Amazon California fine overview:
- Who: California’s labor commissioner has fined Amazon $5.9 million for not following warehouse labor laws.
- Why: The commissioner says Amazon violated a law that requires companies to advise warehouse workers about quotas they must reach.
- Where: The fine was applied by California officials.
California’s labor commissioner has slapped Amazon with almost $6 million in fees after an inspection of its warehouses found the retailer in violation of state labor laws around work quotas.
The California Labor Commissioner’s Office announced June 18 that it had cited Amazon.com Service LLC $5.9 million for violations of the Warehouse Quotas law in two of their distribution warehouses in Moreno Valley and Redlands.
The inspections found more than 59,000 violations in the two warehouses from October 20, 2023, to March 9, 2024, the labor commissioner’s office said.
The office said Amazon violated the Warehouse Quotas law by not providing employees written notice of any quotas they must meet, including the number of tasks they need to perform per hour and any discipline that could come from not meeting the quota.
“Undisclosed quotas expose workers to increased pressure to work faster and can lead to higher injury rates and other violations by forcing workers to skip breaks,” California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower said.
Amazon claims it was complying with law
Amazon denies that it was in violation of the law, saying it uses a “peer-to-peer evaluation system” instead of quotas.
However, California labor officials disagreed.
“The peer-to-peer system that Amazon was using in these two warehouses is exactly the kind of system that the Warehouse Quotas law was put in place to prevent,” Lilia García-Brower said.
The law, which went into effect in January 2022, defines a quota as work that must be performed at a specified speed or the worker suffers discipline, she said. It also places limits on quotas that prevent compliance with meal or rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or compliance with occupational health and safety laws.
Penalties of $100 were issued for each of the more than 59,000 violations.
Amazon faces other allegations of employment violations
The violations announced by the labor commissioner aren’t the first employment issues Amazon is facing this year.
Recently, Amazon reached a $3 million settlement that returns unpaid overtime wages to California workers who received a signing bonus.
According to the wage and hour class action lawsuit, Amazon violated California laws by underpaying overtime wages during the same workweeks employees received a signing bonus. Plaintiffs in the case argue their regular rate of pay should have been calculated including this bonus.
What do you think about the fine Amazon received for labor violations? Let us know in the comments.
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2 thoughts onAmazon fined $5.9M for violating California quotas law
I’ve had a recent experience with Amazon customer service support in which I would love to speak with a attorney about
They need to check PSP1 warehouse in beaumont california!