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| Amazon faces a fine due to the Corona virus |
Amazon agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and be monitored by California officials after the California attorney general said the company failed to properly inform workers and health officials about cases of the novel coronavirus in the workplace.
Amazon employs about 150,000 people in California. Most of them are located in 100 distribution centers, which are huge warehouses for filling and shipping orders.
The deal must be approved by a judge, which would require the Seattle retailer to notify warehouse workers in California of the exact number of novel coronavirus cases on their premises if a case should arise.
Amazon has also agreed to notify local health authorities of new cases of the virus within 48 hours. And stop posting notices that didn't adequately educate employees about Amazon's safety and sanitization plan and workers' rights related to the pandemic.
California Attorney General Rob Ponta said in a press release that the penalty was imposed after filing a complaint against the company alleging that the company failed to properly inform warehouses and local health officials about the new coronavirus situation. This prevents them from effectively tracking the spread of the virus.
The Los Angeles Times reports that this is the first fine for California's Right to Information Act that was passed last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The law requires employers to warn employees who may have been exposed to the coronavirus during the day. If they meet the definition of a coronavirus outbreak, they must also report the number of coronavirus cases to the local health department within 48 hours.
“With the company’s historical sales growth and its share price doubling, Amazon’s failure to adequately inform warehouse workers and local health officials about the many cases of coronavirus, often prevents them from effectively tracking the spread of the virus,” Ponta said in the publication.
Amazon asks employees to report cases of coronavirus
Ponta added: As our country continues to fight the pandemic, it is important that companies now do their part to protect workers. Californians have the right to educate themselves about potential exposure to the coronavirus to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.
An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement that the company would be happy to resolve the issue. She was also very pleased that the Inspector General did not find any fundamental problem in the security procedures of our buildings.
Amazon has come under fire for its treatment of workers during the pandemic. Michigan warehouse workers were angry about the failure last March
Amazon informed them that their colleague had contracted the Corona virus.
Meanwhile, workers in New York are on strike about the company's handling of the pandemic. Amazon didn't want to say how many warehouse workers across the country had the disease.
In October 2020, it announced that 20,000 employees in the United States had tested positive for the virus.
Because almost anyone can get the vaccine. Amazon has increased mask requirements for vaccinated employees. He plans to allow company employees to return to the office in 2022.