California Labor Commissioner Fines Amazon $5.9 Million

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

(ConservativeHub.com) – The California Labor Commissioner’s Office recently announced a $5.9 million fine over alleged quota violations in two of their warehouses in the state. 

In the press release last week, it was alleged that the warehouses in the Redlands and Moreno Valley violated the quotas law. This law was first enforced in 2022, and it requires that all warehouse employers give written notice to employees regarding any quotas that they are required to follow. This includes letting workers know the number of tasks they need to finish each hour as well as any “discipline” that will be taken if they fail to meet the quota. The office, however, determined that Amazon did not provide written notice of its quotas.

The law restricts quotas that fail to comply with the use of the bathroom, rest periods, meals, or any health and safety laws. The office alleged that Amazon claimed it did not require quotas due to a peer-to-peer evaluation system. 

In a statement, California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower said that the peer-to-peer system being used by Amazon in those two warehouses is the type of system that the Warehouse Quotas law aims to prevent. She argued that not having disclosed quotas and pressuring people to work faster can result in a greater number of injuries, skipped breaks, and other issues.

Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel said that the company will be appealing the citation as they disagree with the allegations brought against them.

Copyright 2024, ConservativeHub.com