Please see the below response I have received from Amazon in relation to covid-19:
Dear Alex,
I hope you’re keeping well. I’m the Amazon Public Policy lead for all our UK sites. I’m always happy to talk on the phone or respond to questions by e-mail.
Our primary concern at this time is the safety of our people and our customers. In the fight against COVID-19, we are prioritising the delivery of essential items to our customers throughout the UK. These are items such as food, health and personal care products, children play items and items needed to work from home. The Government guidance is that online retail should remain open and be encouraged. This is vital so that people, particularly those that are self-isolating and are most vulnerable, can get deliveries which they need to their homes.
We’re very proud of all our associates who are working during this challenging time. We are doing everything we can to protect our people working in fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations by taking significant additional cleaning, sanitisation and social distancing measures, including at our Tilbury worksite.
We have increased cleaning of high contact surfaces such as entry/exit points, tables, water coolers, door handles and equipment. We have also increased availability of hand sanitisers and disinfectant wipes and instructed our associates to start every shift by sanitizing their hands and wiping down their equipment. Our worksites have television screens that remind associates of government advice to wash their hands frequently for at least 20 seconds, cover their mouth or nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and to avoid touching their face, mouth and eyes.
We have informed and regularly remind our associates to maintain a social 2 metre distance from each other when at work. To support the implementation of social distancing, we have introduced staggered start times and breaks and removed the need to clock in and clock out for breaks. We also have introduced floor markings to indicate the appropriate distance which should be maintained within our buildings, particularly at areas with high footfall. We are providing wrapped food to takeaway, have reorganized our breakrooms, removed games and replaced sofas with individual chairs, all to help maintain an adequate distance. We recognise that our associates need to individually comply with social distancing and, therefore, we are conducting audits to help ensure this is taking place.
In line with government guidance, we have instructed any associate who displays the symptoms of COVID-19 or who has come into contact with someone who has contracted COVID-19 to self-isolate for 14 days to minimise the exposure risk of our associates. We recognise the legitimate concerns that people may put their need for income above public health. To mitigate this and give our associates peace of mind, we have communicated internally our policy to provide full pay for any employee for up to 14 days of self-isolation.
Given the importance of getting essential items to the front-line, we have recognised the important role that our people are playing in the fight against COVID-19 by increasing their pay by £2 an hour on top of their normal hourly rate. I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate that Amazon has no staff on zero hour contracts.
If your constituents have concerns, I would urge you to advise them to raise their concerns via our Associate Forums or confidential ethics line where concerns are independently investigated to ascertain the facts and what, if any, actions are required to address them.
If you have any further concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to get back in touch.
All the best
Katherine
Katherine Mercer
Senior Manager, Public Policy, UK and Ireland
Katherine Mercer| Senior Manager, Public Policy UK & Ireland | Amazon
Amazon, 1 Principal Place, Worship Street, London, EC2A 2FA
