The Democratic governor signed Assembly Bill 701 on Wednesday, saying it gives warehouse workers "the dignity, respect and safety they deserve."
"We cannot allow corporations to put profit over people," Newsom said in a statement. "The hardworking warehouse employees who have helped sustain us during these unprecedented times should not have to risk injury or face punishment as a result of exploitative quotas that violate basic health and safety."
The bill, which the
According to the governor's office, the law also protects workers from being fired or punished for failure to meet unsafe working quotas while allowing them to seek relief if they are. The bill also allows the labor commissioner to issue citations and access data to identify facilities with high rates of injury due to potentially unsafe working environments.
California Assemblywoman
In a statement Wednesday, the Democrat named e-commerce behemoth
"
The bill was signed into law amid criticism directed at
According to a report from the Strategic Organizing Center, for every 100
Last week, Sen.
The Democratic
In her statement Wednesday, Gonzalez said that while AB 701 is about "empowering" workers to keep themselves safe, more still needs to be done.
"As workers are increasingly surveilled on the job and supervised by algorithms, AB 701 is just the beginning of our work to regulate dangerous quotas and keep employers that have operated about the law in check," she said.
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