Business Standard: Sunday, December 01, 2024.
A media report based on RTI findings and court records reveals safety lapses, forced break bans, and unrealistic targets at the Amazon's Manesar warehouse, with workers alleging harsh conditions.
E-commerce giant Amazon is in legal trouble over alleged breach of labour laws after inspection at one of its major warehouses in Manesar, near New Delhi, revealed safety violations, improper record-keeping, and failure to comply with mandatory regulations to protect workers, according to a report in Al Jazeera.
The labour inspection was carried out earlier this year, following a series of complaints and an incident in May, where workers at the Manesar facility in Gurugram, Haryana, were reportedly pressured to forgo breaks in order to meet performance targets.
According to documents obtained by Al Jazeera through India’s RTI Act and court records, a labour inspection conducted in May flagged multiple serious safety violations at the warehouse. The inspection found that Amazon failed to provide the necessary safety equipment for workers and did not maintain required records as mandated by law. A specific concern was the lack of appropriate clothing for female workers near moving machinery, where they were reportedly not provided with tight-fitting clothes.
The inspection report stated that "tight-fitting clothes are not provided to the female workers on or near the moving machinery," a violation of India’s labour laws, which require workers to wear protective gear and safe clothing when operating in potentially hazardous environments. There was no mention of whether similar clothing provisions were made for male workers.
In addition to safety concerns, Amazon was accused of failing to issue employment identity cards to its warehouse workers, further compounding the legal violations. The Haryana government, using the findings from the inspection report, filed a case against Amazon in a court in Gurugram. The court summoned the company to appear before the judge on October 28, but the case was adjourned, with the next hearing scheduled for December 10.
Incident sparks investigation
The legal proceedings stem from a May incident in which Amazon workers at the warehouse were reportedly asked to sign verbal pledges to refrain from taking breaks—including for water or toilet visits—until they had met their daily targets. This prompted an internal investigation by Amazon, which confirmed that a manager had asked workers for the pledges as part of a "motivational exercise."