Legislature considers constraints on Amazon’s ‘rank-and-yank’ worker ratings

Submitted by Nell Gross on

"For years, white-collar employees at Amazon have accused the company of using opaque 'rank-and-yank' performance reviews to periodically cull its workforce. Now a proposed law in the Washington Legislature could make it harder for companies to terminate workers without saying why. 

Employees in Washington currently have a right to their personnel records, but the existing law doesn’t specify what needs to be disclosed, and there are no consequences for ignoring requests. The legislation aims to more clearly define employee files and impose penalties on companies that fail to hand them over. 

The potential impact of the proposed legislation extends beyond terminations. Workers also need access to their employment records to apply for unemployment insurance and workers compensation or pursue discrimination claims.

... Kim England, a geography professor and an endowed chair in labor studies at the University of Washington, said workers’ testimony could help persuade reluctant lawmakers that there are legitimate fairness and transparency issues that need to be addressed. 'If there’s a broad spectrum of workers testifying, it’s seen as a more important issue,' she said."

Find the full article at Seattle Times

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