Amazon guilty of ‘intrusive’ work practices

AMAZON has been fined €32m (£27m) for “excessively intrusive” surveillance of its warehouse employees.

The US tech giant has been penalised after an investigation by France’s digital watchdog found that Amazon was illegally tracking employees through handheld package scanners.

The scanners were being used to monitor the speed at which workers processed goods to the nearest second, it claimed.

After investigating complaints from staff, the regulator found Amazon broke European data rules. Amazon plans to appeal the decision. France’s CNIL agency said the data could be used to force staff to “justify every break or interruption”, which it said is excessive.

An Amazon spokesman said: “We strongly disagree with the CNIL’S conclusions which are factually incorrect and we reserve the right to appeal.

“Warehouse management systems are industry standard and are necessary for ensuring the safety, quality, and efficiency of operations.”

Amazon has previously been accused by unions and activist groups of aggressively monitoring warehouse workers through various bits of technology. However, the tech giant has always denied this, alleging that it collects data around its warehouses to keep a tab on packages and to improve safety.

Amazon has faced a series of strikes at its UK warehouses over pay and working conditions, as well as a dispute over union recognition.

Staff at its fulfilment centre in Birmingham plan to down tools tomorrow, the GMB union said earlier this month.

Last year, Amazon was challenged by MPS over its monitoring of workers in its UK warehouses. Labour’s Darren Jones, then chairman of the business and trade committee, wrote to Amazon saying MPS were “deeply dissatisfied” with its responses to the inquiry.