As the nature and structures of work change, so do the challenges workers face in asserting their rights. Employers increasingly use automated systems and software programs, including those that employ artificial intelligence, to outsource decisions about workers’ schedules and tasks and to enforce disciplinary policies. Too often, these technologies give employers cover to deny workers the leave, accommodations, and predictability to which they’re entitled, particularly when it comes to the following issues:
Abusive Attendance Policies: A Better Balance has long represented workers at employers like Amazon and Walmart who enforce abusive, points-based attendance policies. In our report, Misled & Misinformed, we detailed how these major employers’ attendance systems mislead workers about their workplace rights and make it nearly impossible to exercise those rights. Many employers with such policies manage attendance using apps and other digital platforms that give workers no way to explain the legally-protected reasons for their absences. Opaque, software-based attendance systems are particularly hard on workers who are pregnant or caregivers. Workers are routinely punished and fired for absences that should be protected under laws like the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and many other state and local laws. Workers are entitled to know about and use their legally protected time off, whether they are reporting to a human or to a computer.
Task management: Employers in industries like warehousing and logistics now use automated systems to manage workflow and productivity. In 2021, for example, Amazon revealed a new system by which workers’ tasks—particularly physical tasks—can be assigned by an algorithm. At A Better Balance, we speak with workers who tell us that automated work assignments often don’t account for workers’ safety, or for their pregnancy-related and other medical accommodations. The U.S. Department of Labor, in a new roadmap for responsible artificial intelligence (AI) policy, recently highlighted how automated monitoring and management tools prevent workers from taking rest breaks or working at a realistic pace. Sometimes, the platform by which workers are supposed to communicate and fix problems like this is also automated.
Automated workflows do not let employers off the hook for engaging in a good-faith interactive process with workers who need accommodations. We are here to support workers whose health, safety, and pregnancy outcomes are threatened by automated systems that violate the law.
Scheduling: Large employers increasingly use software to dictate workers’ schedules according to algorithmic predictions about staffing needs. Ideally, these programs can be used to design fair and flexible work schedules, and to comply with state and local Fair Workweek laws, where those laws exist. However, some employers continue to prioritize profits over workers, misusing the software to create erratic and insufficient shift schedules that are associated with sleep disturbances, depression, worse outcomes for children of caregiver workers, and barriers to workers’ pursuit of further education. Workers deserve to know their shifts in advance, work sufficient hours, and have time for rest.
A Better Balance is fighting for and with workers to enforce their rights, even when employers violate them with new technologies. Our state-by-state Workplace Rights Hub can help you learn more about existing local, state, and federal protections around caring for yourself and your loved ones.
Additionally, we are here to support you if your workplace’s automated systems are interfering with your rights and protections. Our free and confidential legal helpline can provide you with hands-on support in understanding your rights.
