The California Labor Commission announced on Tuesday that Amazon has been fined about $5.9 million for allegedly violating worker quotas at two California warehouses.
The office is In a press release Amazon announced Tuesday that it had violated the state’s warehouse quota law at two distribution warehouses in Moreno Valley and Redlands. The law, which goes into effect in 2022, “requires warehouse employers to notify employees in writing of the quotas they must follow,” the department said.
This includes informing workers of the number of tasks they need to complete per hour and the “discipline” that could be imposed if they fail to meet their quotas. The bureau said Amazon “failed to provide written notice of the quotas.”
According to a press release, the law places restrictions on quotas that “interfere with observing meal and rest breaks, using restroom facilities, and complying with occupational safety and health laws.”
Amazon argued that quotas were not necessary because it uses a peer-to-peer rating system, the agency said.
“The peer-to-peer system Amazon used at these two warehouses is exactly the kind of system the warehouse quota law was designed to prevent: when quotas are not disclosed, workers are pressured to work faster and are forced to take breaks, which can lead to higher injury rates and other violations,” California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia Brower said in a statement.
Amazon spokeswoman Maureen Lynch Vogel said the company disagrees with the alleged violations and plans to appeal the charges.
“We disagree with the allegations and have appealed the verdict. The reality is that we don’t have fixed quotas. At Amazon, individual performance is evaluated over time in the context of the performance of teams across the site,” she said in a statement to The Hill.
“Employees can and are encouraged to review their performance at any time, and if they are having trouble finding information they can always speak to their manager,” she added.
The department said it found 59,017 violations at warehouses in Moreno Valley and Redlands between Oct. 20, 2023 and March 9, 2023. According to a press release, fines of $100 were imposed for each violation, based on current labor laws.
