Newsom signs bill that could change Amazon's labor practices

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Wednesday that restricts warehouse employers to impose productivity quotas on employees that prevent them from taking breaks or following health and safety protocols. This could change Amazon's labor rules and policies for a lot of workers. The bill is known as A.B. 701 and it requires employers to disclose productivity quotas and employees. It also gives employees the right to sue their employers to eliminate problematic targets. Starting on January 1st, employers will have 30 days to disclose productivity quotas to their workers. 

"The warehouse workers who have helped sustain us during unprecedented times should not have to risk injury or face punishment as a result of exploitative quotas that violate basic health and safety", Newsom said. Amazon has not yet commented on the measure but pointed out that the company places productivity targets for individual employees on their performance rather than their time. The company also added that less than 15 employees were fired due to underperformance. Many business groups strongly oppose the bills as they think it could lead to an explosion of litigation and hamper the distribution of goods. 

Source: The New York Times