Those are the kind of things I wonder about when I hear about zappos or valve or other companies that claim to be without managers. Is the person who cleans the restrooms getting to be part of this (although in the modern world the companies probably pay another company to do their janitorial work)

That's exactly how it supposedly works at Ricardo Semler's companies. Everyone participates in self-organization.

In one of the many articles on the plight of (specifically) Amazon workers, I read that they are employed by contractors, and that the penalty for normal little things like being late because of a kid or car emergency, things we don't even think about, is termination from the contractor. And thus does Amazon (and similar companies) insulate themselves from such policies.