Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

That would even be okay if there were an understanding the fines would continue until the problematic behaviour stops, but it’s unclear from the article whether that’s actually the case.

> The fines against Amazon are small compared with the company’s size — it brought in $574 billion in revenue last year — but significant for a state labor agency. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency charged with preventing workplace safety issues, frequently investigates Amazon workplaces and has issued dozens of citations, but is severely limited in the size of fines it can bring.

I mean, so? And what is it limited by, given a limit on fines is essentially a limit on the size of the company that can be regulated?

Re: Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

#6

Post by barnabask » Tue, Jun 18, 2024, 9:33 PM UTC

StarterPro wrote: post #3

That's, what? Half an hour of operation to them?

In Finland, speeding fines are based on your income. Can we have that, but for corporations?

Re: Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

#7

Post by fallingknife » Tue, Jun 18, 2024, 9:36 PM UTC

The issue here is that Amazon had productivity quotas for its workers that were kept secret from the workers. It's the keeping a secret part that is illegal. On the one hand, this seems reasonable, but the fact that the law only applies to warehouse workers (the "Warehouse Quota Law") and was passed in 2022 makes me suspicious that this isn't a good faith worker protection law but rather specifically targeted at Amazon for political reasons. If this practice is so bad, why is it allowed for all other industries?

Re: Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

#8

Post by ysacfanboi » Tue, Jun 18, 2024, 9:37 PM UTC

barnabask wrote: post #6

StarterPro wrote: post #3

That's, what? Half an hour of operation to them?

In Finland, speeding fines are based on your income. Can we have that, but for corporations?

Second this.

Re: Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

#9

Post by grapescheesee » Tue, Jun 18, 2024, 9:37 PM UTC

StarterPro wrote: post #3

That's, what? Half an hour of operation to them?

A small rounding error.

Re: Amazon fined $5.9M for breaking labor law in California

#10

Post by bpodgursky » Tue, Jun 18, 2024, 9:42 PM UTC

> California investigated two Amazon facilities near Los Angeles and in May found that the company failed to “provide written notice of quotas to which each employee is subject,” according to a copy of the citation shared with The Washington Post by the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, a nonprofit that advocates for improving working conditions at warehouses.

Very few workplaces have written quotas for employees. Be angry about Amazon or whatever, but let's just be real that if Amazon is guilty of heinous crimes for not giving workers a strict written quota, so are 98% of other employers, large and small.