WA lawmakers pass bill to protect warehouse employees
The Washington state Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would give broader protections and transparency for warehouse employees.
The legislation, which echoes a bill that died in the Legislature last year, was approved by state House over a month ago and will go back to the chamber to clear changes made in the Senate before heading to Gov. Jay Inslee's desk for signing.
House Bill 1762 doesn't name the state's largest private employer, Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), but its language addresses concerns lobbed at the company's network of fulfillment centers and delivery stations. The bill would require employers to provide written descriptions of their production quotas and work speed data. Employers would have to factor in sufficient time for breaks and would be prohibited from retaliating over missed quotas.
The bill applies to employers with 100 or more employees at a single site or 500 or more in-state employees at multiple warehouses criteria that apply to Amazon. The company has over 1,800 warehouse employees in Pierce County alone, according to the county's latest comprehensive annual financial report.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2023/04/12/warehouse-productivity-bill-passed-washington.html