California state legislators passed a bill Wednesday giving warehouse employees at Amazon and elsewhere power to contest speed quotas. Workers have long complained their job requirements force them to ignore safety protocols or avoid taking bathroom breaks.
Assembly Bill 701 allows employees who believe meeting a quota required them to miss a meal or break to request written details of the company’s requirements and a copy of the employee’s productivity in the previous three months. The same applies to workers who feel a quota caused them to violate safety standards.
The law could force Amazon to compile and disclose sweeping details about its employee requirements and how they impact the staff’s health and wellbeing. The company employs 950,000 people in the U.S., not including thousands of drivers and other contractors, making it the second-largest private company.
The online marketplace uses computer algorithms to track warehouse employees, who zip around facilities packing an infinite number of orders under constant deadlines. Their jobs depend on their performance, though Amazon said it rarely fires employees because of it.
Employees have reported asking coworkers to watch their backs so that they can use the restroom.
“Do you mind scanning this item every three minutes just so my time off task doesn’t accumulate? Cover for me,” former employee Yesenia Barrera recalled to NPR.
Sponsors of the state legislation, like bill author Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, say workers deserve transparency. They say other companies are duplicating Amazon’s practices.
Retailers opposed the bill, calling it sweeping legislation that targets too many industries in the supply chain. Amazon offered no opinion on the law.
Gov. Gavin Newsom still must sign the bill. But, facing a recall election, the governor has not discussed what he intends to do.
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