The judgment is the first related to California’s “right to know” law.
Amazon to Pay $ 500,000 Settlement Related to California’s Work ‘Right to Know’ Act After State Regulators Alle Retail Giant Failed to Properly Notify Warehouse Workers and local health agencies for COVID-19 case numbers.
“As our nation continues to fight the pandemic, it is absolutely essential that businesses do their part to protect workers now – and especially during this holiday season,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “This is why California law requires employers to notify workers of potential workplace exposures and to report outbreaks to local health agencies.”
Bonta said the judgment, which remains subject to court approval, will help ensure Amazon meets the state’s labor requirements.
“Summary: Californians have a right to know about potential exposures to the coronavirus to protect themselves, their families and their communities,” Bonta added. “This ruling sends a clear message that businesses must comply with this important law. It helps us all protect ourselves.”
California’s so-called “right-to-know” law, AB 685, requires employers to notify workers of COVID-19 cases in their workplaces, provide employees with information about coronavirus benefits and protections, share their disinfection and safety plans and report COVID-19 cases to local health agencies.
The regulation requires Amazon to update COVID-19 notification policies and take other specific steps to help workers, according to Bonta’s office. It is also forcing Amazon to notify its tens of thousands of warehouse workers in California of new cases of COVID-19 in their workplaces and pay $ 500,000 to enforce California’s consumer protection laws.
Barbara Agrait, an Amazon spokesperson, told ABC News that the settlement was only tied to a technical detail specific to California state law regarding employee notifications related to the coronavirus. She said no issues were identified with Amazon’s protocols to notify employees who may have been in close contact with an affected person.
“We are happy to have resolved this issue and to see that the MA did not find any substantive issues with the security measures in our buildings,” Agrait said in a statement. “We have worked hard since the start of the pandemic to keep our employees safe and deliver our customers – incurring more than $ 15 billion in costs to date – and we will continue to do so in the months and years to come. . “
She added that Amazon remains focused on transparency with local health authorities. Additionally, Agrait said Amazon supports worker vaccinations and the company has held more than 1,800 free on-site vaccination events at Amazon facilities across the United States.
Last October, Amazon published data analysis of the 1,372,000 frontline employees of Amazon and Whole Foods Market in the United States employed from March 1 to September 19, 2020. The company said 19,816 employees had tested positive or presumed positive for COVID-19 during this period.
