Image caption Online retailer Amazon employs more than 20,000 people across its eight warehouses during its peak Christmas season 
 
 A BBC investigation into a UK-based Amazon warehouse has found conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness". 
 
 Prof Michael Marmot was shown secret filming of night shifts involving up to 11 miles of walking - where an undercover worker was expected to collect orders every 33 seconds. 
 
 It comes as the company employs 15,000 extra staff to cater for Christmas. 
 
 Amazon said in a statement worker safety was its "number one priority". 
 
 Undercover reporter Adam Littler, 23, got an agency job at Amazon's Swansea warehouse. He took a hidden camera inside for BBC Panorama to record what happened on his shifts. 
 
 He was employed as a "picker", collecting orders from 800,000 sq ft of storage. 
 
 A handset told him what to collect and put on his trolley. It allotted him a set number of seconds to find each product and counted down. If he made a mistake the scanner beeped. 
 
 "We are machines, we are robots, we plug our scanner in, we're holding it, but we might as well be plugging it into ourselves", he said. 
 
 Image caption Adam Littler went undercover as a "picker" at Amazon's Swansea warehouse 
 
 "We don't think for ourselves, maybe they don't trust us to think for ourselves as human beings, I don't know." 
 
 Prof Marmot, one of Britain's leading experts on stress at work, said the working conditions at the warehouse are "all the bad stuff at once". 
 
 He said: "The characteristics of this type of job, the evidence shows increased risk of mental illness and physical illness." 
 
 "There are always going to be menial jobs, but we can make them better or worse. And it seems to me the demands of efficiency at the cost of individual's health and wellbeing - it's got to be balanced." 
 
 Amazon said official safety inspections had not raised any concerns and that an independent expert appointed by the company advised that the picking job is "similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness". 
 
 The scanner tracked Mr Littler's picking rate and sent his performance to managers. If it was too low, he was told he could face disciplinary action. 
 
 When Mr Littler worked night shifts his pay rose from the daily rate of £6.50 per hour to £8.25 per hour. 
 
 Image caption Amazon said the safety of its employees was its "number one priority" 
 
 After experiencing a ten-and-a-half-hour night shift, he said: "I managed to walk or hobble nearly 11 miles, just short of 11 miles last night. I'm absolutely shattered. My feet are the thing that are bothering me the most to be honest." 
 
 Amazon said new recruits are warned some positions are physically demanding and that some workers seek these positions as they enjoy the active nature of the work. The company said productivity targets are set objectively, based on previous performance levels achieved by the workforce. 
 
 Those on the night shift work a four-day week with an hour's break per shift. 
 
 Experts have told Panorama these ten-and-a-half-hour night shifts could breach the working time regulations because of the long hours and the strenuous nature of the work. 
 
 Barrister Giles Bedloe said: "If the work involves heavy physical and, or, mental strain then that night worker should not work more than eight hours in any 24-hour period. 
 
 But Amazon said its night shift is lawful. They said they sought expert advice to ensure the shifts "comply with all relevant legal requirements". 
 
 Amazon said it had invested £1bn in the UK and created 5,000 permanent jobs. 
 
 It added that it relied on the good judgement of thousands of employees. The company said: "Together we're working hard to make sure we're better tomorrow than we are today." 
 
 Panorama: The Truth Behind The Click, BBC One, Monday 25 November at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer. ||||| Liberal Democrat leader in Scotland claims workers are paid so little some camp outside warehouse in tents to cut commuting costs 
 
 Amazon has been accused of creating “intolerable working conditions” after allegations that workers have been penalised for sick days and that some are camping near one of its warehouses to save money commuting to work. 
 
 Willie Rennie, the Liberal Democrat leader in Scotland, said Amazon should be “ashamed” that workers at its warehouse in Dunfermline have chosen to camp outside in the winter. 
 
 He made the comments after the the Courier newspaper published photographs of tents near the site that it said were being lived in by Amazon workers. It said at least three tents were pitched close to the warehouse by the M90 in Dunfermline and that a man living in one of them had said he was an employee who usually lives in Perth. 
 
 A Sunday Times investigation found that temporary workers at the warehouse were being penalised for taking time off sick and put under pressure to hit targets for picking orders. It also claimed that although workers could walk up to 10 miles a day doing their jobs, water dispensers were regularly empty. 
 
 Amazon has hired 20,000 agency workers for the peak Christmas season, more than doubling its workforce. Staff have to pay to catch an agency-provided bus to the Dunfermline site. 
 
 Rennie has repeatedly called for the firm to improve conditions at its Dunfermline site and said the latest claim “chimes with the feedback I have received from local people over a long period of time”. 
 
 My week as an Amazon insider Read more 
 
 He said: “It confirms that Amazon have created intolerable working conditions for many. The company don’t seem to be interested in keeping workers for too long as they work them until they drop. They have generated an oppressive culture where management and some workers put undue pressure on workers. 
 
 “It’s time for Amazon to finally change their ways. That means a change to wages and to working conditions.” 
 
 
 
 Rennie said the firm should be “ashamed that they pay their workers so little that they have to camp out in the dead of winter to make ends meet”. 
 
 Amazon, which has 12 fulfilment centres around the UK, has come under fire in the past for its treatment of workers, many of whom are employed through agencies. Three years ago, an undercover reporter for the Observer wrote about the long hours and physical work carried out for low pay, while more recently unions have claimed that workers are falling ill as a result. 
 
 Online job forums have reviews by former workers which describe being expected to “work like robots” and “paranoia with job security”. Workers say overtime is compulsory and holidays banned in the busy months of November and December. 
 
 When questioned about the tents, Amazon said it “provides a safe and positive workplace with competitive pay and benefits from day one”. 
 
 It added: “We are proud to have been able to create several thousand new permanent roles in our UK fulfilment centres over the last five years. One of the reasons we’ve been able to attract so many people to join us is that we offer great jobs and a positive work environment with opportunities for growth. 
 
 “We offer associates a range of roles in our fulfilment centres, depending on their preferences. Some roles involve walking a number of miles each day, a fact we make clear during the recruitment process. Many associates seek these positions as they enjoy the active nature of the work. There are many opportunities for people who prefer less active roles. 
 
 “As with nearly all companies, we expect a certain level of performance from our associates. Productivity targets are set objectively, based on previous performance levels achieved by our workforce.” 
 
 The company said it analysed wages every year to ensure they were competitive. All permanent and temporary Amazon workers start on £7.35 an hour or more and earn at least £11 an hour for overtime. There are paid 30-minute lunch breaks and subsidised meals. The new national living wage is £7.20 for workers aged over 25. 
 
 Water is readily available for staff as they performed their duties, Amazon said, and it has a “fair and predictable system to record staff attendance and take into account individual circumstances”. 
 
 
 
 Michael Newman, an employment lawyer at Leigh Day, said that it was legal for companies to have a policy which meant that workers were effectively penalised if they were off sick. “Absence policies are definitely becoming stricter – one example would be having a bonus or ‘attendance allowance’ that is then forfeited if the worker is off sick,” he said. 
 
 “Amazon’s policy doesn’t seem particularly unusual though – the important thing is to distinguish between days off, and periods of absence. It is usually the latter that counts for unfair dismissal purposes, although many policies look at both how long you are off for, and how many times you are off.” 
 
 
 
 The Labour MP Frank Field, who has been campaigning against poor conditions for self-employed workers, said the government-ordered review into working practices should issue an interim report. 
 
 “Inquiries take time but over that time the injustices are growing,” he said. “There have been reports on Hermes and Uber done by my office, and now the Sunday Times investigation – there is enough information out there.” ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Ben Popken, Michael Cappetta and Jo Ling Kent 
 
 Thousands of job-seekers across America lined up outside Amazon's gigantic warehouses Wednesday hoping to get hired as part of the retail giant's first national "Jobs Day." 
 
 The jobs fair, which aims to hire 50,000 workers within a four-hour time frame at 12 fulfillment center locations ranging from Washington State to Tennessee, is part of Amazon's pledge to hire 130,000 workers by 2018. 
 
 In Robbinsville, New Jersey, Morgan Devries, 21, told NBC News she used to work in retail but is now applying for work at Amazon because the industry doesn't pay well enough. 
 
 "I work at the airport and they are paying people $12 and under [per hour]," Clarence Williams told NBC News. "People cannot live on that type of wage! If you look at the long line, no one here is making good money." 
 
 Though Amazon and other retailers traditionally make a summer hiring push in order to ramp up for the busy holiday shopping season, the scale of the hiring is in stark contrast to the brick-and-mortar retail Armageddon — thousands of store closings that the over-built retail industry has blamed on Amazon's ability to get shoppers to buy from home online. 
 
 "Amazon just continues to grow, and it's hard to predict what that means for the future of retail," Business Insider Your Money editor Lauren Lyons Cole told NBC News. 
 
 "As it is right now, small businesses — even large businesses — are having a very hard time competing and keeping up with Amazon." 
 
 Job seekers line up to apply during "Amazon Jobs Day" at the Amazon.com Fulfillment Center in Fall River, Massachusetts on August 2, 2017. Brian Snyder / Reuters 
 
 The company says it offers competitive pay and benefits for full-time workers as well as part-time workers after they've been employed 90 days. Wages for the advertised positions range from $11.50 an hour in Tennessee to $13.75 an hour near Amazon's Seattle headquarters. 
 
 Growth in online warehouse jobs have transformed some sleepy local economies into "fulfillment towns," boosting population, raising wages, and increasing sales tax revenue. 
 
 Amazon employees work at the Amazon Fulfillment Center on August 2, 2017 in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Mark Makela / Getty Images 
 
 Amazon asks prospective employees to bring photo ID and refrain from wearing dangly clothing, keep hair and beards tidy, and to wear close-toe shoes. 
 
 If you can't make it to one of the fairs, don't worry. You don't have to visit a "brick-and-mortar" hiring location in order to help kill brick-and-mortar retail. Amazon also lets you apply online.
– It's just about that most wonderful time of the year: for holiday shoppers, and for Amazon, which CNN last month reported would be hiring 70,000 seasonal workers to beef up the staffing at its more than 40 US fulfillment centers. Last year, thousands of these workers were converted to full-time employees, making it a good gig if you can get it, right? Not according to a BBC investigation, which had an undercover reporter work the night shift in a UK Amazon warehouse. He showed what he filmed to Michael Marmot, a leading job stress expert. Marmot's conclusion: The working conditions were "all the bad stuff at once." He continued: "The characteristics of this type of job, the evidence shows increased risk of mental illness and physical illness." The 23-year-old reporter worked as a "picker"; a handset would flag an item for him to retrieve and place on a trolley in the 800,000-square-foot space. He was given 33 seconds per product, with his handset counting down the clock each time; it beeped if he made an error, and also sent data to his managers. The reporter said that in one 10.5-hour night shift, he walked "or hobbled" almost 11 miles, noting afterward, "I'm absolutely shattered." Amazon described the picking job as "similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness," and noted that new hires are told some positions can be physically demanding. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that German workers at two Amazon centers are today striking for better pay. (Who isn't likely to complain about Amazon? Its top reviewers, who get major freebies.)