Amazon ends COVID-19 paid sick leave policy

Amazon Books displays all its book covers on its shelves rather than the conventional book spines.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Amazon)

As of Monday, Amazon employees no longer have pandemic-era paid time off. The online retail giant announced it would trim its COVID-19 sick leave, allowing staffers five unpaid excused sick days if they are diagnosed with the coronavirus, instead of its previous 2-week paid leave policy, Reuters reports.

"We can continue to safely adjust to our pre-COVID policies," the company said in a statement to its employees, citing "sustained easing of the pandemic, ongoing availability of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and updated guidance from [the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] public health authorities," CNN Business writes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

This all comes as the company has been in the spotlight over a "recent effort to unionize some warehouses," Reuters writes. One facility last month became the first Amazon warehouse to vote in favor of unionization.

However, The Verge reports that later on Monday, Amazon workers at a different facility in Staten Island, New York, voted against organizing with the Amazon Labor Union. "The facility has around 1,600 workers in total and began its election last week," says The Verge. The ALU tweeted that "the fight has just begun."

Explore More