Amazon is extending its corporate work-from-home policy until January of next year. The company also plans to continue restricting non-essential business travel until the end of the year. Amazon’s decision aligns with those of Facebook and Google, which have announced work-from-home policies that extend until 2020. Microsoft plans to reopen its offices in phases starting this October, while Apple is deliberating to keep its offices. closed throughout the year. end of the year, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.
“We continue to prioritize the health of our employees and follow the guidance of the local government. Employees working in a function that can be effectively done from home can do so until January 8, “an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.” We have invested significant funds and resources to keep those who choose to come to the office safe to through physical detachment, deep cleaning, temperature controls and by providing facial coatings and hand sanitizer. “
This policy only applies to Amazon’s corporate workforce. The company has a large warehouse workforce, among other hourly and contract workers, who have had to work during the pandemic. The company revised its unpaid leave policy in April so that all compliance center employees had to continue working on May 1 unless they received approval for an extended unpaid leave, which would be granted only if someone had a condition. existing doctor or lived with someone who does.
Before that, most employees were still working in Amazon warehouses, but those who wanted to stay home for fear of their health were able to do so. Workers diagnosed with COVID-19, or who worked in close contact with someone they were, are still eligible for two-week paid vacations.
Despite those benefits and the $ 4 billion the company has said it will spend fighting COVID-19, Amazon has come under fire in recent months for its handling of health and public safety conditions in its warehouses. Several warehouse workers have been killed by COVID-19, and the company has faced a series of employee protests and a lawsuit in New York City about what some workers and activist organizations have called critical failures to keep workers. insurance.
Those failures reportedly include failing to inform some workers when a colleague has been diagnosed with COVID-19, failing to properly close and clean the facility when an outbreak has been detected among workers, and not giving them enough time to wash their hands and disinfect the stations. working during shifts. Amazon has responded to these criticisms by improving its public health and worker safety protections and extending hourly wage increases for employees, among other measures.
