Amazon Fined $5.9 Million For Alleged Warehouse Safety Violations

Regulators say the retail giant failed to inform workers of the productivity quotas they were expected to meet.

California’s labor commissioner has fined Amazon $5.9 million for allegedly violating the state’s new warehouse safety law.

Officials announced Tuesday that they had issued citations to the online retail giant for failing to disclose productivity quotas to employees at two distribution centers in Southern California.

Under a law enacted in 2021, employers who operate warehouses in the state must tell workers in writing the number of tasks they’re expected to perform in an hour, as well as how they might be punished if they fail to do so. The law is meant to prevent injuries or unfair discipline.

Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel said in an emailed statement that the company disputes the allegations and has already appealed the fines.

“The truth is, we don’t have fixed quotas,” Lynch Vogel said. “At Amazon, individual performance is evaluated over a long period of time, in relation to how the entire site’s team is performing.”