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On 21 June 2024, Ethical Consumer viewed the Amazon.com Inc website for information on the treatment of workers in its supply chain. The following documents were consulted: Amazon Supply Chain Standard Manual and various company webpages.

Ethical Consumer was looking for the company to have a supplier code of conduct that met the following criteria:
1) no use of forced labour
2) freedom of association
3) payment of a living wage
4) working week limited to 48 hours and 12 hours overtime (ETI exemption 6.5 applies)
5) eliminations of child labour (under 15 years old, or under 14 if country has ILO exemption)
6) no discrimination by race, sex etc
7) a safe and healthy working environment.
8) regular employment is offered

The company's supplier code of conduct met 5 out of 8 criteria. Living wage, maximum working hours and regular employment were not met. (0 points)

The company stated that its supplier code of conduct applied beyond its tier 1 suppliers. "Amazon Supply Chain Standards (the “Standards”) apply to all suppliers of goods and services for Amazon and Amazon’s subsidiaries, including providers, vendors, selling partners, contractors, and subcontractors”.
(10 points)

The company was not seen to support worker-driven monitoring in its supply chain. (0 points)

The company published all of its tier 1 suppliers. This could be found under a section titled "Supply Chain Transparency" on its website.
(20 points)

The company did not state that it had chosen to manufacture all its products in a country / countries with more robust labour rights legislation. (0 points)

The company was not seen to have taken significant steps to ensure good purchasing practices. For example, to avoid aggressive price negotiation, inaccurate forecasting, late orders, short lead times and last minute changes. No evidence was found of a clear commitment to long term relationships with suppliers to encourage compliance with supply chain policies. (0 points)

The company was not seen to have taken adequate steps to address the issue of living wages in its supply chain. (0 points)

No evidence could be found that the company actively supported and worked with trade unions to uphold workers' rights. (0 points)

Two or more significant and reputable third-party criticisms (dated within the past 5 years) related to workers rights were found.

Source: UC Berkeley Labor Center
Title: “Failure to Deliver: Assessing Amazon’s Freedom of Association Policy under International Labor Standards”
Date: May 2022
Summary: The report stated that Amazon’s freedom of association policy, released in March 2022, is “non-compliant with international labor standards, and Amazon management’s conduct before and after issuing the policy continues to violate international standards.” The report also criticised Amazon’s actions which it claimed were to instil fear in its workers; “Management imposed pressure and instilled fear through a massive communications offensive in weeks leading up to union elections in Bessemer, Alabama, and Staten Island, New York, led by anti-union consultants paid thousands of dollars per day by Amazon”.

Source: The Guardian
Title: "Dear Jeff Bezos, instead of firing me, protect your workers from coronavirus"
Date: April 2020
Summary: The article was an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos written by a former worker in an Amazon warehouse in the US. The author recounted how he had organised a collective walkout due to a perceived lack of response from the company to the workers’ concerns about their safety during the Covid-19 outbreak, and was subsequently fired from his position.

As two or more third-party criticisms were found, 50 marks were deducted.

Final scores are capped at either 0 or 100. Overall, the company scored 0/100 for Workers.