u/AeneasKurtz

This isn't my story but the story of a redditor working in one of Amazon's Fullfilment Centers. It all starts with this thread:

> I am requesting a religious accommodation based on my sincerely held atheist beliefs. Under Title VII, non-theistic belief systems are treated the same as theistic religions for purposes of accommodation. At our site, associates who observe prayer are allowed paid breaks away from their work areas, and their labor is covered by others. However, no equivalent accommodation exists for employees whose beliefs are non-religious or atheist. > >My belief system does not involve prayer or the use of a multi-faith room, and I do not feel comfortable using a space designed for religious observance. > >I am requesting equal accommodation in the form of the same paid break periods provided to others for religious practice, taken in a neutral location such as the break room. > >This request is to ensure equal treatment, avoid discriminatory workload redistribution, and align with federal protections that require accommodations to be offered without preference for theistic beliefs.

This user noted that employees of a certain religion were given "prayer breaks" of around 15-20 minutes for which the rest of the employees (those not following that religion) had to cover them. He complained about it and was ignored until he came up with the idea to try to push for "Atheist prayer time". The following threads explain:

> Site lead and HR were awaiting guidance from corporate for months.. Site Lead came to me about a month and half ago to let me know that they had received guidance and that a new policy would be going into effect that he's "still trying to wrap my head around", He did not speak on the new policy essentially withholding it from me. > >The rumor on the floor (from an AM) is that under the new policy, anyone going to prayer break must clock out but the site lead has not implemented the updated policy. Management is upset that the policy is not being implemented at site level because associates are disappearing for longer than they're supposed to be at prayer and causing the extra workload to fall on Management as they now have to cover for anyone attending prayer break. > >Meanwhile I am still being denied equal treatment. > >Today, I had enough and decided, I am going to prayer break. I walked up directly to the dock ops manager the moment I seen everyone going to prayer break and told him I'm going to prayer break (I'm an Athiest) he said, "Ok let me get you clocked out.." ... I said, "Clocked out?".. He says, "I mean scanned out" then he scanned my badge, radios it in to senior ops, and off to the break room wellness booth I went for 20 minutes..

Because, unlike with employees of the other religion, he was asked to clock out. He noted that other employees weren't asked to clock out (meaning that they aren't being paid for their time during that break) but he was:

> Prayer breaks are an accommodation through a to z. Policy has always been anyone with a religious accommodation needs to clock out for the time. I have been implementing this at my site as an OM for 2+ years now. > >> [OP] That’s completely incorrect (at least from my experience at my site and with HR and Central Time Keeping) The automated corporate system literally screens out recurring daily prayer meets. Here is an official denial letter straight from Centralized Time Keeping confirming that exact policy: 'We will not honor requests that are permanent in nature, such as weekly church visits, sabbath day or recurring prayer meets...'

OP continued this week and eventually led to changing Amazon's unequal policies (or at least that Fullfilment Center's):

> On my last day of my work week (Thursday 8/13/26) I took a prayer break as an Athiest and was scanned out by Ops.. > >The following Monday (Today 8/17/26) Announcements were made that starting in September all associates attending "Prayer Break" will need to clock out.. > >This means for the past 2 years my site has been open, a specific religious group was getting paid time off while other religious and non religious groups got extra workload because their religion or lack of religion didn't fit into Amazon’s little box of what's allowed. (Violation of Title VII) > >Christians were denied equal treatment as well because Christianity doesn't call for mandatory prayer (Ive witnessed this) as was I because Atheism doesn't call for mandatory prayer.. (Violation of Title VII) > >So now that they know that they were breaking Federal law and denying equal rights to a huge percentage of thier workforce, they decided that instead of paying the cost of equality in the form of paid "prayer breaks" for everyone regardless of belief system, that everyone who attends "Prayer Break" will need to just clock out instead. > >Amazon quickly realized how expensive equality would be (cost and operational downtime) when they had to treat everyone like they've been treating a specific religious group, so paid "prayer breaks" are coming to an end in September (atleast at my site)

The final update says that this policy change became official starting September 2nd: [now everyone has to clock out before going on prayer breaks and no one has to cover for someone else because they're of a specific religion:

> Today there was an announcement posted on the labor board. > >Starting on Sept. 2, 2026 all associates attending prayer break will need to clock out. > >It is Official. > >Checkmate.

I'm planning a 1 week trip at the beginning of September to hike around the French Pyrénées. I liked the woody scenes of the Parc National des Pyrénées so I'll be aiming to visit that side fo the mountains, maybe going as far south as Cirque de Gavarnie

But I'm finding it difficult to decide where I should seek accommodation. The biggest city reasonably close to this place is Lourdes, that has many hotels and some bus connections to the park (though on a reduced timetable). Alternatively, Cauterets seems very close to the park itself but it seems all the accommodation is AirBNBs and there's no way to visit Cirque de Gavarnie with public transport (or it's even more limited). I'm also concerned about availability of other types of shops, like restaurants or cafés during the offseason.

Which place would you recommend staying in? Or do you have another city/town I should look into instead?

Thank you

I'm planning a 1 week trip at the beginning of September to hike around the French Pyrénées. I liked the woody scenes of the Parc National des Pyrénées so I'll be aiming to visit that side fo the mountains, maybe going as far south as Cirque de Gavarnie

But I'm finding it difficult to decide where I should seek accommodation. The biggest city reasonably close to this place is Lourdes, that has many hotels and some bus connections to the park (though on a reduced timetable). Alternatively, Cauterets seems very close to the park itself but it seems all the accommodation is AirBNBs and there's no way to visit Cirque de Gavarnie with public transport (or it's even more limited). I'm also concerned about availability of other types of shops, like restaurants or cafés during the offseason.

Which place would you recommend staying in? Or do you have another city/town I should look into instead?

Thank you

I'm planning a 1 week trip at the beginning of September to hike around the French Pyrénées. I liked the woody scenes of the Parc National des Pyrénées so I'll be aiming to visit that side fo the mountains, maybe going as far south as Cirque de Gavarnie

But I'm finding it difficult to decide where I should seek accommodation. The biggest city reasonably close to this place is Lourdes, that has many hotels and some bus connections to the park (though on a reduced timetable). Alternatively, Cauterets seems very close to the park itself but it seems all the accommodation is AirBNBs and there's no way to visit Cirque de Gavarnie with public transport (or it's even more limited). I'm also concerned about availability of other types of shops, like restaurants or cafés during the offseason.

Which place would you recommend staying in? Or do you have another city/town I should look into instead?

Thank you

I'm planning a holiday to the French Pyrenées. I've already decided I want to stay 5 days and visit the following/do the following hikes:

• Pont d'Espagne
• La Rallière
• Lac de Gaube
• Lac d'Estom
• Cirque de Gavarnie
• Néouvielle Nature Reserve: Col d'Estoudou, Lac d'Aubert, Lac d'Aumar

I'm thinking of setting base in Cauterets, which is around 1h away from Cirque de Gavarnie and just outside all but Néouvielle. However, it's almost 3hs away from the latter since I have to drive in a U shape around the mountains.

Should I reserve one or two days somewhere else close to Néouvielle? Do you recommend that place at all considering I'd have to pull up camp to visit it? Alternatives to this?

Thanks