Amazon cited nearly $6 million for violating warehouse quotas law

On Tuesday, California’s Labor Commissioner issued a citation to Amazon of $5,901,700 for violating California’s Warehouse Quotas law at distribution centers in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

According to the Labor Commissioner’s Office, an inspection at Amazon warehouses in Redlands and Moreno Valley showed the company failed to provide employees written notice of quotas.

Amazon disagrees, stating they did not need a quota system because they use a peer-to-peer evaluation system and has appealed the citation.

In a written statement Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower said, “The peer-to-peer system that Amazon was using in these two warehouses is exactly the kind of system that the Warehouse Quotas law was put in place to prevent. Undisclosed quotas expose workers to increased pressure to work faster and can lead to higher injury rates and other violations by forcing workers to skip breaks.”

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center (WWRC) assisted the Labor Commissioner’s investigation. WWRC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California.

The Warehouse Quotas law went into effect on January 1, 2022.