Amazon this week ended paid time off for US workers who test positive for COVID-19.
Employees with a confirmed diagnosis now get up to five days of “excused, unpaid leave,” the company told Reuters, citing revised guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Staff previously received two weeks of paid time off to recover from novel coronavirus—symptoms of which can persist for months after the initial infection period. In January, the tech titan reduced its offering to one week, or up to 40 hours.
“The sustained easing of the pandemic, ongoing availability of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and updated guidance from public health authorities all signal we can continue to safely adjust to our pre-COVID policies,” the company said.
With that in mind, Amazon plans to halt site-wide notifications of positive cases in its facilities (unless required by law) and stop incentivizing vaccination efforts by offering workers cash, cars, and vacations. The CDC on Sunday counted 78,910 new cases across the US, bringing the country’s total to 81,173,065—resulting in more than 991,000 deaths.
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Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The decision to cut paid leave for COVID patients comes one day after a second Staten Island warehouse voted on whether to join the Amazon Labor Union, which recently formed the company’s first unionized facility in the US.
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