On-the-job injuries happen for many reasons; with short staffing and employer requirements,
production quotas are the main reason. In addition, large box companies cause employees to miss rest
periods and bathroom breaks to keep up.
While no one warehouse employer is solely responsible for this trend, no employee should be
forced to give up basic needs for a paycheck. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) agrees.
She is the author of Assembly Bill 701, which is designed to protect employees from injury-causing
inducements.
Govern Newsom signed the bill, which will require companies to disclose production quota
descriptions to employees. Further, the legislative safeguards against retaliation or firing of employees
for failure to meet any unsafe quotas.
The new law will take effect in January 2022, making California the first state to prohibit
warehouse company productivity quotas. Workers have long been hesitant to take required breaks as
computers track their productivity and pressure them to maintain specific goals.
The actual cost of this failed employer system is that workers are unreasonably getting injured
or feel they risk their jobs. In supporting her bill, Assemblywoman Gonzalez said, “We’re not going to
allow a corporation that puts profits over workers’ bodies to set labour standards back decades just for
‘same-day delivery.’”
And while not singled out or explicitly named, one particular warehouse company has to reveal
numbers. In 2019, Amazon recorded 14,000 serious injuries at its fulfilment centres, with an overall rate
of 7.7 serious injuries per 100 employees – 33% higher than what was recorded in 2016 and “nearly
double the most recent industry standard,” according to a report from The Center for Investigative
Reporting’s Reveal News.
Since the pandemic and rise of online ordering, numbers are not likely to improve. Should you
have a workplace injury, please contact RP Law Group at (951) 394-3640 for a free consultation.