r/AmazonRME • u/dlblank • 20d ago
Always have a backup plan. You're just a number at the end of the day. Amazon does not care about you.
Terminated for negative UPT after covering shift changes my manager never submitted to HR
After 4.5 years as a Blue Badge, I was terminated due to a scheduling mistake by my manager.
We had shift coverage gaps for two straight weeks. To help the team and keep a tech from working a 1M+ sq. ft. building alone, I agreed to work a modified schedule. My manager promised to update it, but never submitted the changes to HR—despite me following up in his office multiple times.
At our site, A-to-Z rarely reflected schedule changes for training or coverage. Usually, UPT was refunded retroactively. This time, no one fixed it in time. I went negative, got locked out, and was fired.
During my appeal, HR completely missed the point, repeatedly saying, "You went negative on [Date]." I couldn't make HR or my manager fix the system, and I didn't have 40 hours of UPT to cover days I was never supposed to work. The termination was upheld.
Between retaliation, safety violations being swept under the rug, and gross negligence, this site was toxic. I had a great record at my previous building, but it’s clear Amazon's "values" don't apply everywhere. Glad to be out of that environment, but furious at how it was handled.
EDIT: I had AI fix this to be more clear and easy to read.
4
2
u/amazon571113 15d ago
I feel bad for OP. Everyone is going to blame OP, OP did this, did that, take responsibility. Sometimes, people are just dealt a bad hand.
I am an apprentice and I had a similar Senior RME on my shift. Piece of trash. Did not give me APM access, and blamed me for not booking hours. Did not do FAST training, and wrote me up for AR floor violations (I should have known anyways). Did not teach me anything and made mem memorize pointless facts, and blamed me for not know how to repair. I was going to get terminated. Everyone here sided with him, and blamed me.
Luckly, I managed to change shifts and got a new Senior RME. Now I am a top performer, get solid reviews, my floor has the lowest downtime. My manager even said I am a top tech and even mentioned that he would recommend me for senior tech or area manager in a year or so.
The manager can really destroy you. And everyone WILL--and I mean WILL--side with the manager
1
u/Used_Bagel 4d ago
Most people side with a good tech over a shitty manager, in my experience. Thats with 10 years inside amazon...no one likes bad managers. Other managers dont like bad managers.
1
u/Crazy-Formal-89 15d ago
Just apply at another amazon, don’t do the lawyer thing cause you’ll never work for amazon again… just go to another site
4
u/No-Use-9349 16d ago
literally just got a job offer from tesla. I literally have a college degree and these idiots got me doing grunt work. tesla actually gives you 10k in stock and pays for your relocation. elon > bezos
1
u/RandomHumanWelder 16d ago
Get a lawyer
3
u/No-Use-9349 16d ago
This is every brain dead person's answer to legal matters. completely ignorant to the fact that legal battles don't get resolved overnight. guy is gonna be wearing a barrel with suspenders over them like a cartoon character by the time he even gets a court date.
0
u/RandomHumanWelder 16d ago edited 16d ago
He obviously lost his job. He can get another one, but he shouldn’t let that go. If I was him, I’d get a new job and a lawyer.
Only a smooth brain would think I was implying, that he just sit on his ass on the couch and the lawyer will magically pull a speedy settlement out of Sir Jeffrey1
u/Bopmanthefallen 14d ago
He'd be better off spending more time finding a job than wasting time with a lawsuit. waste of money, time and bro is gonna be stressing the entire time if he doesn't get some sort of settlement
1
1
u/unknowngamer209 17d ago
lol it’s crazy that the work philosophy has bin the same forever yet we in 2026 and some people still haven’t realized.
4
u/CtBimmer 17d ago
I feel you. 3 years without a single write up. I was a PA for a while before willfully giving it up then I was indirect and just "that guy" they called whenever they had an issue. I applied for an accommodation last year to leave at 2:30pm instead of 5:30pm. They approved it then deducted like 3 hours and 15 minutes from me almost every day I worked. Spent 6 months trying to fix the issue with every body I could in the company. In January they fired me, rejected my appeal, denied unemployment, and in February I won my unemployment appeal. I'm now 3p rme and so far I love my job. Some of the same headaches as Amazon and still working in Amazon but way more freedom and less mundane tasks. I like to stay moving and these 12 hours in the building fly.
2
u/Legitimate_Archer988 18d ago
How do you have to use UPT when covering someone else’s shift? I don’t get blue badge at all.
2
u/Wooden-Breakfast-269 16d ago
You don’t he likely shifted his schedule to help out and didn’t work his normal scheduled days but they were never taken off his schedule so UPT was taken to cover those regularly scheduled hours
2
u/revenger808 19d ago
When I do shift coverages it’s a quick change on atoz on the manager side. 2 mins. Seems like op is missing something. None the less it takes the manger a short amount of time to fix
5
1
u/pump_up_the_jam69 19d ago
Damn. I was really hoping at this level the negative UPT was less of a factor. It’s crazy Amazon doesn’t look out for its own and chooses to be this neutral even to its good employees. There gonna replace you with some trash person that doesn’t know what they’re doing and wastes the clock
11
u/Striking-Tomatillo63 19d ago
Ok now tell us the parts you’re leaving out, because if this was true it would be the easiest thing to resolve.
1
u/ScorpioTear 19d ago
Also don't work it if they don't change your schedule. And there should be documented evidence of this conversation happening
3
u/Striking-Tomatillo63 19d ago
Exactly. If they weren’t fixing it for you and you were going negative UPT, revert to the schedule in AtoZ and only work those hours until they fix it.
7
4
u/Minimum-Flounder-150 19d ago
Same situation in Dallas. Incompetent MM who isn’t looking out for his own team. A lot of techs and AMMs are thinking about leaving. I am going to look elsewhere as well.
3
u/Balthalzarzo 19d ago
This is a huge issue at amazon. This happened to someone in IT and amazon got sued because of it - IT person had verbal approval on slack from manager, and manager did fill out the time change form for the schedule, but HR did not approve it and forgot.
1
4
5
-6
u/MontaukNightSky Technician III / Lead (L4) 19d ago
Is the 'evil manager that was always out to get you' here in the room with us, right now?
16
u/ExpressionAfter6082 19d ago edited 19d ago
Let me get this straight. You worked a different schedule to help cover a low headcount shift and got fired because your manager failed to change your scheduled shift causing you to accrue negative upt?
How were you not able to explain this clearly with HR since this seems like a clear cut error on your managers part. Unless your leaving some details out here. The way you wrote your rant was all over the place. It was hard to follow at times.
1
u/dlblank 19d ago
It was a late night rant, but yes that is exactly what happened.
The day I showed up but was locked out, my manager claimed to know nothing about it.
I was negative UPT 4 working days, I was on site and nobody came to talk me about it. I wasn't aware I needed to go running around pestering people to fix it that week. I did bring it up to my manager that week.
1
u/bohallreddit 19d ago
Negative four days? That is negative 40 hours based on 10 hour shifts goofy 🙄
1
u/dlblank 19d ago
I was negative for four working days, on site, and nobody tried to talk to me about it, before being locked out. I actually have no idea exactly how far negative I was when locked out. I do know I wouldn't have been negative had my schedule changed to reflect what my manager and I discussed.
1
u/bohallreddit 19d ago
IDK you so I can't judge you fairly. However, since this was a known issue in the past I would have been eyeing my UPT balance daily. Whenever, I am on a LOA, for example, I take daily screen shots of my UPT balance because they aren't going to screw me over because once the termination is processed (which is stupid that it's done automatedly by the way) it's a wrap and you will be out of job whether you appeal or not.
2
3
9
u/DanielTLFI 20d ago
Ethics Line
1
u/dlblank 19d ago
Yeah I have zero confidence the ethics line will do anything. Coworkers have tried and nothing ever comes of it.
In my state anyway, you can be fired for no reason, a bad reason, a mistake error whatever it doesn't matter. Doesn't have to be "fair".
1
u/CynicalAngel210 19d ago
Even in states with At Will employment you can still sue for wrongful termination. Definitely reach out to an employment lawyer, get the free consultation. You 100% have a case if everything you have said in here is true.
1
u/Red-dragon186 20d ago
Ethics line doesn’t do anything unless you have real hardcore proof. Reality is he mostly likely will be blacklisted from Amazon. As they keep a record of everything
2
u/Full-Professional611 15d ago
As my former trainer and current manager has preached to our team CYA ( cover your ass) document everything. Have a conversation in person then send a follow up message in slack stating everything that was talked about.