California Bill Takes Aim at Amazon’s Warehouse Working Conditions

Amazon has been under increased scrutiny over its labor practices, but a California bill may finally do something about it....
California Bill Takes Aim at Amazon’s Warehouse Working Conditions
Written by Matt Milano

Amazon has been under increased scrutiny over its labor practices, but a California bill may finally do something about it.

Recently, Amazon has gone from one labor-related issue to another. The company settled with the FTC over stiffing its delivery drivers $62 million in tips and has been accused of violating labor laws in Alabama. The company has also been accused of substandard working conditions in its warehouses, with workers under constant pressure to maintain an unreasonable pace.

California appears poised to tackle the problem, according to The New York Times, with a bill that has already passed the Assembly and likely up for a vote in the State Senate this week.

Among other things, the bill would require companies to disclose productivity quotas that algorithms track and companies use to evaluate whether to keep or fire employees.

“The supervisory function is being taken over by computers,” said the bill’s author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. “But they’re not taking into account the human factor.”

The bill would also ensure that employees are able to take bathroom breaks and state-mandated breaks, regardless of the company’s policy or quotas.

If the law passes, it could have profound repercussions for Amazon, as well as countless other companies.

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