid-19 and asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press. She eventually went to speak to a building manager in person, who she said eventually granted her the time off after she insisted on it.After Drew Duzinskas, another Amazon warehouse worker in Illinois, tested positive for Covid-19 over the holidays, he quickly notified Amazon that he was sick. “That seems to be their goal — to kind of take the human out of human resources.” The workers’ accounts echo similar complaints shared on Reddit forums for Amazon employees, where numerous users said they were unable to get through to the Covid Resource Center or the Employee Resource Center, two Amazon systems workers use to apply for sick leave or ask questions about their cases. Amazon acknowledged that it was experiencing higher call volumes than usual, and said it was working to increase phone staffing and encouraging employees to use self-service options available online.The Amazon workers who spoke to NBC News said it wasn’t always clear what the company requires for them to secure Covid leave.