(Reuters) Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced on Saturday that its paid time off policy for employees with COVID-19 would be phased out on May 2.
It said the change was made because of the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to a statement obtained by Reuters, Amazon informed employees in the United States that they would now get five days of excused, unpaid leave after a verified COVID-19 diagnosis.
Corporation: “We can safely keep our pre-COVID policies in place,” the company said, noting that the pandemic is still easing, there are vaccines and treatments available, and public health recommendations have changed.
The revisions come amid a barrage of setbacks for Amazon after a recent attempt to unionise certain warehouse workers. Workers at its New York City warehouse voted in April to create the company’s first union.
Amazon said on Saturday that it won’t be making site-wide announcements about positive cases at its facilities unless it’s required by law. It also won’t be promoting vaccines.
Amazon reduced paid sick leave for employees with the virus to one week, or up to 40 hours, in January. Prior to that, they had two weeks of paid leave for COVID-19.