[US] Labour board claims Amazon illegally silenced drone employees

US labour board prosecutors have accused Amazon Inc. of enforcing unlawful confidentiality requirements on its employees, WION reports. 

The move may eventually lead to the online retail giant modifying its confidentiality policies, according to reporting from Bloomberg.

In a complaint filed on September 11, the regional director for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Seattle said that Amazon had broken the law by making a confidentiality agreement a requirement of employment for a worker on its drone programme. 

The complaint reportedly stated that the agreement forbade the disclosure of "business and financial information" as well as details of the company's "techniques, technology, practises, operations, and methods," even if the information is not labelled as secret.

Amazon was charged with infringing rights granted by federal workplace legislation, according to the complaint. It was submitted on behalf of the labour board's general counsel who claimed that this impacts workers at all of the company's US facilities.

Workers' freedom to discuss their working conditions with one another - with or without a union - is a protected right under the federal labour legislation. 

In August, members of the NLRB in Washington reportedly voted to create a new standard making it more difficult for businesses to defend workplace handbook policies that agency officials fear may have a negative impact on workers' rights.

Regional NLRB directors file complaints with the agency, which are reviewed by agency judges. Their decisions can be challenged in federal court after being reviewed by labour board members in Washington, DC. The government is unable to hold executives accountable for violations or levy punitive damages on businesses, however, it can order them to amend any legally incompliant procedures.

In an interview, Cheddi Skeete - the former drone project manager who first brought the matter to the NLRB - reportedly expressed his concern about the way excessively broad secrecy restrictions prevent workers from networking and job-hunting out of concern about upsetting their current employers.

Mr Skeete said he believes that the NLRB will help towards guaranteeing a fair balance between employers' need for privacy and employees' need to be allowed to discuss their jobs.

Mr Skeete filed a second discrimination and retaliation action against Amazon earlier this year. He told Bloomberg that this has the potential to transform corporate and technological landscapes.

Source: WION

(Quotes via original reporting)

US labour board prosecutors have accused Amazon Inc. of enforcing unlawful confidentiality requirements on its employees, WION reports. 

The move may eventually lead to the online retail giant modifying its confidentiality policies, according to reporting from Bloomberg.

In a complaint filed on September 11, the regional director for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Seattle said that Amazon had broken the law by making a confidentiality agreement a requirement of employment for a worker on its drone programme. 

The complaint reportedly stated that the agreement forbade the disclosure of "business and financial information" as well as details of the company's "techniques, technology, practises, operations, and methods," even if the information is not labelled as secret.

Amazon was charged with infringing rights granted by federal workplace legislation, according to the complaint. It was submitted on behalf of the labour board's general counsel who claimed that this impacts workers at all of the company's US facilities.

Workers' freedom to discuss their working conditions with one another - with or without a union - is a protected right under the federal labour legislation. 

In August, members of the NLRB in Washington reportedly voted to create a new standard making it more difficult for businesses to defend workplace handbook policies that agency officials fear may have a negative impact on workers' rights.

Regional NLRB directors file complaints with the agency, which are reviewed by agency judges. Their decisions can be challenged in federal court after being reviewed by labour board members in Washington, DC. The government is unable to hold executives accountable for violations or levy punitive damages on businesses, however, it can order them to amend any legally incompliant procedures.

In an interview, Cheddi Skeete - the former drone project manager who first brought the matter to the NLRB - reportedly expressed his concern about the way excessively broad secrecy restrictions prevent workers from networking and job-hunting out of concern about upsetting their current employers.

Mr Skeete said he believes that the NLRB will help towards guaranteeing a fair balance between employers' need for privacy and employees' need to be allowed to discuss their jobs.

Mr Skeete filed a second discrimination and retaliation action against Amazon earlier this year. He told Bloomberg that this has the potential to transform corporate and technological landscapes.

Source: WION

(Quotes via original reporting)