Nov 14, 2024 23:00:00

Amazon changes remote work rules for employees with disabilities, complicating procedures and making working from home nearly impossible

By Robert Stinnett

Amazon has reversed its remote work policy that had been in place since the COVID-19 pandemic, announcing that it will require employees to be in the office five days a week from 2025. It has been revealed that this 'five-days-a-week' policy involves a 'more rigorous process' for employees with disabilities to obtain permission to work remotely.

Amazon Makes It Harder for Disabled Employees to Work From Home - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-13/amazon-makes-it-harder-for-disabled-employees-to-work-from-home

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated in 2023 that 'if you want to continue working remotely, it won't work for you at Amazon,' expressing his opinion as an opponent of remote work. In September 2024, CEO Jassy announced in an internal Amazon message that in order to further strengthen the company's culture, the company would reduce management positions and flatten the organization, and in order to increase the time employees spend working together in the office, it would be mandatory to 'come to the office five days a week' from January 2, 2025.

Amazon changes policy to '5 days a week in the office' - GIGAZINE

Working in the office is not mandatory, and employees are still given the option to switch to remote work for one or two days a week if their child gets sick, if there is an emergency at home, if they need to visit a client or partner, or if they want to concentrate on coding in an isolated environment.

However, according to Bloomberg, Amazon has told employees with disabilities that it will 'implement a more rigorous vetting process' for both new requests to work from home and for applications to expand existing arrangements around November 2024. Affected employees will have to undergo a 'multi-stage administrative review' and, in some cases, may be brought back to the office for a trial period of one month to determine whether working from home is appropriate.

Employees who want to work from home receive a call from an 'adaptation consultant' to explain the new policy. They then review their medical records to discuss how effective working from home has been for them and what attempts have been made to help them work in the office. After the adaptation consultant agrees with the request to work from home, another Amazon manager approves it, so there is a double and triple check system. According to an anonymous employee who provided information to Bloomberg, the procedures, such as preparing documents and discussions, are too complicated and it takes weeks to apply.

Regarding the revised disability policy, CEO Jassy said, 'The return-to-office requirement reinforces a culture at Amazon that we believe has become worse and too bureaucratic since the pandemic began. The new disability employment policy also reflects Amazon's broader return-to-office philosophy and is not motivated as a means to reduce workforce, as some have reported.'

'We understand that this transition will be complicated, and we are working with our employees to make the transition as smooth as possible. We continue to believe that people benefit from being together in the office, and we will provide personal accommodations when needed and, in some cases, exemptions from working in the office,' Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan said in a statement. However, the company did not disclose the number of requests that had been approved at the time of writing.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide 'reasonable accommodations' to help employees with disabilities do their jobs, such as allowing service animals, providing designated parking spaces, and private text conferences. But there are no strict rules about remote work, and Amazon can still bring employees with disabilities back to the office if they choose to work from home.

'Workers whose requests to work from home are denied could file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that investigates workplace discrimination claims,' said Kenneth Shiotani, a senior attorney at the National Disability Rights Network. 'If that happens, Amazon would have the burden of proving that being in the office is an essential part of the job. Right now, it's a big gray area, and for white-collar jobs that don't clearly require in-person presence, it's much harder to prove that an office is essential because electronic communication is so efficient.'