A worker grabs products from a bin at Amazon Fulfillment Center SCK6 in Tracy, California. Photo credit: Jungho Kim/For The Washington Post
Amazon, the second largest private employer in the United States, is under fresh bipartisan scrutiny from federal lawmakers over its treatment of workers.
In a letter to Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos sent Friday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) raised concerns about how the company schedules shifts for hourly warehouse and delivery workers. A 2024 survey from the Shift Project at the Harvard Kennedy School suggests those employees are required to use a system that can leave them with “volatile and unreliable schedules - and uncertain paychecks,” the senators wrote.
Harvard data provided to Warren’s office found that 41 percent of Amazon workers surveyed receive their work schedule less than two weeks in advance, suggesting it uses an automated “just-in-time” scheduling system, the letter said.
Systems of that kind can put an employer’s convenience first and burden workers with unpredictable schedules and pay that make it difficult to organize child care, education and second jobs, the senators claimed.
“Sometimes, these practices mean workers simply don’t get enough hours at work - effectively forcing them to become part-time workers,” the letter said.
“Amazon has a history of cutting corners in the workplace,” Sen. Hawley said in a statement. “American workers deserve scheduling practices that treat them with dignity - not automated time sheets meant for cogs in Corporate America’s machine.”
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, owns The Washington Post.
Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty said in an email that the letter’s assertions were inaccurate.
“The vast majority of our full-time and part-time roles have consistent schedules,” the statement said. Amazon workers can choose predictable hours or to vary their schedule week-to-week, it said.
The company has previously been pressured by federal lawmakers and regulators over workplace safety at its warehouses and its tight control over how workers do their jobs. Amazon has consistently defended its policies. A Washington state judge threw out a major workplace safety case brought by state officials against the company last year.
The research cited in the letter came from the Shift Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, which studies working conditions in the service sector. The data provided to Warren’s office showed that Amazon delivery drivers, who technically work for contractors to the company, had the most volatile schedules, with 71 percent saying they get less than two weeks notice of when they’re scheduled to work.
Data previously published by the project showed Amazon in the middle of the pack of companies studied. Hourly workers at companies including Stop & Shop, Subway and Chili’s were even more likely to report receiving less than two weeks notice of their schedule. Employees at Walmart and Target, Amazon’s direct competitors in retail, reported being scheduled with less than two weeks notice less frequently than workers at Amazon.
The senators gave Bezos until Sept. 23 to respond to a list of questions about its scheduling practices, including whether it uses algorithmic scheduling, short notice “on-call” shifts, its rate of last minute shift cancellations and whether workers are promised a certain number of hours per week when hired.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021 and the company is now led by Andy Jassy.
Sen. Warren has repeatedly introduced bills that would require employers to give workers more advance notice of their schedules but none have been passed into law.
She and Hawley have previously joined to advocate consumer protection for passengers of canceled flights, wage clawbacks for executives of failed banks and to demand tougher export controls on chips to help the United States compete with China.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) has previously investigated Amazon over concerns about underreporting workplace injuries and high rates of musculoskeletal disorders among workers. Both Warren and Sanders have advocated for Amazon workers’ right to form a union.
Sanders, Warren and Hawley were among 34 signatories of a letter sent to Amazon CEO Jassy in June 2024 to express concerns that the company’s tight control over contractor delivery drivers violated their labor rights.
“Amazon is running its years-old playbook: squeezing workers while raking in sky-high profits,” said Warren in a statement. “We’re fighting back to make sure Amazon’s employees are treated fairly, not thrown under the bus so Amazon and its wealthy executives can get even richer.”
