Amazon to Pay $5.9 Million+ Fine for California Labor Violations

California’s labor regulator fined Amazon approximately $6 million for violating the state’s Warehouse Quotas law after officials found two Southern California warehouses failed to provide written notice of quotas

On Tuesday, the California labor regulator announced that it had imposed a nearly $6 million fine on Amazon for violating a state law designed to reduce the use of demanding warehouse productivity quotas.

According to officials, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office investigated two Amazon facilities in Moreno Valley and Redlands, which are situated east of Los Angeles.

The investigation revealed 59,017 violations of the state’s Warehouse Quotas law. Amazon employees frequently express their dissatisfaction with productivity quotas.

The Warehouse Quotas law, implemented in 2022, mandates that employers disclose productivity quotas to employees and government agencies and any disciplinary actions that may be imposed on employees who fail to meet these quotas.

The law also forbids employers from mandating that warehouse employees adhere to unsafe quotas, which would prevent them from taking state-mandated meal and rest breaks or using the restroom.

On Tuesday, the Labor Commissioner’s office stated that Amazon “failed to provide written notice of quotas.”

The company maintained that it does not require quotas due to its implementation of a “peer-to-peer evaluation system,” according to officials.

In a statement, Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower stated that the peer-to-peer system that Amazon employed in these two warehouses is precisely the type of system the Warehouse Quotas law intended to prevent.

In recent years, Amazon has been subject to scrutiny regarding the treatment of its warehouse and delivery employees.

The work tempo has been the focus of regulators and critics, who contend that the speed requirements increase the likelihood of injury among workers.

In 2022, Amazon was fined by Washington safety regulators for “willfully” violating workplace safety laws.

This violation occurred when the company mandated that employees work rapidly, increasing their susceptibility to musculoskeletal disorders or sprains and strains, which are frequently the result of repetitive tasks.

Amazon has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Labor Department on numerous occasions for safety violations. Amazon has stated that it will seek to appeal all of the citations.

States such as Minnesota, Washington, and New York have implemented comparable regulations, and Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, introduced a federal bill last month.

Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States, has previously stated that it does not employ fixed quotas.

The organization said that it instead depends on “performance expectations” that consider a variety of indicators, including the performance of specific teams at a given location. Allegations that employees need to be provided with sufficient breaks are also contested.

Amazon has also defended its safety record. In March, the organization declared that its injury rates have improved and disclosed its intention to allocate over $750 million toward safety initiatives this year.

A spokesperson for Amazon, Maureen Lynch Vogel, stated that the company has lodged an appeal and disputes the allegations.

In a correspondence, she stated, “The reality is that we do not have predetermined quotas.”

“Amazon evaluates individual performance about the performance of the entire site’s team over an extended period.”

Employees are permitted to evaluate their performance at their discretion. They are always welcome to consult with a manager if they need help locating the information.